Weather and cautions posed the biggest threat to Van Gisbergen, including a Lap 74 crash from Cody Ware, which took NASCAR more than 30 seconds to bring out the caution flag officially. "The strategy was a bit all over the place, as we knew it would be today, racing the weather, racing cars and different (pit) stops," Van Gisbergen added.

Despite starting from the pole, van Gisbergen faced stiff competition in the first stage of the race from Michael McDowell, who was able to not only match but exceed the former V8 Supercars champion and road racing ace's pace on his way to winning the stage.