If there’s any person whose life’s upside down since the Chase format’s return, it’s Shane van Gisbergen. What happened in 2023 cannot be replicated in 2026. In July 2023, Shane van Gisbergen made his breakthrough in NASCAR with a victory at the Chicago Street Race. Since then, he’s become a road course king in the sport and made it to the playoffs on that merit too. But how would a ‘win-and-you’re-in’ master feel if you take away that very thing he’s in a way survived on?

However, his story isn’t limited to road courses anymore. Especially since the last season, where he saw him showing improvement outside his comfort zone as well. That being said, now, for this year, he will have no other option but to forcefully maintain that form to survive anyhow in the sport if he wants to remain in contention. That’s what he just very humbly opened up about.

Shane van Gisbergen is nervous but optimistic

“It’s hard for me, like, the reason why I’m in this series is because of win-and-you’re-in, right? But I feel like gotten better at ovals where I don’t have to rely on it. Yet certainly gonna be an achievement to make that top sixteen, I think good target for us and something that is achievable. I think it rewards those top guys now, who’re always winning. And they were the guys calling for it, I guess. But, yeah, to me that’s more of a pure racing championship,” Shane van Gisbergen said on a PRN Live interview.

In 2025, Trackhouse Racing’s Kiwi driver may have benefited most from the win-and-you’re-in system. While winning five of the six road course races, Shane van Gisbergen was only 25th in regular-season points. This was largely due to his 21.0 average finish and lack of success on ovals. Yet his road course prowess would have been enough to topple Ty Gibbs for the 16th spot if the Chase format were in place in 2025.

And it’s a good thing that he’s very optimistic about it, as he did agree that it’s very much “achievable.”

The new format, similar to the one used between 2004 and 2013, no longer qualifies race-winning drivers for the post-season. Instead, a greater emphasis is on consistency across the 26-race regular season. Winning races is still important, however, with victors to receive 55 points instead of 40. And Shane van Gisbergen has shown resilience on ovals, with a string of solid finishes topped by a 10th-place result in Kansas, That was his best oval result, which shows that he has what it takes to do it.

News served to you like never before!

Prefer us on Google, To get latest news on feed

Prefer Us on Google

So SVG is banking on a combination of these factors to tackle his biggest weakness on ovals. “I felt so much more comfortable at the end of last year. I think we would’ve been near the top 16 or right in it. And we were 35th, 38-something points halfway through the year. We had a really bad start here and still made it. So maybe we can do the same this year. It’ll be really cool to start a lot stronger.”

It’s simple. If they could pull that off while coming back from such worse situations, then a fresh start and a boost from his last year’s performance is only going to make it better this time.

And while the Trackhouse driver gets ready for these challenges, the bright factors are visible as well.

Top Stories

NASCAR

Fans Left Baffled as Brad Keselowski Faces NASCAR License Issue Days Before Daytona 500 Race

1 day ago

NASCAR

Kyle Busch Sounds the Alarm on NASCAR’s Chase Return With Bold Jimmie Johnson Confession

1 day ago

NASCAR

Fact Check: Is NASCAR Moving Its Pre-Season Clash to Daytona Amidst Snow Storm Chaos at Bowman Gray?

5 days ago

NASCAR

Roger Penske’s Star Driver Remains Unsold on NASCAR’s Chase Format as Kyle Busch Joins the Criticism

16 hrs ago

NASCAR

Unknown Driver Draws NASCAR World’s Support as He Sets Sights on Tony Stewart’s RAM Seat

1 day ago

En route to breaking a record

Despite facing a mammoth challenge in the Chase format, Shane van Gisbergen is also close to breaking a record. In 2025, the Kiwi star picked up five road course wins in a consecutive streak. The only win that eluded him was the 3.41-mile, 20-turn road course at Circuit of the Americas.

This year, SVG is on the verge of extending the five-win streak to six, which would tie him with the best road course streak in NASCAR’s history.

Jeff Gordon set that record between the 1997 and 2000 seasons. What makes Shane van Gisbergen’s situation more unique than Gordon’s run is that the Cup schedule today features more road courses than it did during Gordon’s dominant stretch.

And if SVG can get it done, he will spring to the top of the list of the finest road course racers in NASCAR. This list includes Tony Stewart and Gordon, both of whom boast a combined 17 wins; others are Chase Elliott, Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick, etc.

Clearly, Shane van Gisbergen is on a mission, and he will not give it up despite the daunting format change. Let’s wait and see how the Kiwi fares this season.