Shane van Gisbergen on racing ovals: ‘Lightbulb moments’ and respect for NASCAR’s superstars

Shane van Gisbergen’s NASCAR adventure has seen him dominate Cup Series race after race on road courses, but the Kiwi superstar is still learning all about ovals.

The 36-year-old Trackhouse Racing superstar roared into the playoffs in 2025 on the back of a dominant run of wins at road courses. He is peerless anywhere but on an oval.

Now, three years into his NASCAR journey, SVG admits he still has much to learn about the courses where he struggles the most. It’s a never-ending education, one which fascinates him.

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’Lightbulb moments’ for SVG

Speaking to Kevin Harvick on the Speed podcast, he explained: “There’s so many different things, you know. I remember when I first started talking to you before I’d really raced much, some of the things you’d say to me were like on another planet and things I never got to.

“Now the more I realise things and do, the more they start to click. I’m still having so many lightbulb moments every weekend - ‘okay that’s starting to work’.

“Every track is different, every style of setup, I’m still learning so much. I think the secret for me still is to keep an open mind and keep learning and keep getting the playbook bigger. So we’re getting there.”

So much respect for NASCAR stars

One thing van Gisbergen understands now, is just how good his NASCAR rivals are. It’s something the rest of the world doesn’t get to see - for one major reason.

“Firstly, I think you don’t see them drive because the season’s so long and you race every single week. So there’s not much opportunity to go do other things.

“But yeah, just the way the cars are and the how difficult and how much the small details matter is so different to every other sport.”

Banking on improvement

When SVG assesses his oval experiences so far, there is one factor which definitely makes a huge difference to how successful he is.

“Like I’m okay at the flatter tracks - I’ve found that ovals that are flat, I seem to go pretty well. But the high banking stuff, just the way the cars drive, the way they load up, even like Daytona - it’s easy flat but it doesn’t seem like you should be able to enter the corner at top speed and turn.

"Like it’s still such a weird feeling when the car first loads into the banking and it flexes and yaws out. It’s just bizarre, it’s a completely different discipline of racing.”

No margin for error, every second counts

The buildup to the actual race is another area which presents a very different challenge for SVG - there is very little time to waste or margin for error. Overthinking is a real danger.

“Yeah and which is sometimes a detriment - I think about it too much you know, and you watch some of these young guys, especially the way practices, you only have 20 minutes and your tires might only last two or three laps.

“So, you kind of just got to go and figure it out and get to the limit straight away rather than building up. It's very different, you know, most other racing series, you have different practice, you have different sets of tires. Qualifying, you have three goes at sitting the best lap.

“Here, it's you get one corner to warm up, then your lap starts. It's just very, very different. and kind of got to throw caution to the wind sometimes.”

This weekend van Gisbergen will continue his 2026 Cup Series season in the No. 97 Chevrolet in Sunday’s Food City 500 at the iconic Bristol Motor Speedway (3pm ET, FS1). He is currently in 14th place in the early-season standings.