{"id":525535,"date":"2026-03-09T23:22:36","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T23:22:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/525535\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T23:22:36","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T23:22:36","slug":"nascar-insiders-express-surprise-at-shane-van-gisbergen-phoenix-finish-points-total","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/525535\/","title":{"rendered":"NASCAR insiders express surprise at Shane van Gisbergen Phoenix finish, points total"},"content":{"rendered":"

Shane van Gisbergen\u2019s<\/a> transition to full-time NASCAR<\/a> competition continues to turn heads across the garage. Even seasoned insiders are beginning to take notice of his performances on ovals.<\/p>\n

After four races in the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season, van Gisbergen sits fifth in the standings, an early result that has caught many by surprise. Speaking on the latest episode of The Teardown<\/a>, Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi discussed<\/a> how the Trackhouse Racing wheelman continues to outperform expectations, including an unlikely recovery at Phoenix Raceway.<\/p>\n

First, Gluck admitted he thought van Gisbergen\u2019s day was finished after watching him spin out during the race: \u201cWe talked about the guys that are out of the chase. Let\u2019s talk about some of the pleasant surprises who are in it right now. I think the top of that list has to be Shane van Gisbergen,\u201d Gluck said<\/a>. \u201cAfter four races, SVG is still fifth in points. I mean, gosh, that\u2019s amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Things appeared to unravel for the New Zealand native during the Phoenix race when he spun out: \u201cToday, twice he wrecks right in front of me, spins out, I see a bunch of smoke,\u201d Gluck explained. \u201cI\u2019m like, \u2018Who\u2019s that?\u2019 I\u2019m looking down from the press box. \u2018Oh geez, SVG. Shoot. Well, that\u2019s not good for him.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

At that point, Gluck assumed van Gisbergen\u2019s strong start to the season might take a hit, especially given the scrutiny that still surrounds his oval-track ability: \u201cGuess people are going to be chirping at my mentions about how blah, blah, blah, you always excuse SVG and he can\u2019t drive on ovals,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Instead, van Gisbergen managed to rally and finish 11th. That was a result Gluck admitted he still can\u2019t fully explain: \u201cHe comes back to finish 11th somehow. I have no idea how that happened. I literally have no idea how that happened,\u201d Gluck noted. \u201cOne of those last restarts, I\u2019m looking up and it\u2019s like, \u2018What? I guess he must have taken two tires or something.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Continuing, Bianchi added that van Gisbergen\u2019s continued progress on oval tracks has not gone unnoticed among his fellow competitors: \u201cYou talk to other drivers, and they are in awe of his ability, because they know how good he is,\u201d Bianchi elaborated.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, it\u2019s road courses versus all ovals, but if he puts in the time and the work, and they see this, it\u2019s transferable to some degree. He\u2019s doing it, man. He is getting better and better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Regardless, both insiders acknowledged that tougher tests lie ahead on the schedule: \u201cIt can change quickly,\u201d Gluck said. \u201cYou\u2019ve got Las Vegas and Darlington coming up.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re gonna have to see more. But I mean, the fact that he finished 11th after a day like that? It\u2019s definitely impressive.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Shane van Gisbergen\u2019s transition to full-time NASCAR competition continues to turn heads across the garage. Even seasoned insiders…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":525536,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,634,82],"class_list":["post-525535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nascar","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nascar","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/525535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=525535"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/525535\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/525536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=525535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=525535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=525535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}