“That would be pretty unprecedented”: Dale Earnhardt Jr. is ‘worried’ about one thing concerning Shane van Gisbergen

Dale Earnhardt Jr. expressed concern for Shane van Gisbergen after Trackhouse Racing failed to perform remarkably in the last few races. Speaking about the team's overall performance, the former NASCAR driver mentioned that Ross Chastain, SVG, and their teammate, Daniel Suarez, were average in terms of speed on the oval tracks.

Even though van Gisbergen picked up three wins recently, they were on non-oval tracks, a sector where the New Zealand driver excels over any other driver. As a result, it wasn't a litmus test for team Trackhouse to go up there and compete with the likes of Joe Gibbs Racing, Hendrick Motorsports, or Team Penske.

Earnhardt Jr. discussed Trackhouse Racing's drawback in the latest Dale Jr Download podcast by Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s Dirty Mo Media. Speaking about the team's recent performance, as well as what they need to do to help SVG, he said:

"Ross was okay but then, Ross was 16th on speed. 99 was no way higher than that. Ross runs really good and so to take that car and make it 16th on speed to your point TJ, I think that the the Trackouse stuff just wasn't very good this weekend."

"They're going to have to improve their cars a lot to give SVG the chance because I think you know for SVG he's always even at the end of the year, or say what I'm trying to what I'm worried about SVG is this is what I'm worried about," he added (39:16-39:52).

Besides van Gisbergen's three victories, Ross Chastain is the only other driver who won a race for Trackhouse (at Charlotte). As both drivers qualified for the playoffs, Daniel Suarez has yet to win a race.

Regarding the regular season championship, Ross Chastain is the lead Trackhouse Racing driver (12th) with 517 points after 21 races. Shane van Gisbergen follows him (26th) with 374 points, and Daniel Suarez comes last (29th) with 341 points.

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Kyle Larson hailed Shane van Gisbergen's incredible road course talent

Shane van Gisbergen (88) poses for a photo with the trophy after winning the NASCAR Toyota / Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway - Source: Imagn

Fellow NASCAR driver Kyle Larson hailed Shane van Gisbergen and his brilliant performances at road course tracks. The Hendrick Motorsports driver said about SVG (via Motorsports Wire):

"You know, [Shane van Gisbergen]'s so good, and it’s rare that you see somebody stand out and distance himself from the competition as much as he is. He’s way, way, way better than us at the road course stuff — and he’s got his own technique, you can call it."

Shane van Gisbergen claimed his first win in Mexico when NASCAR visited the place for the first time in over two decades. Following this, he won two back-to-back races in Chicago and Sonoma.