Shane van Gisbergen puts rival NASCAR stars to shame by proving road course driving masterclass

The Watkins Glen race demonstrated once again why Shane van Gisbergen (SVG) is among the elite road racers in NASCAR. The race saw the Kiwi racer turn on the form of his life. He beat Christopher Bell by 11.16 seconds on the final lap and displayed dominant speed, highlighting his prowess on courses that require technicality.

SVG's driving style is marked by smooth but aggressive driving technique, tire management, and restarts, as well as race tactical sense. The fact that he also won recently at Watkins Glen also places his name in an exclusive club alongside drivers such as Chase Elliott, Jeff Gordon and Dan Gurney as the only drivers to win four straight NASCAR Cup races on street or road courses. That blend of brute force, racecraft and wins at every road course makes van Gisbergen a very dangerous prospect at any place such races are staged.

Shane van Gisbergen’s sheer dominance as a road course specialist was summed up by BrakeHard in a tweet.

"SVG was 1.7 seconds faster than CBell on the last lap Byron was second fastest."

BrakeHard

@BrakeHardBlog

SVG was 1.7 seconds faster than CBell on the last lap Byron was second fastest

William Byron at Watkins Glen also caught attention when he was the second fastest driver in the race, and demonstrated good pace over many other drivers. He ultimately finished fourth, with Chris Buescher placing third.

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Shane van Gisbergen is on the verge of historic feat

Shane van Gisbergen after winning at Sonoma - Source: Imagn

On road courses, however, Shane van Gisbergen has an impressive history, despite his being a relatively recent member of NASCAR with only 37 Cup Series starts. He has five road course wins to his name, with two coming at Chicago, one in Mexico, one at Sonoma Raceway, and now one at Watkins Glen.

SVG managed to win 80 races and three championships in the Australian and New Zealand Supercars. He is approaching the record of nine road course victories in NASCAR held by Jeff Gordon, and he is recognized as a potential to be the greatest road racer in NASCAR history.

The only drivers ahead of van Gisbergen in the all-time road course wins list are Rusty Wallace, Kyle Larson, Ricky Ruud, Bobby Allison (all six wins), Chase Elliott (seven wins), Tony Stewart (eight wins), and Jeff Gordon (nine wins).

With a record of six consecutive road course triumphs between 1997 and 2000, Gordon set a high standard, but so far, van Gisbergen has already achieved the standard of achieving multiple road course victories consecutively and looks to continue with the streak.

Having won at Mexico City, Chicago, Sonoma, and now Watkins Glen, van Gisbergen has established himself as a master of the road course, where he has established massive win margins, and leads the series in road course playoff points.