Van Gisbergen defeated Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell by 15 seconds at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course for his fifth straight road win, one shy of Gordon’s record. The New Zealander became the first driver since 1982 to win multiple races by more than 15 seconds.

“The last two stints were just magic,” Van Gisbergen said. “Just ran [Larson and Bell] down and was able to pass them and had some really good battles, pretty aggressive, but a lot of fun too.”

Van Gisbergen’s day wasn’t just a Sunday drive. At the start of the final stage, Van Gisbergen lost control of the race to Larson and fell several seconds behind Bell for third.

“We didn't have the pace,” Van Gisbergen said. “It was frustrating at the start of the last stage when they passed me, but it’s still enjoyable.

“Then trying to understand how to be better and I was trying to study them, see what they were doing better to me, so yeah, battling like that is a lot of fun, but you also want to win easily too.”

Van Gisbergen tracked down the leaders and fought Larson for the race lead with 22 laps to go. The two made contact several times before Larson conceded a lap later. From there, Van Gisbergen set sail, building a 20-second advantage after Larson and Bell stopped for tires.

Moments after Van Gisbergen took the checkered flag, Ross Chastain wrecked Denny Hamlin in the last corner, needing one point to keep his playoff hopes alive. Joey Logano advanced instead. 

“I would restart the whole day,” Chastain said of his race. “Justin [Marks] hired me to carry this No. 1 car and to drive it and to be a leader, and I just completely unraveled our day.”

 Ross Chastain finished fourth and fifth in the stages, earning 13 points. Yet, two unforced pit road errors cost him valuable track position, leaving the Trackhouse driver on the defensive in the final run.

“No one else had a hand in it but me,” Chastain said. “When you watch and you learn and you study for half your life to get here and to fail is a terrible feeling right now, and I will wake up tomorrow and go right back to work.”

As a result of the chaos, defending series champion Logano stays alive. Logano was only in contention after crew chief Paul Wolfe made the call to pit for tires with 12 laps remaining.

“We’re still alive baby,” Logano said in response to a chorus of boos from the crowd.

“Proud of Paul Wolfe,” Logano said. “An audible there at the end. Just our fall-off was a little too much. So making that call there at the end was ultimately what kept us there in the game with just a few left.”

“You know, a championship performance from the team. Wish I was a little faster, but overall, I couldn’t be more proud of the team. We still got a shot.”

Ryan Blaney took home the Stage 2 victory to score his ninth stage win of the season. That helps elevate Blaney over Larson by two points and trailing Hamlin by two after the elimination reset.

Larson, Bell, Blaney, Hamlin and Logano advance with Chase Elliott and Chase Briscoe. The others eliminated from the Playoffs include Tyler Reddick, Bubba Wallace and Austin Cindric.

Las Vegas Motor Speedway is the next stop on the NASCAR schedule. The Entertainment Capital of the World hosts the Round of 8 on Sunday, Oct. 12 at 5:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.