NASCAR star facing race suspension impact after Martinsville incident

Shane van Gisbergen and his #88 team could be facing punishment from NASCAR after a race-ruining incident at Martinsville on Sunday.

The New Zealander has had a pretty disastrous start to the 2025 Cup Series, only finishing inside the top 20 once and being classified outside of the top 30 in five out of seven races thus far.

Sunday's race saw him complaining about his car on team radio in the first stage, telling his crew: “It’s so tight. I can’t roll the bottom."

A shock packer fell out on the back of his car and was replaced on pit road, but that didn't appear to fix the issue, with Van Gisbergen falling a lap down and complaining: “Well, it wasn’t the rear bar. What the hell. It’s so bad. I cannot turn at all.”

READ MORE: NASCAR legend Kyle Busch makes shock retirement reveal at Martinsville

Van Gisbergen team likely to be hit by suspension

The car began to balance out heading into the end of the second stage, jumping back onto the lead lap with the free pass at a caution, although he did then fall a lap down on a long stage 3 run.

His crew pitted him for fresh tyres, before disaster struck as he spun entering Turn 3 on exit from pit road, with his improperly secured right rear wheel falling off as he got the car moving again.

Race ruined, the Kiwi rolled back around to pit road to rectify the issue, emerging some five laps down and eventually finishing six laps off the lead car.

This season has already seen some two-race bans handed out to jackmen and tyre changers for unsecured wheels, with Kyle Busch’s #8 team and Chase Briscoe’s #19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota crew both getting hit with the same punishment. If NASCAR is consistent, SVG may need some backups in at Darlington.

READ MORE: Michael Jordan's 23XI suffer championship setback as star plummets following Martinsville disqualification

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