"I'm behind him right now": AJ Allmendinger admits Shane van Gisbergen has the upper hand on road courses

Shane van Gisbergen has risen to be one of the fiercest drivers at road courses in the NASCAR realm, and AJ Allmendinger is aware of this. The 43-year-old, who was earlier known for his road course prowess, has admitted that he is behind the Kiwi in performance metrics on such race tracks.

SVG won his first race in the Cup Series sphere at the Chicago Street Course in 2023. Since then, the Kiwi has earned a name for his impressive performances at road and street courses.

Moreover, SVG became the first rookie full-time driver to win four Cup Series races, as he won in Mexico, Chicago, Sonoma, and Watkins Glen. So, whenever a road course is lined up in the NASCAR calendar, the racing realm looks over to the 36-year-old for being a possible winner when the chequered flag falls on the track.

However, this has seemingly taken Allmendinger's status in the Cup Series field, and when asked about where he stands in relation to the Supercars champion on the road courses, he told (X/@ClaireBLang):

"I'm behind him right now. We are all behind him. I do think if we get it all right, we can go race with him for the win, but when you went four-in-a-row, it's harder to go: "We are just as good as him," he's stepped up a level up and we gotta get there."

Subsequently, when asked about what makes SVG special, he said:

"It's everything. I got to see it up close and personal last year as teammates. He's super smooth; he knows the limit of going over the tire. Obviously, he's super good [at] saving the tires... I think that truly is where he beats us, knowing how to do that but still have speed."

Meanwhile, AJ Allmendinger has scored two top-five results in the 2025 season so far.

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AJ Allmendinger reveals his targets for the race in Roval

Kaulig Racing's AJ Allmendinger ahead of the Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway - Source: Imagn

Since the last race in Darlington, AJ Allmendinger has not made an entry into the top-10. Despite claiming the pole position in Bristol, his race ended prematurely, a trend that has continued into the last few races.

While he has been a previous winner at the Roval, the Kaulig Racing driver has revisited his targets for the race, as he said (via Speedway Media):

"Obviously, the ultimate goal is to compete for the win, but for how the year’s gone on the road course side of it, running top five, avoiding mistakes and giving ourselves an opportunity to be there at the end will be a successful day for us."

Allmendinger will start ninth at the Roval.