Shane van Gisbergen's rookie campaign in the NASCAR Cup Series proved a real success.
Finishing the season with five victories to his name, the Kiwi and three-time Supercars champion very much established himself as the best road course driver in the Cup Series right now (some would say ever).
One significant issue that was used against van Gisbergen, particularly in the first half of the season, however, was his poor form on ovals. In the opening 10 oval races of the season, for example, van Gisbergen's best finish was a 20th place at Darlington, with six of those outings having resulted in finishing 30th or lower.
However, as the season progressed, the Kiwi did make huge improvements in this regard, going on to register multiple finishes inside the top 15 before the season was out, and even managing his first-ever top 10 finish at Kansas.
SVG shows improvement on ovals
But what was the secret to van Gisbergen's turnaround in oval form? NASCAR lead commentator for NBC, Leigh Diffey, believes he has the answer.
“People would say, ‘This guy is the best I’ve ever seen on a road or street course. He is the best’. But then there was a part that they weren’t talking about, and that was on ovals, because then they’d say, ‘Yeah, but he hasn’t done anything on ovals. He’s finished 33rd. He finished. 29th’," Diffey told FOX Sports.
“In the last five weeks, Shane has turned that ship around very, very effectively, and it’s because he had the time to go back to these circuits.
“Remember last year he was racing in the Xfinity Series and doing guest spots in Cup. This year is his first full year in Cup, and he’s been able to build a book with his engineers, build that package and in himself as a driver be able to go back to these tracks and say, ‘I remember what I did wrong last time, this is what I’m going to be better’.
“He’s got the attention and the praise from some of my colleagues, like hall of famer Dale Jarrett, who says, ‘This guy has learnt ovals very quickly’.”
