NASCAR drivers are naturally some of the best drifters in motorsport, so jaw-dropping moments tend to stand out even more when they happen. Early on in the NASCAR Cup race at Las Vegas, Shane van Gisbergen did just that, holding an epic drift and somehow avoiding a crash after making contact with two other cars.
Pushing up the track, SVG made light contact with Erik Jones, sending him into a nasty slide between two lanes of traffic before Chase Briscoe comes through on the bottom to straighten the #97 Chevy back out. Van Gisbergen continued with little to no damage.
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However, it did flat spot the tires and result in Van Gisbergen going a lap down early in the race. It’s also not the greatest save in Las Vegas NASCAR history. That honor still has to belong to former Daytona 500 winner Jamie McMurray, who somehow saved this car through Turns 1 and 2 back in 2009:
Maybe there’s something about testing one’s luck in Las Vegas, but this moment from the 2009 Shelby 427 lives rent-free in every NASCAR fan’s mind. Getting into Turn 1 alongside Jamie McMurray in the #26 Crown Royal Ford, Tony Stewart’s #20 Home Depot machine touched McMurray’s left rear, sending him sideways up the track. In-car camera shows Stewart making the pass, but outside the car, McMurray holds an epic drift through the entire mid and exit of Las Vegas’ banked first turn. It was worth it to, asMcMurray finished 9th, while Stewart ended up 26th that day.
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SVG’s save wasn’t the only impressive save at Vegas this weekend, either. On Friday, just before the O’Reilly cars went out on track for practice, a safety truck driver was fishtailing his Ram Truck down the frontstretch in a wild save as well! You can see that epic save at the below link:
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Watch this safety truck pull off an epic save during NASCAR session
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