“I hated driving those cars”: Shane van Gisbergen doesn’t sugarcoat his feelings on exiting Supercars for NASCAR

Shane Van Gisbergen has admitted to 'hating' his time racing in the Supercars championship back in Australia. However, the Kiwi driver shared that he has 'so much fun' racing in NASCAR and called it his 'best decision ever.'

SVG entered NASCAR as a three-time Australian Supercars champion, along with three wins in the prestigious Bathurst 1000. Nonetheless, the Trackhouse Racing driver has seemingly found his calling in NASCAR.

In his rookie season this year, he has gone from being a fixture among the backmarkers and ineligible to compete in the In-Season challenge to now having multiple wins and a spot in the playoffs.

Reflecting upon his late-career switch from Supercars to NASCAR, the 36-year-old spoke to Racer.com and said,

“It justifies, or backs up, why we’ve done it and why Justin [Marks] believes in me. Justin looks like the smartest guy here after me locking into the playoffs, especially how dismal it looked early in the year. We all kept that belief."

"I feel like I made the best decision ever. I was really hating racing in Australia. I hated driving those cars. Now, I’ve never had so much fun racing, going to the racetrack every single weekend. I really love what I do,” he added.

Shane Van Gisbergen recently went on Kevin Harvick's Happy Hour Podcast and broke down the major differences between NASCAR and Supercars. He noted how the race weekends are so much shorter in NASCAR and admitted his affinity for the 'epic' pre-race rituals.

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Shane Van Gisbergen details his progress on the ovals

Shane Van Gisbergen has made up ground in the ovals lately, resulting in an average finish of 22 from the last seven races. His best finish on an oval comes from a 14th-place finish at Charlotte Motor Speedway, while he also showed promise with a pole in the All-Star Open.

Speaking about his progress in the ovals, SVG shared that it's a matter of 'comfort' when he competes in new tracks.

"When I went back to Darlington this year for the second time, I struggled there in the Southern 500 (in 2024), but in the race this year, I bent the car in practice, so we qualified badly. But in the race, we just got better and better as we went," he said via Racer.com

If his words are anything to go by, Shane Van Gisbergen's playoff chances appear promising, as he'll return to familiar tracks from the regular season, starting with Darlington Raceway. With only a few exceptions, like Gateway and the New Hampshire Motor Speedway, the #88 driver may carry an advantage throughout the post-season.

With two wins so far, SVG ranks fifth in the playoff standings, seven spots ahead of his Trackhouse Racing teammate and Coke 600 winner, Ross Chastain. Notably, he's the only other driver apart from Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell, and Kyle Larson to have multiple wins this season.