18-07-2025
Kiwi Shane van Gisbergen returns to oval racing at Dover after road wins
'He's way, way, way better than us at the road course stuff and he's got his own technique, you can call it. Not his own because the rest of the world does it, right-foot braking, clutching and all that stuff.
'You can't teach an old dog new tricks. Like, there's zero chance I can learn how to do that. And even if I did, like there's zero chance that I can have it be better than what I'm probably doing left-foot braking.
'So yeah, he's just so good. And he's still new to the oval stuff, so he's going to continue to get better at that. And, yeah, I mean, if he could figure out the ovals, he's going to be dominant.'
Van Gisbergen may only sit 26th in the Nascar Cup point's standing on 367 points, a fair way off leaders William Byron (668), Chaser Elliot (634) and Larson (624). However, with his three wins so far in 2025, van Gisbergen lies third in the playoff standings on 17 points behind Denny Hamlin (19) and Larson (23).
The Kiwi should get through the round of 16 despite it being entirely on ovals. The round of 12 will be a challenge, but Hamlin is confident van Gisbergen could actually make it through to the round of eight.
Shane van Gisbergen gets ready for a practice session at Daytona International Speedway. Photo / Photosport
High praise indeed from 57-race winner Hamlin but van Gisbergen is under no illusions just how hard it will be. After Sonoma he admitted he was apprehensive heading into the round of 16.
'It's a crazy first round for me. We go to Darlington, which is my favourite oval. Then I think it's Gateway, which I've never been to. Then Bristol, I might as well be going the other way.
'Hopefully we get better at tracks like that. We'll see how Gateway is,' he said.
Van Gisbergen will make his first Nascar Cup Series start at Dover Motor Speedway this weekend. Last year racing in the Xfinity Series he started 31st and crossed the line in 18th.
'I'm looking forward to getting back into some oval racing. It's been a nice break doing all these road courses, but Dover should be good.
'I struggled a bit there last year, but I still had fun. It's an epic track. Just how fast you can go into that corner, it feels like you are dropping and then all of a sudden you are loading up into the banking, just how much grip the track has is mind blowing.
'My team has a bunch of momentum heading into this weekend, so I'd like to keep that progression going and keep starting to build towards the top half of the field on the ovals.'
Heading into Dover van Gisbergen leads the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings on 367 points from Riley Herbst (238).
