By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
One of the season’s surprises, Shane Van Gisbergen, sits 15th in the standings, 47 points to the green with only three races remaining in the regular season.
In other words, the man they call SVG is nearing a second-straight postseason berth and his first in the current era of The Chase.
Following two wins in the year’s four road course races, the New Zealander has guarded those much-expected victories with marked improvements on ovals. The No. 97 Trackhosue Racing driver scored top fives at Nashville Superspeedway and North Wilkesboro Speedway this summer.
Additionally, his overall consistency has also played a part in his current Chase position, earning 14 top-20 finishes through 23 races — one more than defending series champion Kyle Larson.
With the cutline still in sight and the end nearing, Van Gisbergen is keeping his attention on his highest Chase threats.
Austin Cindric is 18 points behind Van Gisbergen in 16th spot while Ryan Preece is the first out in 17th place, 29 points behind Cindric.
“[Last week], I was having a pretty subpar day, to put it nicely,” Van Gisbergen said. “And all the guys around me were points racing guys or guys close to me in the points. So yeah, that was nice, but I can’t afford to have another day like that.
“Certainly, you have your eyes on those three or four guys who are around us. It’s a pretty tight battle, really. Ross [Chastain] had a pretty good day last week, and he’s sort of clawing his way back into it, so it’s going to be an interesting battle. We just need to not make mistakes in the next three weeks.”
Indeed, his Trackhouse teammate Chastain is an emerging contender for a Chase spot in his own right. Strong stage points and a top-10 finish last week at Iowa Speedway rose the No. 1 to 18th in points, 47 points out.
Van Gisbergen, meanwhile, spun early and struggled to a 30th-place result.
“I feel like I’m a lot closer to Ross this year,” he said. “He’s a pretty good benchmark, I think as a teammate. I feel like I’ve been able to match him a lot.
“Still some areas he’s really good at, he’s really good at not having bad days and dragging results out of cars that probably shouldn’t be up there. He’s someone I’m really trying to learn off and match closely. It’s been good to be around or just in front of him in the points this year kind of pushing each other along has been really cool.
“Just got to keep the improvement going. I feel like every week, I’m learning stuff and still trying new things. I still have a lot to learn.”
His improvement this year has come in the midst of a championship format change, which transformed win-and-your-in” to this year’s “top-16-or-your-out.”
“I was brought over here for that ‘win and you’re in’ to guarantee a spot in the playoffs,” he said. “So yeah, I certainly knew I had to get better at ovals, and I think we’ve done that. I don’t think my mindset has changed every race. I think maybe these couple of races, I’m points racing a little bit. But the rest of the year, you’re just driving flat out.
“I don’t think I’ve ever really points raced trying to stay out of trouble. I think that when you’re not driving naturally, you find yourself in trouble, I guess. So yeah, I just try and drive every race flat out.”
Van Gisbergen starts 31st for tomorrow’s Cook Out 400 from Richmond Raceway. With multiple strong runs on short tracks in 2026, the 37-year-old hopes to keep the points in the right direction.
“I had a lot of fun last year. I managed to run the top lane quite a lot and made that work for me,” he said. “It’s a fun race.
“I remember my first year here in O’Reilly, too, I really enjoyed it. It’s a fun track with how you can move around, but then you really have to be disciplined and wrap the line. It’s quite fun to hit your marks and be precise every lap.
“And there’s a lot of time management, too, so you have to have a good balance. I always remember watching this on TV, especially the end of the race with everyone coming across the line sideways, is always pretty cool here too. It’s one of the fun tracks.”