Shane van Gisbergen finished 24th at Phoenix.
The Trackhouse Racing driver claimed the second-most wins of any driver this year, taking out five of the six road course races. Only Denny Hamlin had more on six.
Although van Gisbergen had a season of the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2024, he has regularly made a point of the two stock cars being chalk and cheese.
“It was a lot of fun,” said van Gisbergen of his season at the end-of-season awards banquet.
“I enjoyed my racing a lot this year and building up with the team. The second half of the year, we improved a lot. It made it overall, pretty good.
“I feel like we’ll have some good momentum into next year. Our team isn’t changing much on the #88 car, so it’s pretty cool.
“I’d love to start again because I feel like I’ve learned so much, but I also get that chance in 15 weeks.
“I feel like I started at a pretty low level. I was just a deer in the headlights to start the year. I’m a lot better now.
“I don’t have an expectation (for 2026), but we’ve just got to keep building.
“I feel like we have a much, much better base to start from. As I said, there is a lot of team continuity, so that will really help.”
Van Gisbergen’s breakthrough win didn’t come until the 16th race of the season in Mexico City.
That weekend, he said, was a turning point.
“It was a season of two halves it felt like. The first half was a lot of learning, but since Mexico when we won our first race, it’s all clicked,” van Gisbergen explained.
“You get that confidence and momentum. It’s built from Mexico and the second half of the season has made it pretty easy to forget about the first half.”
Van Gisbergen’s road course prowess is known, making him the bona fide favourite every time the series has to turn right.
Eventually, he wants to be able to turn up to ovals knowing he can be just as competitive.
“I had no pressure for those weekends,” he said of the road courses.
“I just know we’re going to be good there, and that’s a really cool feeling to have.
“You just go into the weekend and do you normal prep and just arrive with confidence.
“It makes a big difference. Hopefully, one day I feel like that on an oval.
“Going to places for the second or third time, things start to click and I can just go into a race weekend knowing what to expect.
“There were some tough tracks late in the year, like Gateway and even Bristol still.
“Going to those places, it’s still pretty nerve racking not knowing how it’s going to be.”
Van Gisbergen is expected to return to New Zealand for the summer. His racing plans for the off-season are currently up in the air with no firm sprint car commitments yet.
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