MEXICO CITY — Very little went right for Shane Van Gisbergen in the buildup to NASCAR’s first international Cup Series points-paying race of its modern era.
A mechanical problem on takeoff forced his team’s charter plane to abort the initial journey to Mexico City. He arrived at the venue Friday, a day late, and after winning the pole position Saturday in rain-shortened qualifying, the 36-year-old New Zealander fell seriously ill.
He was sleeping on the floor of his team hauler before Sunday’s race, unsure whethere he’d be able to complete the 100-lap event at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.
There’s something special, though, about the Kiwi and new venues — especially in the rain — and he salvaged the weekend by winning on the road course to earn an automatic berth into the Cup Series playoffs later this year.
Van Gisbergen led 60 of 100 laps in the Trackhouse Racing No. 88 Chevrolet and finished 16.567 seconds ahead of runner-up Christopher Bell’s Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota.