“He makes it look so effortless”: Jimmie Johnson breaks down what makes SVG ‘exceptional’ compared to other on road courses

Former seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson shared high praise for Shane van Gisbergen, highlighting what sets the New Zealander apart from his peers, especially on road courses. In a media interaction after the Sonoma race, Johnson shed light on what makes SVG so special in his young NASCAR career.

On a pleasant Sunday afternoon, Van Gisbergen, who moved from Supercars to stock car racing last year, dominated the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma, securing his third win of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season. All three of SVG’s victories this season have come on road courses.

During a post-Sonoma race press conference (via NASCAR reporter Peter Stratta), Legacy Motor Club co-owner Jimmie Johnson detailed exactly what sets SVG apart from the rest of the drivers on road courses. Praising SVG’s exceptional skill on road courses, Johnson pointed out that it’s not just his deep braking ability, but his overall understanding of car control that makes him hard to beat on road courses.

“Yeah, his understanding of the car and how to position the car. You know, clearly braking is something that he is exceptional at, but it's not just deep braking. It's the way you manage the pedals, how you don't oversaturate the front tires and can use the front tires to turn the car into the corner and carry speed,” Johnson said.

“He makes it look so effortless and carries so much more speed than other cars to the center of the turn. It's just really impressive, and he has such a great feel for it,” Johnson continued.

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“To watch them duke it out.. is quite impressive: Jimmie Johnson on SVG and Connor Zilisch’s battle at Sonoma Xfinity race

The 18-year-old Xfinity rookie Connor Zilisch held off the road course ringer SVG in the late-race battle to win last Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Sonoma’s 1.99-mile-long road course.

Further during the aforementioned exchange, Jimmie Johnson spoke about Zilisch’s intense battle with SVG and said:

“To watch he and Zillich yesterday duke it out and what we saw in Chicago SVG is really impressive. But to see you know, a young driver come along and duke it out with him at this level is quite impressive as well.”

In his first full-time NASCAR Cup Series season, SVG has locked his playoff spot thanks to his three wins and currently stands in 26th place in the regular season Cup Series points table with 367 points.