Shane van Gisbergen missed the Chase, but he continues to make gains on the ovals, earning a top-five finish at Martinsville Speedway.
Van Gisbergen started 29th and didn’t make it to the top ten until the final stage of the race, but he made much of his progress during the long green-flag runs.
He was the only driver who started outside the top 20 to finish inside the top 10, and was set to battle teammate Ross Chastain for that top five before a pit stop error knocked Chastain down the order.
That left Van Gisbergen as Trackhouse’s highest finisher, placing fifth for his third-ever oval top five in the Cup Series. He also finished fifth at Nashville and North Wilkesboro earlier this year, and his previous best result at Martinsville was a 12th as a part-time driver in 2024.
“I guess the Wendy’s car is good luck,” said Van Gisbergen with a smile. “We got another top five with it, so pretty stoked with that. Just an awesome day. Pissed at myself (for) yesterday qualifying. If we started up front, maybe we would have had a better shot. Thanks to my Trackhouse team all day. We just methodically worked forward. Got in a couple little incidents, fixed it up, and got a good result.”
He later added in a separate interview: “I definitely feel like I’m getting there, thanks to having a great team around me … The first stage was awesome with the different strategies. We managed to stay on the lead lap and we just kept working forward. I enjoyed it.”
Van Gisbergen remains the highest-ranked driver outside the Chase field, holding 17th in the standings with a 29-point advantage over teammate Chastain entering the Homestead finale.
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