SHANE van Gisbergen will be crowned the NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year following this weekend’s season finale in Phoenix, with the Kiwi looking to round 2025 out strongly.
The three-time Supercars champion claimed a record five wins for the season to date, which bettered the previous benchmark of three, which was set by Hall of Famers Tony Stewart (1999) and Jimmie Johnson (2002).
However, his continual improvement on ovals has also been impressive, with the #88 Chevrolet now a weekly top-ten threat.
“It’s been a fun season, but challenging too,” said van Gisbergen.
“The road courses, obviously, have been amazing, and then the ovals – I started the year finishing in the 30s, but I feel like we’ve grounded out, now we’re a 15th to 10th place car on most weeks.
“I think how much better we’ve gotten is a pretty awesome feeling, but certainly those first ten weeks of the year were eye-opening.
“We’ve made huge progress on the ovals the last couple of months, so we just need to keep building off that and we will be in a good spot to start next season.”
The success of the season is not lost on the Trackhouse Racing driver.
“It means everything. That’s why I moved here, and that’s why Justin (Marks) believed in me, and he knew I could do this,” said van Gisbergen.
“I’ve changed my life to come and do this, and to come and make true of what everyone believed in me and to execute myself and get everything right, it’s why I go racing.
“As I said, sharing it with those people and seeing how much it means to the guys who work so hard every week on the car and their pit stops, it’s so cool.
“It means the world to everyone. To see the guys at the shop who did all the prep work for these wins, too, and I love the team environment.
“It’s been a great year for the team.”
Although he was bundled out in the first round of the Playoffs, SVG has shown strong form in recent weeks to sit 12th in the standings, ahead of fellow Playoff drivers Alex Bowman, Austin Cindric, Austin Dillon and Josh Berry.
This weekend’s title decider is wide open for the taking, with all four eligible drivers having a realistic chance of winning.
Chase Briscoe seeks for his maiden title with Australian crew chief James Small, while his Joe Gibbs Racing stablemate Denny Hamlin will be looking to break through in his 20th full-time season on the circuit.
He recently claimed his 60th career victory, and he is the winningest driver in Cup history not to have earned a title.
From the Hendrick Motorsports stable, regular-season champion William Byron won last time out at Martinsville to advance, while Kyle Larson is the only starter in the quartet to have a previous Cup Series title to his credit, which he earned back in 2021.
The race is set for a 6am start on Monday.