The current tally of Cup Series victories for Shane van Gisbergen in 2025 now equals that of three other competitors.
The former champion of Australian Supercars clinched his third triumph of the season at Sonoma this past Sunday. Van Gisbergen exhibited unparalleled dominance right from the start, having secured the pole position. His competitors found it challenging to keep up, and he only relinquished his lead during scheduled pit stops.
“SVG” demonstrated such superiority that he even emerged victorious in the race’s second stage, in spite of a late pit stop. After making a pit stop with a mere two laps remaining in the stage, van Gisbergen trailed Kyle Larson in second place on the final lap, but effortlessly overtook the Cup Series champion to secure the stage victory. Larson had opted not to pit during the stage, underscoring van Gisbergen’s superior speed.
With previous victories in Mexico City and at the Chicago street course the previous week, van Gisbergen now shares the lead in NASCAR wins this season with Larson, Denny Hamlin, and Christopher Bell. These three drivers are considered strong contenders for the title.
However, van Gisbergen’s situation differs.
Sunday’s victory marked his third top-five finish of the season and only his fourth top-10 finish. The 36-year-old entered Sunday’s race ranked 27th in the points standings, marking his first full-time Cup Series season, and has performed poorly on tracks other than road courses.
Presently, it seems more probable that he will finish 16th, the lowest among playoff drivers, rather than achieving a top-10 finish. Notably, he has yet to secure a top-10 finish on a track other than a road course throughout his nascent Cup Series career. Furthermore, the playoffs include only one road course.
It comes as no surprise that van Gisbergen has been relatively inconsequential on ovals during his inaugural full-time season in the Cup Series. The Supercars series does not include oval tracks. Despite the similarities between those cars and the current Cup Series car, mastering ovals on the fly at NASCAR’s highest level presents a significant challenge.
Do these difficulties diminish van Gisbergen’s remarkable performance on road courses? This is a question worth contemplating within the context of NASCAR’s playoff era.
Playoff success heavily influences perceptions of success and failure in the NASCAR Cup Series, despite the format’s inherent unpredictability. The leading driver after the first 26 races gains an advantage, but a couple of poor finishes in the initial three-race round can still result in a surprise elimination. An early playoff exit can easily overshadow a season of overall excellence.
Van Gisbergen has consistently excelled on road courses since entering NASCAR. In 2023, he became the first driver in over 50 years to win in his Cup Series debut, triumphing in the inaugural Chicago street race. With a total of four career wins, he holds the distinction of being the most successful non-American NASCAR driver at the top level.
A compelling argument can be made that he is already the best NASCAR road racer of all time. His victory at Sonoma made him the first driver since Jeff Gordon in 1998 and 1999 to win three consecutive road course races from the pole.
However, it is likely that he will be eliminated from the playoffs by the time the Charlotte Roval arrives in the second round of the postseason. Despite his three wins, van Gisbergen’s average finish remains well outside the top 20, and his qualifying performances are also lacking. He will likely be significantly behind his playoff rivals at Darlington, Gateway, and Bristol in the first round.
Yet, a disappointing first round should not detract from his exceptional performance on tracks with right-hand turns. As the last two weeks have demonstrated, he is clearly in a league of his own within a Cup Series field that has significantly improved in road course racing over the past 20 years.
And indeed, it is possible to acknowledge van Gisbergen’s remarkable talent on road courses, even if he ultimately exits the playoffs with a quiet conclusion.
