Shane van Gisbergen's team faces similar penalties as Michael McDowell for pre-practice violation ahead of Kansas race

NASCAR slammed Trackhouse Racing driver Shane van Gisbergen just as they did with Spire Motorsports' Michael McDowell, ahead of the practice session at Kansas Speedway. The governing body found unapproved adjustments had been made to the #88 Chevy, resulting in a penalty.

NASCAR journalist Jeff Gluck shared the news via X. He pointed out that Gisbergen would have to start the 267-lap race from the end of the pack. Additionally, he lost his privilege of choosing the pit stall and had to perform a stop-and-go pit road penalty after taking the green flag. On top of everything, the rookie driver also lost his crew chief, Stephen Doran, for the entire weekend.

NASCAR also issued Spire Motorsports driver Michael McDowell similar penalties, ejecting his crew chief, Travis Peterson, from the weekend. He will also begin the race from the end of the pack and perform a stop-and-go penalty after the green flag. The penalty dropped Shane van Gisbergen from P24 and McDowell from P21 in the 400.5-mile race.

Reflecting on the Trackhouse Racing driver's penalty, Jeff Gluck wrote:

"NASCAR has just issued another update saying Shane van Gisbergen's team has similar penalties to McDowell's for unapproved adjustments prior to practice: -- Crew chief Stephen Doran ejected -- Lost pit selection -- Start at the rear -- Stop-and-go penalty after taking the green flag"

Jeff Gluck

@jeff_gluck

NASCAR has just issued another update saying Shane van Gisbergen's team has similar penalties to McDowell's for unapproved adjustments prior to practice: -- Crew chief Stephen Doran ejected -- Lost pit selection -- Start at the rear -- Stop-and-go penalty after taking the green

Shane van Gisbergen had a decent run at Kansas Speedway earlier this year. Despite having a poor qualifying session and beginning the race from P36, the Auckland native finished the race among the top 20 drivers, securing a P20 finish. SVG's last top-20 finish came at Daytona International Speedway in August, where he finished in 16th place.

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“We’ve gotten a ton better”: Shane van Gisbergen's crew chief got candid about the oval program they have been following this season

Earlier in 2025, Shane van Gisbergen's crew chief, Stephen Doran, was featured in an interview with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Ch. 90. During the interaction, the Trackhouse Racing crew chief pointed out that the #88 team has been following a specialized program to improve Gisbergen's performance at oval tracks.

Despite having prior experience of driving a sports car earlier, the New Zealand-based driver had never competed on ovals before his career in NASCAR. Competing on an oval track is not as easy as one may think, and it has a learning curve to it. Even the former Supercar champion struggled with the track in the early 2025 season.

Since then, Shane van Gisbergen has competed in multiple oval track events and clinched his first oval track victory in July 2025 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Reflecting on SVG's success, Doran told the media house:

"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."

Currently, Shane van Gisbergen ranks 15th in the Cup Series points table with 2059 points to his account. He has secured four wins, five top tens, four top fives, and three pole positions in 30 starts this season.