Trackhouse Racing driver Shane van Gisbergen has been attracting a lot of attention after his remarkable performance in his rookie year. Following that, Gisbergen was featured in an interview ahead of the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. During the pre-race interview, he opened up about the 'huge risk' he took to switch to stock car racing.SVG competed in the Supercars Championship Series before transitioning into NASCAR. He dominated the series with three championship titles, 80 wins, 176 podiums, and 46 pole positions. Following that, he made his first appearance in the Cup Series with Trackhouse Racing in 2023 and won his debut race at the Chicago Street Road Course.Then Shane van Gisbergen landed his maiden full-time seat with the team this season. Despite being a rookie, the Trackhouse Racing driver has won five road course races this year. Reflecting on his success in the series, the #88 Chevy Camaro ZL1 driver claimed that taking a 'huge risk' to switch to NASCAR 'paid off really well.'"My life's changed. Yeah, it's been amazing. I was happily racing V8 supercars in Australia. And yeah, when the opportunity came up to change come over here last year. And yeah, I'm glad I did it. It was a huge risk, I think, and it's paid off really well. And I'm loving my racing more than ever," the former Supercars Champion stated [00:25].Shane van Gisbergen also debuted in the Xfinity Series last year with Kaulig Racing. He drove the #97 Chevy for the team and secured three wins, and ended the season in P12. Additionally, he improved this year and claimed the Rookie of the Year title.“We’ve gotten a ton better”: Shane van Gisbergen's crew chief got candid about the team's oval track program that helped him in his rookie seasonEarlier in August 2025, Shane van Gisbergen's crew chief, Stephen Doran, was featured in an interview with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Ch. 90. During the interaction, the crew chief got candid about SVG's performance at oval tracks and how the program helped him in his rookie season.The New Zealand-based driver had no experience competing at oval tracks in the series he competed in. Moreover, competing at oval tracks has a learning curve, and the Kiwi driver struggled in his rookie year. However, his crew chief had a plan in mind to help the Chevy driver and designed an oval track program to improve his performance.Following that, Shane van Gisbergen began actively competing in oval track events, and his hard work paid off. The #88 Chevy driver secured his maiden oval track win at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the Legends Car Series in July 2025. Doran further cited the example of Iowa Speedway and claimed SVG had a good run but was wrecked twice.Reflecting on the same, Stephen Doran stated:"He's equally as good of a student on the ovals, and I think you've seen the progress from the beginning of the year until now. Really, I think since in the All Star race, our oval program has continued to get better. Even Iowa, we had a really good race going, gotten the fence, got the car fixed, and he drove back through the field to 16th with a kind of a dinged up race car, and then ended up getting wrecked again towards the end."Shane van Gisbergen currently ranks 12th in the Cup Series playoff standings with 2142 points to his credit. He has secured five wins, 7 top tens, 5 top fives, and three pole positions in 32 starts this season.