Shane van Gisbergen Conquers COTA, Secures O’Reilly Series Win
AUSTIN, Texas — Shane van Gisbergen continued his impressive run on road courses, winning the Focused Health 250 at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) on Saturday, February 28, 2026. The victory marks his fifth win in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and his eleventh career win on road or street courses across the top two NASCAR divisions [1]. Van Gisbergen navigated a hectic final lap, passing five cars in one corner to take the checkered flag [4].
Dramatic Finish at COTA
Restarting from sixth position with just five laps remaining, van Gisbergen executed a bold move in Turn 1, darting across the track and overtaking the leading cars. He described the maneuver as a result of a strategic play, noting that a competitor inadvertently cleared the way for his advance [4]. “Yeah, good to finally execute,” van Gisbergen said. “We had an awesome day… I kind of sucked the #41 [Sam Mayer] in and he took everyone out for me. So, that was cool.” [4]
Jesse Love and Connor Zilisch were also contenders in the race, with Zilisch experiencing brake issues and a late-race incident that took him out of contention [2].
Looking Ahead to the Cup Series Race
Van Gisbergen will start 13th in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at COTA, aiming to extend his streak of five consecutive road/street course wins at the top level of the sport [4]. He acknowledged the need for improvement in his driving and car setup, stating, “I wasn’t driving very good earlier today and we lacked in the car but also I can be better too…” [4].