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Some of the most awe-inspiring moments are when athletes shine unexpectedly. While this happens in almost every sport, it happens often in NASCAR. Sometimes, these remarkable “one-off” runs spark something more; sometimes, they are the last jolt of energy a driver has in their career. Ultimately, these moments have supplied those in the stands and in the garage with lifelong memories.
While a recent example is an easy way to illustrate the theme of the “one-off” performance, Shane Van Gisbergen’s first career win has grown to become more than most could have imagined.
The New Zealand native made his name racing in the Supercars Championship. In his legendary career, Van Gisbergen has won three Drivers Championships and three Bathurst 1000s. In addition to racing Supercars, SVG has competed in endurance and rally racing.
With a driver of such a diverse background, many fans had hoped to see SVG racing in the United States. This hope was also fueled by NASCAR and IndyCar’s recent history with former Supercar champions competing in their ranks.
NASCAR had had former champion Marcos Ambrose, who won five NASCAR Xfinity Series races and two NASCAR Cup Series races in his nine seasons in the sport. While in IndyCar, fellow New Zealander and former foe Scott McLaughlin went open-wheel racing in 2020 for Team Penske and has won five races in four seasons.
For SVG, NASCAR speculation was once again stoked by the introduction of the NASCAR Next Gen car in 2022. The car has notably drawn comparisons to the cars run in the Supercars Championship. The series had also recently pushed to add more road courses to its schedule, including a street circuit in Chicago for July 2023.
To put one more domino in place, Justin Mark’s race team, Trackhouse Racing, launched Project91 in 2022. Project91 was a venture to bring outside names into NASCAR, whether for one race or a handful. By the spring of 2023, Kimi Räikkönen had been the only driver to start races for the team at Watkins Glen and COTA to mediocre results.
With hints left and right about who would get the wheel of the 91 next, few were shocked when, in May 2023, Trackhouse teamed up with Van Gisbergen to prepare the 91 for July in Chicago.
In Qualifying, SVG set the tone for the highly anticipated weekend. The champion, now rookie, would put his Chevrolet third on the board for Sunday’s race. That Sunday turned into a downpour.
With the sunsetting and the streets of Chicago covered in rain, SVG used his skill and aggressive driving style to maneuver his way to the front, and with five laps to go, he passed Justin Haley for what would ultimately be the win.
The New Zealand native won his first race in his first start, becoming the first driver to do so since Johnny Rutherford in 1963. While this once-in-a-lifetime accomplishment may be the main story of this performance, what has come or is to come has quickly gained momentum.
SVG backed this performance up with a 10th-place finish at the Indianapolis Road Course that year and subsequently signed on as a development driver for Trackhouse via a relationship with Kauling Racing.
SVG has had success running a full-time Xfinity Series Schedule and a part-time Cup schedule this season. He has won three Xfinity Series races and has had solid Cup Series runs.
Seemingly bound for a Cup Series ride in the near future, SVG has, as expected, taken the sport by storm. While this race has quickly become a legend in NASCAR history, it exemplifies what can happen when a driver has one great showing.
John Andretti had been a jack of all trades in his racing career. The Nephew of the great Mario Andretti, he naturally began his career racing in CART to moderate success.
However, by 1993, John was fielding other options and got a NASCAR Cup Series ride with Tex Powell. John already had experience out of open-wheel, winning the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1989 and racing a Top Fuel Dragster to a debut semi-final finish in 1993.
John would show promise in his first season in NASCAR. For 1994, John would piece together a 29-race schedule with Billy Hagan and Petty Enterprises, this included the first ever attempt at the Charlotte-Indy Memorial Day double.
His first full season was for Michael Kranefuss in 1995. He stayed with the team for 1996, but partway through the season, Andretti informally switched seats with Cale Yarborough Racing’s Jeremy Mayfield.
Cale Yarborough’s NASCAR team had a turbulent history, having not won a race in its almost a decade in the Cup Series. However, with Andretti, that didn’t take long, as in 1997, Daytona would be the site of first victory for the team and driver.
The Fourth of July Weekend would be John’s coming-out party to the sport. He would qualify the 98 car third and dominate all day. Leading 113 laps, John would bring home Cale’s first win as an owner.
This performance earned Andretti a ride with Petty Enterprises in 1998; he remained there until partway through 2003 and won one race. After this, Andretti bounced around, making inconsistent starts in both Indy Car and NASCAR.
John Andretti passed away in 2020. While many miss the man, that RCA number 98 taking the flag at Daytona still bring back memories of a driver who had a “one-off” race for the ages.
For some drivers, a great run can come at the right time. 2002 had been a turbulent year for Jerry Nadeau, and a good run benefitted Nadeau at the right time.
Nadeau had been a journeyman driver for most of his career, showing decent speed in different cars early on. During this early part of his career, Nadeau showed an affinity for one track, Sonoma Raceway.
Nadeau had qualified second and third in his first two starts at the track, once for Bill Elliott and Dan Marino and another time for Harry Melling. After swinging above his weight in several mid-pack cars, Rick Hendrick signed Nadeau to drive the 25 car.
