Will international stars like Shane van Gisbergen change the DNA of the Cup Series?

Shane van Gisbergen hails from New Zealand but has found his feet well settled in the NASCAR Cup Series in his rookie year. While he is not the sole driver in the current field from outside the United States borders, some people have questioned how international stars would impact NASCAR in the long run.

Gisbergen became a sensation in the stock car racing field before making his debut in the Cup Series, as he had already won the elusive Supercars championship three times in the Oceania region before moving over to the United States.

His arrival was marked with scepticism, which was driven away by his winning his debut race in Chicago in 2023. This performance made everyone turn their heads to welcome the Kiwi onboard the NASCAR ladder, who is now in his rookie season, having won four races already.

Though it is not the first time that a foreign driver has won in the premier series, as five foreign racers before him have also won in the championship, no other driver has shown such stellar, dominating performances in his rookie year.

This has led people to wonder whether Shane van Gisbergen would cause a change in NASCAR's DNA. He has won all four of his races on road courses or street tracks. With the championship's traditional essence revolving around the ovals, the concerns are high.

However, while such worries have lingered in the NASCAR realm, the New Zealander's arrival has also presented the opportunity to increase the sport's marketability internationally. Though it might involve some changes in the regular format for the series, the DNA is sought to evolve rather than be changed.

Meanwhile, SVG's rookie full-time season has seen him already take the playoffs, where he would be hoping to secure a respectable championship position by the end of the year.

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Shane van Gisbergen is eyeing to improve his oval performances in the Cup Series

Trackhouse Racing's Shane van Gisbergen - Source: Imagn

While Shane van Gisbergen has won four races so far, he has not had stellar results on ovals. Moreover, many had anticipated such struggles owing to the relative newness of ovals to him.

While this has been a concern, as the playoffs are filled with oval circuits, Gisbergen is working tirelessly to improve his performance at such tracks, he said (via Yahoo Sports):

"The prep that we go through, not just for these road courses, but we do it every week. As I've said a lot of times over the last few weeks, I feel like we've gotten a lot better, especially on the ovals, and it's been cool working with a great bunch of people, and just to share four wins with everyone and seeing how much it meant to everyone when you're high fiving during the burnout, you can see how into it they are. It's so cool."

Moreover, Shane van Gisbergen admitted that he dreams about winning on an oval and further said:

"It's obviously something to dream about winning on an oval, and superspeedways I've had some pretty good moments there."

Meanwhile, the Kiwi had a torrid weekend in Darlington as he was classified 32nd, hoping to have a comeback drive in the upcoming race weekends.