Shane van Gisbergen keeps it real on Ross Chastain's leadership and weak spots that Trackhouse should work upon

Shane van Gisbergen praised Ross Chastain as Trackhouse Racing's 'top dog' after his Coca-Cola 600 win at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Nonetheless, he also noted the team's persistent qualifying struggles hampering its race day potential.

Gisbergen took a step forward in the crown jewel event, securing his second-best oval finish at 14th, despite sustaining damage to his No.88 Chevy from the lap 245 caution. The spotlight, however, was on his teammate Chastain, who charged from the tail end of the field to the checkered flag.

Chastain's last-place start came from a penalty after switching to a backup car. Nonetheless, his recent results follow a similar pattern of making up places from a poor starting position. He logged three top-10 results in the last six rounds after starting outside the top-30, pointing to deep-rooted qualifying woes plaguing the team.

Reflecting upon the same, Van Gisbergen told NASCAR reporter Steven Taranto post-race:

"I think he's the top guy here, and Daniel's pretty close as well, like everyone's pushing really hard, they're race-winning drivers. Then we're qualifying 20s and in the 30s every week. So you know, and still qualifying, we're not great."

"It was a real struggle, like I think I was fifth for six on the average lap. That's pretty good. But, qualifying, we just can't switch the tire off. So yeah, we need to work on that," he added.

Shane van Gisbergen called himself the team's 'weakness' and looks to better himself by learning from his teammates. The New Zealand native recently acknowledged that adapting to ovals takes time. However, his progress is evident, as he claimed pole position during last weekend's All-Star Open at North Wilkesboro Speedway. His strong finish at Charlotte further solidifies his upward trend.

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"I'm not willing to do stupid sh*t yet": Shane van Gisbergen opens up about his learning curve

Shane van Gisbergen shared a candid account of his shortcomings during the Memorial Day weekend. He acknowledged that he's 'just not experienced' to take risks and potentially get on the fence, but remained optimistic about his eventual gains from more laps under his belt.

"The margins are so tight, on the restarts, I struggle with the dirty air, just not knowing where to place the car, I'm just not experienced. I'm not willing to do stupid sh*t yet because I don't wanna crash, I need to get all the laps I can, and it's working for us. The results aren't great, but I feel like we are getting there," he said to the media post-race.

Shane van Gisbergen currently ranks 33rd in the drivers' standings with 161 points and a single top-10 finish coming from COTA. He's known for his strong drives in road courses, having secured his first win at the Chicago Street Course in 2023. More such tracks are coming his way, starting with NASCAR's first race in Mexico City at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez circuit on June 15.