In a year, Shane van Gisbergen has gone from knowing nothing about oval racing to learning the ropes and holding his own on the niche racing style. When he arrived in NASCAR, the penmanship seemed straightforward. He was expected to win on a road course, punch a playoff ticket, and go as long as possible in the playoffs, while trying to improve elsewhere. But with the format shift, that shortcut no longer exists. However, now with the format shift, it is about stacking points and keeping the nose clean on every layout, not just the ones with left-right turns.
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Across two seasons, one in Xfinity and one in Cup, SVG has logged laps on ovals and started to crack the code. After qualifying P10 at New Hampshire, and running inside the top 10 during Stage 1 there, SVG even finished inside the top 10 at Kansas in the very next week last year. In fact, down the stretch, he ran inside the top 10 and even the top five in several events, even if he could not finish the races inside the same.
More than once, his run ended in someone else’s wreck or a car that was too tight for him to handle. But the numbers show movement. His average oval finish dropped from 26.6 in the first half of the season to 22.73 in the second. It is progress one can chart.
Even so, he is not ready to pound the table and call himself a threat to win on ovals. He said, “I think genuinely to win one outright on speed. We’re not there yet, but I can still, I still feel things every week. I have light bulb moments or I feel big progression every week, still, so if that stops happening, I’ll start getting worried.”
“But I still know that I have so much to learn and get better at. So yeah, there’s still progress to come. I’d love to win a race on an oval, but I want to genuinely deserve it too,” the Trackhouse driver continued.
@shanevg97 thinks there’s more speed to be found from himself on ovals before the No. 97 team can legitimately challenge for a victory this season.
“I think genuinely to win one outright on speed, we’re not there yet […] I feel big progression every week, still.” pic.twitter.com/SmUlPCa4am
— SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch. 90) (@SiriusXMNASCAR) February 12, 2026
SVG knows where the shoe pinches. Phoenix has not yielded gains, finishing 31st in the regular event and 24th in the finale last year. Bristol has also been a tough nut to crack for the Kiwi. Those are the tracks that demand more from him. He believes the car can deliver better results, but with limited practice time, the margin for error shrinks. That puts the onus on him to work on his skills and keep building on the longer ovals where the gains have shown.
With the Chase format in place for 2026, it is all the more necessary for SVG to build up his rapport as a complete racer in NASCAR, and not just a driver solely focused on punching a playoff ticket.