In the 2000 season, Nadeau won the season’s final race and finished 20th in points. The next season was an overall improvement despite the lack of a win. However, partway through 2002, the two parties cut ties. Nadeau moved to MB2 to fill in for Johnny Benson before teaming up with Petty Enterprises at Sonoma.
The two sides had had similar seasons with the 44 car, having had two other drivers, Buckshot Jones and Steve Grissom. In Nadeau’s first start in the 44, he would show just what the car had in it.
Starting 22nd, Nadeau had to make up ground; in a day dominated by Jeff Gordon and Kurt Busch, Nadeau would do just that. With 23 laps to go, he battled with Bill Elliott for the race lead and, after taking over, began pulling away.
As the laps wound down, it looked to be Jerry’s day in the sun, but like so many times before, Jerry’s day would end unexpectedly. After leading his 20th and final lap of the day, the 44 pulled off track with a broken rear end.
After this stellar performance, Nadeau was tabbed to stay behind the wheel of the 44 before an injury kept him from finishing the season. Nadeau would get a ride with MB2 Motorsports for 2003.
While this ride hoped to be the next step back into the top tier of NASCAR Cup Series driver, an accident at Richmond would end Jerry’s career just ten races into the season.
While this one-off performance didn’t kick off a career revival for the driver, it gave his fans one last memory of a driver at his best.
Matt DiBenedetto raced his way into the respect of the fans not once but twice.
DiBenedetto had raced his way through NASCAR with oddball teams, finding his first comfortable job with BK Racing in the Cup Series in 2015. With not much to show after one season, Matt suddenly showed that even with underfunded equipment, he showed speed.
In 2016, Matt finished sixth in the Bristol Spring race with BK Racing. He moved to Go Fas Racing in 2017, and in two seasons, he scored three top-tens, at the time, the only driver to do so in the team’s history.
Matt had gained NASCAR folk hero status after his run at Bristol in 2016, and the following underdog runs with Go Fas Racing made him a sweetheart of the garage. For 2019, DiBenedetto signed with Leavine Family Racing, a former back marker, with a new technical alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing.
After a slow start to the season, Matt found his groove with the 95 team. Entering the Bristol fall race, DiBenedetto had two top-fives and four top-tens. At the track where Matt became a fan favorite, he would become an underdog legend.
Qualifying seventh for the race, Matt would run in the top five throughout the night. On lap 396, he passed Toyota teammate Erik Jones for the lead. But as the laps narrowed down and Denny Hamlin gained ground, Matt would lose the lead with 12 laps to go.
He would go on to finish second, leading 93 laps. Matt would grab two more top-tens that season, but it wasn’t enough to stay with the team. However, opportunity reared its head for Matt; with Paul Menard’s retirement, Matt would hop behind the wheel of the legendary 21 Ford of the Wood Brothers for 2020 and 2021.
In his time in the 21, Matt had six top-fives and 20 top-tens. With young Harrison Burton in the wings for the 21 in 2022, Matt took his only opportunity, a truck series ride for Rackley W.A.R.
This season would get Matt his first-ever NASCAR trophy after winning the Chevy Silverado 250 at Talladega. The two parties would split before the end of the 2023 season, and Matt currently drives the 38 for Viking Motorsports in the Xfinity Series.
While Matt hasn’t won a Cup Series race, his legendary one-off performance gave fans one of NASCAR’s most memorable or painful losses.
Alex Bowman has established himself as a veteran of the NASCAR Cup Series; with eight career wins, he has secured a secure spot in the top half of the sport.
This was not an easy role to obtain, as the Arizona native had raced at the back of the field for BK Racing and Tommy Baldwin Racing in 2014 and 2015—however, one driver who saw the potential in the young driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Earnhardt Jr’s Xfinity Series team, JR Motorsports, had signed Bowman to a part-time schedule in 2016, but unfortunate circumstances would put Bowman in a new spot late in the season.
Midway through the 2016 season, Bowman was selected with Jeff Gordon to fill in for Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the 88 for Hendrick Motorsports. Earnhardt Jr. had to step away from racing due to concussion symptoms, but his existing relationship with Bowman became an opportunity for the young driver.
Bowman began in New Hampshire, finishing 26th. A few weeks later, he scored his first top-ten at Chicagoland, but his true form showed at Phoenix late in the season.
Alex qualified on the pole for the race in his home state. This was not a massive shock to those who had seen the 88 cars’ recent success at the track, but Bowman would also prove himself behind the wheel.
The 88 would be out front for 194 of 312 laps, and Bowman would be in the race until the very end. Late in the race, in overtime, Bowman restarted aggressively, but Kyle Busch was more aggressive, and Bowman was bumped into Matt Kenseth, who spun for the caution.
Bowman would finish sixth, unable to make up for lost ground. But this would be enough to get Bowman the full-time ride in the 88 for 2018. Since this legendary performance, Bowman has become a consistent winner, a proven talent, and a championship contender.
Now driving the 48 for HMS, Bowman is an excellent example of a driver who stepped up at the right time, having that one race that showed he could stick with the big dogs.
While some drivers created or turned around a career with one great race, some couldn’t capitalize off a solo performance. While the sport of NASCAR continues to change, one thing is sure: any driver can show up and show out any given week.
