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WATKINS GLEN, NEW YORK – AUGUST 09: Shane Van Gisbergen, driver of the #88 WeatherTech Chevrolet, looks on during practice for the NASCAR Cup Series Go Bowling at The Glen at Watkins Glen International on August 09, 2025 in Watkins Glen, New York. (Photo by Chris Graythen\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Shane van Gisbergen<\/a> delivered one of the strongest NASCAR Cup Series oval races of his career during the rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600<\/a> at Charlotte Motor Speedway<\/a>. The Trackhouse Racing driver stayed near the front for most of the night and showed major progress on an oval track, an area many critics once viewed as his weakness.<\/p>\n Van Gisbergen started third after qualifying was canceled because of rain. He stayed inside the top 10 through all three stages and collected points in each segment. He finished 10th in Stage 1, ninth in Stage 2, and seventh in Stage 3.<\/p>\n The New Zealander also led 11 laps late in the race after crew chief Stephen Doran decided to keep him on older tires as rain moved closer to the speedway. Although a slow pit stop and late restarts dropped him to 11th at the finish, van Gisbergen posted an average running position of 7.81 during the NASCAR race.<\/p>\n Shane van Gisbergen NASCAR Progress Changes Charlotte Narrative<\/p>\n Van Gisbergen said his strong NASCAR run still left him frustrated because he believed the team had a top-five car.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s hard,\u201d van Gisbergen said afterward. \u201cI had an amazing day, but I\u2019m pissed. We were a top-five or six car, but we just didn\u2019t execute at the end. It was really cool to run up front all day. We were gifted a good starting position with qualifying getting canceled. It was a good call by Stephen (Doran, crew chief) to stay out there. It was awesome to be able to lead some laps.\u201d<\/p>\n The Trackhouse Racing driver also said he enjoyed running different lines during the long race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He made several passes on the outside groove as tires wore down during the event.<\/p>\n Van Gisbergen also outran teammate Ross Chastain before Chastain crashed in the middle of the race. That result stood out because Chastain won last year\u2019s Coca-Cola 600.<\/p>\n The performance added to a growing list of solid oval finishes for van Gisbergen this season. His best oval finish remains sixth place at Atlanta Motor Speedway, while he also finished 10th at Kansas Speedway earlier in the year.<\/p>\n Dale Jarrett Says Shane van Gisbergen\u2019s NASCAR Label Must End<\/p>\n During the NASCAR broadcast<\/a>, veteran announcer Dale Jarrett said van Gisbergen\u2019s Charlotte performance proved he is no longer only a road-course driver.<\/p>\n \u201cSVG has been tagged as a road course ringer since he arrived, and tonight he just buried that narrative,\u201d Jarrett said. \u201cThis wasn\u2019t a one-off. He ran up front all night on a demanding oval. It\u2019s time to retire that label. He\u2019s becoming a complete driver.\u201d<\/p>\n Van Gisbergen entered full-time NASCAR Cup Series competition with a reputation built mainly on road courses. The three-time Supercars champion earned wins and strong results at tracks such as Watkins Glen, Sonoma, and the Charlotte Roval.<\/p>\n Ovals posed a greater challenge during his transition to NASCAR. Heavy traffic, tire wear, and the physical demands of long races caused early struggles and helped create the \u201croad course specialist\u201d label.<\/p>\n Charlotte showed a different side of his development. Doran\u2019s late strategy call helped van Gisbergen gain track position near the end of the race and lead more oval laps than ever before in his NASCAR career.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was really cool to run up front all day,\u201d van Gisbergen repeated after the race.<\/p>\n The result also helped him climb two positions in the NASCAR Cup Series standings and move farther away from the playoff cut line. As the season continues, Charlotte Motor Speedway may become the race many point to as proof that Shane van Gisbergen is growing into a complete NASCAR driver.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tDogli Wilberforce<\/a> is a writer covering NASCAR, Formula 1, and the IndyCar Series for Heavy Sports. He has also written for Sportsnaut, FanSided, Total Apex Sports, and Last Word on Sports. Wilberforce focuses on the NASCAR Cup Series, breaking down news, driver stories, and key moments with a clear, fast, and engaging style. His work connects headlines to context, helping readers understand what matters most in the sport. More about Dogli Wilberforce<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty WATKINS GLEN, NEW YORK – AUGUST 09: Shane Van Gisbergen, driver of the #88 WeatherTech Chevrolet, looks…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":189491,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,634,82],"class_list":["post-697103","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\/697103","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=697103"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/697103\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/189491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=697103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=697103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=697103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}