First road course of season falls by wayside for Shane van Gisbergen

Shane van Gisbergen was one of the fastest drivers in Sunday's EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas, but a golden opportunity to snag a win fell by the wayside. 

The Auckland, New Zealand, native qualified sixth and finished sixth on Sunday, but his day could've entailed so much more. 

Van Gisbergen led 23 laps, but in Stage 3, he fell behind Kyle Busch and Christopher Bell as they battled for the win. With no way to organically pass the two leaders, van Gisbergen was forced to run long as the top-two cars pitted. 

On Lap 74, van Gisbergen gave up the lead to come down pit road. His only hope of victory was that his fresher tires would be enough to make up a deficit to the leader that had swelled to 15 seconds. 

The yellow flag waved on Lap 78, but even a bunched up field wasn't enough for van Gisbergen to carve his way back to the front. Van Gisbergen ended up falling out of the top 10 after the restart, and while he made it back inside the top 10, he didn't have enough to get to victory lane. 

Van Gisbergen now sits 18th in the Cup Series standings after COTA, eight points below the playoff cut line. Considering his relative lack of experience on ovals, it'd be surprising to see him win on an oval. Road courses are his best chance to get to victory lane and earn a playoff berth this season, and COTA was a golden opportunity that wasn't fully realized.