What makes Shane van Gisbergen so good at NASCAR road course racing

Despite a challenging rookie season, Shane van Gisbergen has been dominating on road courses. The Australian driver has consistently secured strong results on non-oval tracks, including a NASCAR Cup Series victory on his debut in 2023.

This year, SVG has won two of the three road course races, with three more remaining on the calendar. The victories came at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City and on the streets of Chicago, both won from the pole position. In the upcoming race at Sonoma Raceway, he is once again starting at the front, reflecting his road course prowess.

How does a rookie driver from the Land Down Under reign supreme in the American stock car racing series? Let's find out.

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Strong road course background

Shane van Gisbergen may be a rookie in NASCAR, but he is a 35-year-old professional racecar driver who came with an extensive resume in Australia's Supercars, a touring racing series fielding V8-powered machinery similar to NASCAR. Moreover, he won the series championship three times (2016, 2021, and 2022).

Over in that series, the races are predominantly road courses and street circuits, including the Bathurst 1000 held at the famed Mount Panorama Circuit. As such, he learned the heel-toe shifting, a technique used to deliver smoother gear changes by using the right foot for the brake and gas pedals to match engine speed with the wheel speed. It is crucial in road courses, where creating a gap requires optimal entry and exit speeds on corners.

Shane van Gisbergen driving the #88 Chevrolet on the streets of Chicago - Source: Imagn

Fortunately, his experience in Supercars translated well in NASCAR, as evidenced by his Cup Series debut win in Chicago in 2023. He wheeled the #91 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet, the same car that part-time entrants like F1 champion Kimi Raikkonnen drove, to victory before becoming part of the team's development program.

On the flip side, Shane van Gisbergen hasn't been producing strong results on ovals. He has yet to score a single top-10 finish on an oval track in the #88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet. Nevertheless, he is bound for the playoffs, which only has one road course race scheduled for Charlotte Roval in the Round of 12.

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What other NASCAR drivers say about Shane van Gisbergen

Despite being a debutant, Shane van Gisbergen has already impressed the NASCAR nation, including the defending Cup Series champion Joey Logano. The #22 Team Penske driver admitted a foreigner beat him and the rest of the field and made them look like a “bunch of fools.”

After the inaugural Chicago street race in 2023, Logano said:

“Whatever his name his, some van, burger, I don't know, hamburger, he's fast. That's all I know. He rips, and he was faster everywhere. Obviously, he made us look like a bunch of fools... a foreigner came in and kicked our butt today, so we got work to do.”

Two years later, SVG still impresses his fellow competitors, including 2021 NASCAR champion Kyle Larson. The #5 Hendrick Motorsports driver gave the road course crown to the Kiwi driver and said:

“You know, he'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.”

Larson's HMS teammate, Chase Elliott, also had something to say about the Trackhouse Racing rookie following their unprecedented podium finish celebration in Mexico City.

“Shane was likely the difference maker, especially once you gave him fresh air. He just managed that last run so well,” the #9 HMS driver said.

With NASCAR actively exploring new road courses to add to the calendar, it seems Shane van Gisbergen should continue his glorious run in the sport. Perhaps his only handicap is his age, as he is one of the oldest drivers in the circuit.