Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen has had his Daytona 500 debut ruined by an accident early in the race – and US President Donald Trump was in attendance to kick off the event.
The President sent NASCAR fans wild on Sunday afternoon in Florida as Air Force One flew over the track before his arrival. The thousands of fans cheered wildly as his plane roared over the racetrack, with Trump making it a second straight weekend of high-profile appearances at sporting events.
Last Sunday, he made history by becoming the first sitting President to attend a Super Bowl when he headed to New Orleans to watch the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Kansas City Chiefs.
This weekend, the President’s motorcade drove straight onto the track in Florida and traveled a short distance in front of the NASCAR fans packed into the stands before it entered a secure area.Â
He later returned onto the track, with his motorcade doing two laps before the race started.
Kiwi newcomer to NASCAR Van Gisbergen almost led the race early on before an incident during Stage 2 ruined his race.
Shane van Gisbergen has had his Daytona 500 ruined by an accident early in the iconic race
President Trump was given a huge reception by the thousands of fans at the circuit
The skirmish was triggered by Joey Logano’s Ford Mustang, which coughed and triggered several cars to make nose to tail contact.
The damage to Van Gisbergen’s Camaro seemed innocuous, but was fairly serious.Â
When he returned to the pits, Van Gisbergen discovered that the snorkel that transfers air from the lower splitter to the engine bay was damaged.
By the end of the stage, the Kiwi star had fallen back to 35th spot.Â
‘Not much to say, I don’t really know what happened yet,’ Van Gisbergen said afterwards.
‘It was good in the first stage, I learnt a lot. Ran up the front when I wasn’t fuel saving, which is promising. I made one bad lane choice.
‘I chose the wrong guy, I chose a Toyota who was fuel saving and I just didn’t get a push. As soon as I did it, I knew I should have gone to the middle, or the highline.’Â
The President’s motorcade did two laps before the race started
Van Gisbergen (#88) almost led the race early on before an incident during Stage 2Â
William Byron ended up taking victory – and his second straight Daytona 500 win.Â
‘It’s obviously really special,’ Byron said afterwards.
‘It’s an amazing race, and obviously a lot of crazy racing out there tonight and just a lot of pushing and shoving.’
