The more established Nascar Cup drivers will be breathing a sigh of relief this weekend.
After three back-to-back road course races, the teams are back on an oval at Dover.
The entire Cup Series field have been given a masterclass in road course racing by New Zealander Shane vanGisbergen, who has won the past three races on the spin. He is the first to record this achievement since Geoff Gordon won three road courses races in 1998.
You know something special is happening when former Nascar champion Kyle Larson said this after watching van Gisbergen put on a masterclass display at first Mexico, then Chicago and last weekend at Sonoma.
“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 said.
“He’s way, way, way better than us at the road course stuff and he’s got his own technique, you can call it. Not his own because the rest of the world does it, right-foot braking, clutching and all that stuff.
“You can’t teach an old dog new tricks. Like, there’s zero chance I can learn how to do that. And even if I did, like there’s zero chance that I can have it be better than what I’m probably doing left-foot braking.
“So yeah, he’s just so good. And he’s still new to the oval stuff, so he’s going to continue to get better at that. And, yeah, I mean, if he could figure out the ovals, he’s going to be dominant.”
Van Gisbergen may only sit 26th in the Nascar Cup point’s standing on 367 points, a fair way off leaders William Byron (668), Chaser Elliot (634) and Larson (624). However, with his three wins so far in 2025, van Gisbergen lies third in the playoff standings on 17 points behind Denny Hamlin (19) and Larson (23).
The Kiwi should get through the round of 16 despite it being entirely on ovals. The round of 12 will be a challenge, but Hamlin is confident van Gisbergen could actually make it through to the round of eight.
Shane van Gisbergen gets ready for a practice session at Daytona International Speedway. Photo / Photosport
High praise indeed from 57-race winner Hamlin but van Gisbergen is under no illusions just how hard it will be. After Sonoma he admitted he was apprehensive heading into the round of 16.
“It’s a crazy first round for me. We go to Darlington, which is my favourite oval. Then I think it’s Gateway, which I’ve never been to. Then Bristol, I might as well be going the other way.
“Hopefully we get better at tracks like that. We’ll see how Gateway is,” he said.
Van Gisbergen will make his first Nascar Cup Series start at Dover Motor Speedway this weekend. Last year racing in the Xfinity Series he started 31st and crossed the line in 18th.
“I’m looking forward to getting back into some oval racing. It’s been a nice break doing all these road courses, but Dover should be good.
“I struggled a bit there last year, but I still had fun. It’s an epic track. Just how fast you can go into that corner, it feels like you are dropping and then all of a sudden you are loading up into the banking, just how much grip the track has is mind blowing.
“My team has a bunch of momentum heading into this weekend, so I’d like to keep that progression going and keep starting to build towards the top half of the field on the ovals.”
Heading into Dover van Gisbergen leads the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings on 367 points from Riley Herbst (238).
