There is nowhere Shane van Gisbergen ends up but Victory Lane when it comes to road course races. The New Zealander secured his third Cup Series victory of the season last Sunday at Sonoma Raceway. Ever since, the NASCAR world has been abuzz with how he is the greatest road course racer in the sport’s history. However, Kyle Petty isn’t a fan of such talks.
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The former driver discussed van Gisbergen’s eligibility to be considered the greatest of all time on road courses on NASCAR’s Kiss My Asphalt segment and explained, rather irritatedly, why he isn’t qualified enough. The biggest issue that Petty has is that the driver has been here for just three years, and that it is too short a period to put someone on such a high pedestal.
Could all the newspapers, TV and YouTube channels, and fan pages be jumping the gun too soon? Petty thinks so. He said, “He is the greatest of the moment in road racing. We can’t say anything else. Let’s go all the way back to the 60s. Dan Gurney came into the sport and showed people how to run the road courses. Then along comes Tim Richmond. Then along comes AJ Allmendinger and Marcos Ambrose.
“Now we have SVG. And he has raised the bar. That’s all he’s done right now. Greatest of all time? We use the word great way too much. I’m going to call him the greatest of the moment. That’s where I’m going to stay with it.”
Petty also pointed out how everyone thought it was a prophecy for Christopher Bell to be the Cup Series champion when he won three races in quick succession at the beginning of 2025. But now Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, and van Gisbergen have all reached that mark, and Bell is just another name in the points table.
This showcases how a lot of needless hype is built around a particular driver. Petty also expressed his displeasure at the idea of disrespecting legends such as Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt Sr., and Jeff Gordon by calling van Gisbergen the G.O.A.T.
The Trackhouse Racing superstar currently has four wins on road courses. He stands 11th in the all-time road course wins list. That means 10 drivers have won more than him. Gordon, Chase Elliott, Tony Stewart, and Kyle Larson are a few of these drivers. So, in what way is he already a superior driver than them? It all comes down to dominance.
Van Gisbergen has won races with margins previously unheard of in stock car racing. There has never been anyone who has had this much of a gap with the rest of the field on road courses. From Larson to Denny Hamlin, everyone acknowledges that. Even if topping the all-time wins list is what will make Petty fall in line, then it’s not going to take long for him to, at the rate van Gisbergen is grabbing wins.
