“Our rate of improvement is still pretty steep”: Road course ace Shane van Gisbergen keeps his expectations real as NASCAR playoffs approach 

Shane van Gisbergen headlined the Chicago weekend with his two dominant wins in the Xfinity and Cup Series on the street course. While his second win of the season with Trackhouse Racing locks him comfortably for the 2025 playoffs, he keeps his postseason goals with the No. 88 Chevrolet team steady as he eyes continued growth in the ovals in the coming weekends.

Coming from a storied background of road course racing, Shane van Gisbergen, the three-time Supercars champion, has already triumphed in two races (Mexico City and Chicago) in his rookie Cup season. With seven races remaining before NASCAR ventures into the playoff campaign, the 36-year-old New Zealander was asked about his expectations from the regular season races, as out of the seven, five are on traditional oval tracks.

Speaking with former NASCAR driver Kevin Harvick, Gisbergen said:

"I never have expectations, but I feel like our rate of improvement is still pretty steep on the ovals. I feel like we're learning something every week and and now we're going to start to go back to tracks we've been to before. So, we got a bit of a notebook. Um, so yeah, hopefully we just keep getting better. It's been good." (34:00 onwards)

Furthermore, he added:

"Like our average pace positions gone from in the 30s to now in the 20s, you know, so now we got to get into the 10th to 15th area. That would be awesome. And just keep making those little steps and keep improving."

Apart from his stunning road course performance, the Trackhouse star Gisbergen's best finish on an oval was P14 for the Coca-Cola 600 race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

---

Shane van Gisbergen wants to "justify" his NASCAR Cup Series seat

Shane van Gisbergen has been the force to reckon with on the current schedule of road course racing in the Cup Series. However, the Trackhouse Racing driver didn't shy away from clearing the air about his real focus in the premier division as he keeps the Justin Marks-owned team in the playoffs.

In a post-race conversation after his Mexico triumph, Gisbergen said:

"That's why I'm here, to win road races, but I'm not here to run last on the ovals either. I need to keep getting better, and to justify being a Cup Series driver, I need to be performing on the ovals, too. So, I feel like we're really making strides."

While the Cup wins keep Shane van Gisbergen in the playoffs, the No. 88 driver currently stands P27 in the overall points table. He will return in action for another attempt at a doubleheader sweep in Sonoma. Gisbergen will kick off his weekend in the No. 9 JR Motorsports car in the Xfinity Series, followed by the Toyota/Save Mart 350 race in the Cup Series.

Catch Shane van Gisbergen and his team live for a back-to-back road course race at Sonoma Raceway on July 13 from 3:30 p.m. ET.