Although he’s a world-renowned road course champion with multiple Australian Supercars Series titles and has an amazing run of seven road course victories in the NASCAR Cup Series, New Zealander Shane van Gisbergen has also raised his oval track stock car game this season and consistently been ranked among the championship eligible top 16 in the standings.
The driver of the No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet already has half the number of his career-best top five and top 10 season totals through only a third of the 2026 schedule. That includes not only a dominating win at the Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International road course but career-best efforts at seven of the opening 13 races of the season – highlighted by seven oval showings.
The result of all this is a 14th place mark in the Cup Series championship standings heading into Sunday’s Nashville Superspeedway 400-miler. Not only is the uptick in results encouraging, but van Gisbergen says there is even a change he’s detected in the competitive impact of those he’s racing around.
“I think it’s always just time and always learning stuff,” van Gisbergen said of his oval evolution. “Even last week, just learning stuff throughout the race and learning the flow of the race better. And then the further up front you are, the better people race you, as well, so that’s always nice.
“It’s a real dogfight in the back, so getting away from that is a nice break. I think it really shows the importance of qualifying, getting up front, making no mistakes, and you can stay out there all day.”
“The racing is always good,’’ he added. “I love the series and love racing everyone in it. Certainly, the good guys in this series and the level they’re at is pretty impressive to see how they’re just always up there every week, so I’m trying to emulate that a bit.”
