Shane van Gisbergen has won five of the last six NASCAR Cup Series races, but the New Zealander is still looking to improve on ovals, with three of the final four races of the season taking place on such tracks
van Gisbergen recently cracked the top 10 on an oval for the first time in his career(Image: Getty)
Shane van Gisbergen claimed victory once again at Charlotte on Sunday, crushing the competition in the Bank of America Roval 400 behind the wheel of his No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet and crossing the finish line more than 15 seconds ahead of Kyle Larson who secured second place.
The 36 year old newcomer’s fifth triumph of the NASCAR Cup Series season also represented his fifth straight road course victory in 2025. However, with the series now shifting exclusively to ovals for the final four races, Van Gisbergen will return to mastering this still relatively unfamiliar style of racing in the coming weeks.
The upcoming three races, which comprise the Playoffs Round of 8, will kick off at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, before moving on to Talladega Superspeedway, and concluding at Martinsville Speedway, prior to the championship showdown in Phoenix. The news emerges as teammate gesture that almost had Austin Cindric in tears on ‘challenging’ day
READ MORE: Donald Trump mounting health fears could see him removed from officeREAD MORE: ‘My life is great 40 years after my dad killed my rapist on live TV – I wouldn’t trade a thing’
Although van Gisbergen is no longer competing for the championship, having been eliminated in the Round of 16, the New Zealander still has significant work ahead through the rest of the season.
Shane van Gisbergen won his fifth race of the season at Charlotte’s Roval(Image: Getty)
“Probably the mile and a halfs are the ones I’m still not the most comfortable with,” van Gisbergen said on the ‘Dale Jr. Download’ podcast when previewing the upcoming trio of races.
“So, hopefully, we keep building on Kansas at Vegas this week and keep learning there.Sign up to our NASCAR newsletter here.
“But I enjoy the superspeedways, but I haven’t got a good result there yet.
“So, hopefully I go good at Talladega and get a finish. “
Despite two previous attempts at Vegas that didn’t see him finish higher than 29th, Van Gisbergen has shown promise with a 15th place finish at Talladega in 2024 and a 12th place finish at Martinsville in the Cup Series, reports the Express US.
NASCAR legend and podcast host Dale Earnhardt Jr. noted that Martinsville is a track where road course stars often excel, something Van Gisbergen attributes to their braking tendencies.
“I guess cause you got more of a downshift and you got a bit more technique with your braking and how you can use your tools with the brake bias, the gear change and how you get the car into the corner,” he explained. “So you can kind of influence it a little more as a driver, unlike a big oval.
“But yeah, it’s still pretty difficult. You still see the regular oval drivers that are amazing there, and it’s a tough track.
“I got a decent result there last year. I think I got a 12th with some strategy, and we did a pace last year, but then a wheel fell off.
“It’s a crazy race. I enjoy racing there until the end of the stages or the end of the race, when everyone just loses their minds.
“But in normal racing, I find it a really fun track.”
While Van Gisbergen may not have fully mastered ovals yet, his recent 10th-place finish in the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway marked his first-ever career top-10 on an oval in the Cup Series.
This shows that the three-time Supercars Championship winner is definitely making progress.