Shane van Gisbergen’s dominance has already landed him a spot in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, and following another impressive oval run, Kevin Harvick believes the New Zealander could yet make a push in the Playoffs.
With four wins in five road course races so far this season, the 36-year-old three-time Supercars Championship winner has been in a class of his own on roads, while ovals remain relatively uncharted territory for the Trackhouse Racing driver. Van Gisbergen’s supremacy may have proven controversial among some, but as Kyle Larson previously warned, should he find his groove on ovals, he could yet be a “dominant” force beyond the roads.
Van Gisbergen has stated on numerous occasions of late that he believes he is beginning to find his way on the uniquely American oval raceways, as was evident with his solid 14th-place finish at Richmond in the Cook Out 400 on Saturday, which was won by Austin Dillon.
His joint-best oval finish of the season, and his second-best in the Cup Series, Richmond also marked van Gisbergen’s second top 20 finish on an oval in the past three races. His continual improvement appears to have convinced 2014 champion Harvick that the driver of the No. 88 should not be underestimated once the Playoffs kick off following Daytona.
“That 15th to 18th, 19th average finishing position in a round typically will advance you through the first round,” he said on ‘Harvick’s Happy Hour‘. “So, if he can get those 14th, 15th-place finishes in the First Round with the points that he has earned, he could make it through that First Round, and why would you bet against him?”
Harvick then asked why anyone wouldn’t pick Van Gisbergen as the favorite at the Roval, with the road course set to play host to the third and final race in the Round of 12.
The First Round is set to begin at Darlington, where Van Gisbergen finished down in 26th last season, although in the Xfinity Series, he crossed the line in seventh. The Cup will then head for World Wide Technology Raceway, which remains a complete unknown to the rookie, before he heads to the more familiar surroundings of Bristol, where damage from a wreck ultimately knocked him out of the Food City 500 in April.
Despite Van Gisbergen’s lack of laps around the three tracks in question, his overarching improvement on ovals could yet put him in good standing to fulfill Harvick’s prediction. “The start of the year was pretty rough,” van Gisbergen recently told Dale Earnhardt Jr. on his ‘Dale Jr. Download‘ podcast of racing ovals. “But you can see the glimpses, and now they’re getting more and more.
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“And I feel like I’ve had some really good races, I feel like I’m matching my teammates a lot of weeks, and qualifying really well, and I can see it coming and feel it coming.
“We’re still a long way from winning a race or being complete, but I can feel and see where the time is. I’m having more moments where I have a couple of good sections of a race or feel the car doing something, and I’m, ‘Oh, there it is. There’s the limit.’ And I’m getting closer to that every week. And I’m feeling it more often.
“So I can really feel the progression. But the biggest thing is, I enjoy it. I’ve really had some cool races on ovals and I get to the end of the stage and I’m worn out [and] puffing and I’m like, ‘Man, that was fun.’ And I’ll be 10th, or I’ll be 20th or whatever, it doesn’t matter I just really enjoy the racing on the ovals.”