A new car number and a full season of experience capped by a Playoff debut in the NASCAR Cup Series certainly have Trackhouse Racing’s Shane Van Gisbergen feeling optimistic about the 2026 season.
Not surprisingly, the former three-time Australian Supercars champion has spent much of his time in the sport adjusting to the oval racing he hadn’t experienced before. He earned five wins in 2025 (second only to veteran Denny Hamlin)—all on road courses—and claimed the Sunoco Rookie of the Year award.
This season, the New Zealander obviously would like to up his oval game to more closely match his road course prowess and seems optimistic about what he learned in his rookie season. His only top-10 finish on an oval was a 10th place run at Kansas last September, but he was strong last week on a short track in the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium.
“You just learn what you want and need from a car,” said Van Gisbergen, whose Chevrolet will carry his long-time No. 97 beginning this season. “My driving style was very different to most, I guess. The way I make the car work or want it to work is very different to others.
“We noticed a lot of trends which took a while to get everyone to adjust to. I adjusted a bit, but now we’re sort of coming my way a bit, which has kind of helped me. It’s interesting. The cars are set up so different to what I’m used to, and I’m still trying to understand what I need or want from the car.”
As for racing on the big tracks such as Daytona (2.5 miles) and Talladega Superspeedway (2.66 miles) Van Gisbergen says he enjoys the style but acknowledges it’s a whole different ballgame.
“I’m still learning and trying to make friends, I guess. People leave you for no reason, or you do something wrong and lose the trust of people. It takes a while to understand how to put your car in the right place.”
“You don’t really have an influence on it. You just drive as fast as you can, close to the line as you can. But the preparation is very different. On road courses, I’m more involved in setup with what I want. On the ovals I’m just kind of learning and trying to build a notebook.
“In these races it’s about trying to understand the flow of the race, how to work with people. It’s a completely different style of racing—that’s for sure.”
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