Leigh Diffey hails Shane van Gisbergen as NASCAR's toughest new challenge

Shane van Gisbergen's NASCAR rookie season has been one of the most closely watched stories in the Cup Series. Ahead of the regular season finale at Daytona, NBC play-by-play commentator Leigh Diffey spoke about SVG's impact and what makes him one of the toughest new challenges in the sport.

The three-time Supercars champion from New Zealand has brought his road-racing expertise to Trackhouse Racing, where he has already picked up four victories in 2025 and sits second overall in playoff points.

For Diffey, this is the second year he is serving as NBC's lead Cup Series voice, replacing Rick Allen midway through 2024 just before the playoffs. Now the network's stretch of 12 races to close the season has him calling every event from TNT's handoff through the finale.

Ahead of this weekend's Coke Zero Sugar 400, he sat down with the Daytona Beach News-Journal to speak about Van Gisbergen, and said:

"Amazing. Flat-out amazing. I'll go back to something he has said many times. He has the utmost respect for the NASCAR racers."

Shane van Gisbergen entered full-time Cup competition this year after making headlines with his 2023 debut victory on the Chicago Street Course. That led to a developmental contract with Trackhouse and a seat in the No. 88 Chevrolet for 2025.

In his first full season, he has quickly become a road-course ace, winning all but one such event - Circuit of the Americas - and stacking up four victories before the playoffs.

SVG's dominance has also sparked criticism that his skill set gives him a one-sided edge. Diffey added:

"Pretend there were never any road-course races in NASCAR, ever, then take one of those drivers who'd never been on a road course, ever, and put them on a road course. That'd be the SVG story in reverse."

Diffey's defense of Shane van Gisbergen is simple. The Kiwi is excelling because he has taken on a new challenge while still respecting the field around him. His success should be seen as a test of adaptability and not as an unfair imbalance.

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Shane van Gisbergen's regular season comes down to Daytona

Shane Van Gisbergen before the NASCAR Cup Series race at Sonoma. Source: Getty

While Shane van Gisbergen has been untouchable on road courses, ovals remain a work in progress. In his two previous Cup starts at Daytona International Speedway, he has finished outside the top 30. In the 2025 campaign, he has not posted a top 10 on an oval, which shows the gaps in his oval racing.

There are signs of growth, though. His 14th-place finish at Richmond last weekend tied his best oval result since the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte earlier this year. Daytona still represents the biggest hurdle.

SVG was 14th in Duel 2 during Speedweeks, which offered him one of his few clean laps around the superspeedway. That experience may help him as he enters the Coke Zero Sugar 400 - the last chance to sharpen his oval skills before the playoffs begin.