It was a case of Will Brown and Cam Waters impressing at Sonoma, albeit out of luck in their NASCAR Cup Series debuts.
A mechanical problem for Brown ensured he qualified towards the back after he was third in opening practice, while Waters spun in the first session and was 31st on the grid.
The duo’s race pace was impressive as both climbed towards the top 10, however an electrical fault left Brown in 31st and Waters failed to finish due to suspension damage following a collision.
However, Shane van Gisbergen upheld the Antipodean honour by winning Saturday’s Xfinity Cup race after a bold pass on Austin Hill for the lead.
It was van Gisbergen’s second win in a row following on from Portland.
“Man, what a race – an adventure up and down and up and down all day,” said van Gisbergen.
“But that last restart I was just giving it all I had and two guys going for the same real estate came together.
“It was pretty awesome, though, a lot of fun. Hope everyone enjoyed the show. Pretty awesome back-to-back weeks for us.”
Continuing to tick off achievements in the United States, van Gisbergen added another by securing his first stage win.
“It was the work we did between weeks to make the car better again,” said van Gisbergen.
“It was awesome racing Ty Gibbs at the start. We were really pushing each other. It’s special to win two road courses in a row and dream about one day winning on an oval.”
Brown and Waters will travel back to Australia to contest the Darwin Triple Crown as part of the Repco Supercars Championship.
Van Gisbergen returns to the ovals at Iowa Speedway this weekend.