“A modern day Mike Tyson”: NASCAR insider says Shane van Gisbergen is ‘embarrassing’ the field after Watkins Glen win 

Veteran NASCAR spotter Brett Griffin commended Shane van Gisbergen after he once again showed his dominance on road courses at Watkins Glen. The 36-year-old rookie had earlier won three Cup races from pole in Mexico City, Chicago and Sonoma.

Sunday's Go Bowl Racing at The Glen saw van Gisbergen cross the finish line 11.116 seconds ahead of Christopher Bell in clean air with only three yellow flags. The New Zealander became one of only four drivers, alongside Chase Elliott, Jeff Gordon and Dan Gurney, to claim four straight victories on road or street courses.

Door Bumper Clear podcast host Griffin compared van Gisbergen to boxing champion, Mike Tyson, in a post on X.

"Just saw SVG won. Again. This dude is like a modern day Mike Tyson. We’ve never seen anyone embarrass the field on one style of tracks like this. If he can stay on the lead lap in round 1 of the playoffs and have No DNFs he’s on to round 2. Wow," Griffin wrote.

Brett Griffin

@SpotterBrett

Just saw SVG won. Again. This dude is like a modern day Mike Tyson. We’ve never seen anyone embarrass the field on one style of tracks like this. If he can stay on the lead lap in round 1 of the playoffs and have No DNFs he’s on to round 2. Wow.

Shane van Gisbergen, who finished second at the 2.45-mile road course last season, executed flawlessly throughout the race and led a race-high 38 of 90 laps. He took over the lead from pole sitter Ryan Blaney on lap 25 and led for the final 17 laps.

Now, the No. 88 Trackhouse Racing team has a 22-point cushion heading into the playoffs, which start at Darlington Raceway. SVG best finish at the 1.366-mile oval in two starts was 20th place in April this year.

"He's in a really good position" - Trackhouse owner on Shane van Gisbergen's NASCAR Cup Round of 8 prospects

Trackhouse Racing owner Justin Marks, who just signed a multi-year extension with Shane van Gisbergen, also shared his optimism for the driver's playoff prospects during a post-race press conference at Watkins Glen.

"Shane just continues to go showcase why we've made a long-term commitment to him, why we brought him over here from New Zealand and built this team around him," Marks said (via Speedway Digest).

"He's in a really good position. I think we have a real opportunity to get to the Round of 8, he added.

Shane van Gisbergen won his debut NASCAR Cup race on the 2.2-mile Chicago street course in 2023. The Watkins Glen victory was his fifth career NASCAR Cup Series win, all on road courses. It also extended his hold on rookie-road-course records and put him alongside legends like Dan Gurney for the fastest to five victories.

Gurney earned all five of his Cup wins at Riverside International Raceway, four in a row from 1963 to 1966, plus another in 1968. He raced in only 16 NASCAR events and became the sport's original "road-course ringer".