NASCAR driver Shane van Gisbergen aiming for elite company at Watkins Glen International

Associated Press

a day ago

On the NASCAR tracks with the most circuitous sequence of turns, Shane van Gisbergen has shown a remarkably sublime sense of direction.
But the Trackhouse Racing driver still needs help navigating his new life in the United States — such as the recent announcement of a 2026 street race in San Diego.
'I don't even know where that is,' the Auckland, New Zealand, native said with a laugh. 'I had to find it on a map. It'll be cool to go. I've never been there and get to experience all new things.'
The Cup Series rookie is an old hand on road courses, which he mastered with 80 victories and three championships from 2007-22 in Supercars (the top racing series in Australia and New Zealand). Those results caught the eye of Trackhouse founder Justin Marks, who took a flier on putting van Gisbergen in a Cup car for the inaugural Chicago Street Race in July 2023.
After stunning NASCAR at Chicago as the first driver to win his Cup debut since Johnny Rutherford in 1963, van Gisbergen relocated to NASCAR last year. He has won at Mexico City, Chicago and Sonoma this season, securing a playoff berth for the No. 88 Chevrolet and a multiyear extension at Trackhouse.
With a victory Sunday at Watkins Glen International, a 2.45-mile road course in New York, the 36-year-old van Gisbergen would join 2020 champion Chase Elliott and NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon as the only drivers to win four consecutive Cup races on road or street courses.
Though van Gisbergen has only 37 career starts in NASCAR's premier series, his four victories already rank third among active drivers on street or road courses.
'These guys have egos, and they are not OK with this,' NASCAR on NBC analyst Steve Letarte said after van Gisbergen's win at Sonoma last month. 'When we go to Watkins Glen, I think it's basically 35 against one, because they'll be like, 'What can we do to bury this guy?''
It starts with getting close enough to rough up van Gisbergen, who has qualified first in his three wins. He won at Mexico City by 16.567 seconds, the Cup Series' largest margin of victory in more than 15 years and the largest gap on a road course in more than 45 years.
He faced more pressure at Sonoma on multiple late restarts, but runner-up Chase Briscoe raced him cleanly (and then compared van Gisbergen's road course skills with Michael Jordan in his prime).
'I feel like everyone races really well, and I really love the racing here,' van Gisbergen said. 'I don't feel like anyone targets me on the track and tries to take me out, but I feel like we're the benchmark, which is really awesome. But the best thing on the road course is I've never really raced the same guy. Every week, there's someone different. The spread of talent is quite high here.'
Chris Buescher is the only Cup driver to have gotten the best of him. Racing at Watkins Glen last year in a part-time Cup schedule, van Gisbergen missed a corner entry 'by centimeters' and lost to the Roush Fenway Keselowski driver on a last-lap pass.
'I studied it a lot, and that was painful,' van Gisbergen said. 'I'm quite self-analytical, and even when I think of it now, it frustrates me.'
He also is a humble perfectionist in addressing his inexperience on oval tracks, which comprise the bulk of the NASCAR schedule. On the advice of 2014 Cup champion Kevin Harvick, van Gisbergen has spent his summer racing Tuesday nights at Charlotte Motor Speedway against preteens in miniature stock cars on a quarter-mile oval.
He recently earned his first win on the short track, whose four turns encourage the full-contact racing that largely is absent on road courses.
'I had 12-year-olds bump me and know exactly how to place their car, and I'd never hit anyone on purpose to pass them,' said van Gisbergen, who made his oval debut only two years ago. 'It's a skill that we don't get taught because you're not allowed to do it (in Supercars). So yeah, it's been really beneficial and a lot of fun. It's just more racing and more combat.'
He figures to be battle-tested when the Cup playoffs begin in three weeks. The first round is held exclusively at ovals, where van Gisbergen has an average finish of 26.7, but he will start the playoffs with a points cushion because of his wins.
He is confident of advancing to the second round simply by avoiding mistakes at tracks located in Darlington, South Carolina, suburban St. Louis and Bristol, Tennessee — while also enjoying their divergent cultures.
'Australia is the same size country, but from one side to the other, there's not much difference in the accents,' van Gisbergen said. 'Here, it's very diverse, and the way people talk is so different. Every part of the country feels like a different country. It's been an awesome experience just trying to learn about it.'
Odds and ends
According to BetMGM Sportsbook, van Gisbergen (+125) is the favorite, followed by Connor Zilisch (+500), Christopher Bell (+1200) and Kyle Larson (+1200). … With his 63rd start on a road or street course Sunday, Kyle Busch will tie Terry Labonte for most in Cup Series history. Both of Busch's top-five finishes this season have been on a road or street course (fifth at Circuit of The Americas and Chicago). … Three-time and defending series champion Joey Logano will become the 13th Cup driver to make 600 consecutive starts.
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