Shane van Gisbergen heads into this weekend’s NASCAR events at Watkins Glen International with unfinished business on his mind, and a growing reputation as the benchmark on road courses in the Cup Series.
The Kiwi star’s 2025 rookie campaign has seen him rack up three road course wins, continuing the momentum he sparked with his unforgettable Cup debut victory on the Chicago Street Course in 2023.
Now, he’s chasing a fourth straight road course triumph and a shot at redemption after a painful loss at The Glen one year ago.
“I still get frustrated thinking about that race,” van Gisbergen said in a team media release.
“When I make a personal mistake like that, it makes me angry to think that I threw that one away myself, especially after how good of a day it was, and we had the fastest car all day, then to do that.”
The 2024 race ended dramatically, with van Gisbergen snatching the lead from Chris Buescher during an overtime restart. But a slight misstep in the bus stop chicane on the final lap allowed Buescher to close in, make contact, and ultimately take the win as SVG settled for a bitter second.
“I studied it a lot,” he reflected this week.
“You know, that’s painful whenever you make a mistake that’s entirely your fault. I’m quite self-analytical. I was pretty pissed off about that… It’s a mistake I made, and it frustrates me.”
Still, the confidence remains. SVG and the No.88 Trackhouse Racing team have continued to evolve their road course program, a transformation he credits with his current success.
“I think it’s just been time on the road courses, learning what we want from the car, changing our philosophy,” he explained.
“We’ve really clicked on the road course setup and made our cars a lot better. On the ovals, too, we are getting better as a team.”
That road course mastery has been on full display this season, with wins at Mexico City, Sonoma, and Chicago, where he led nearly 90% of the laps, highlighting his form. His Mexico victory even marked the largest margin of victory in any NASCAR event over the past 16 years.
Though many are now calling him the “gold standard” on road courses in the Cup field, van Gisbergen remains focused and grateful.
“I really love the racing here,” he said during a pre-race media session.
“I don’t feel like anyone targets me on the track and tries to take me out or anything. But, yeah, I feel like we’re the benchmark, which is really awesome to be.
“It’s the best thing on the road course. I’ve never really raced the same guy. Every week, there’s someone different. Like, the spread of talent is quite high here, and whoever nails it on a weekend will be up front. It’s pretty cool.”
His Watkins Glen schedule won’t be limited to just the Cup Series, either. Van Gisbergen is set to make a return to the NASCAR Xfinity Series with JR Motorsports, driving the No. 9 Kubota Chevrolet Camaro.
It’s his third Xfinity outing this season, following a win at Chicago and a runner-up result to teammate Connor Zilisch at Sonoma.
“I’m looking forward to another race at Watkins Glen,” said van Gisbergen.
“It’s an awesome track and one where I know we will be competitive. It’s been epic getting to drive some Xfinity Series races with the No. 9 JR Motorsports team. I know we will unload a fast Kubota Chevrolet, and hopefully we are able to put together a great result on Saturday.”
SVG will be one of five drivers representing JR Motorsports in Saturday’s Mission 200, alongside Carson Kvapil, Justin Allgaier, Sammy Smith, and Zilisch.
He’ll also share the Cup Series spotlight on Sunday with fellow road course ace Michael McDowell.
Beyond Watkins Glen, van Gisbergen has his eye on the fast-approaching Cup Series Playoffs. With three wins already locking him into the postseason, he knows consistency will be key, especially as the series shifts to tracks he’s becoming more familiar with.
“I see the improvement,” he said.
“And there’s still a long way to go, but it has been good putting in that work. And yeah, I think Darlington, we had our first top 20 of the year there earlier. Hopefully, we just keep getting better, and it helps us in that first round. Hopefully, we can put together three weeks.
“I feel like if you just get through that first round, if you make no mistakes and have three good weeks, you’ll get through. That’s what normally seems to happen.
“There’s normally one or two big dogs that have had a couple of bad races and miss out, so you just got to be mistake-free.”
A victory at Watkins Glen would not only be sweet revenge, it would also put SVG level with Denny Hamlin for most Cup wins this season and hand him five valuable playoff points. But more than that, it would exorcise the ghosts of last year’s gut-wrenching defeat.
Header Image: NASCAR / Getty Images
