Prior to Kansas, his previous-best oval finish was 12th at Martinsville Speedway with Kaulig Racing in 2024.
His previous best with Trackhouse Racing this year was a pair of 14th place finishes at Charlotte and Richmond.
Now, the Kiwi has eclipsed even his teammates Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez for a breakthrough result.
“What an awesome day. It was good to get our first top 10 finish at Kansas” said SVG.
“Crazy day. Going a lap down with the penalty at the start and then just worked our way forward.
“I got more confident. It’s still taking me time with these mile-and-a-halfs. It was awesome.”
Van Gisbergen got the result without his usual crew chief Stephen Doran, who was ejected from the event after Trackhouse Racing was stung for making unapproved changes to the #88 car.
SVG was also forced to serve a stop-and-go penalty in the opening laps of the race.
Chais Eliason stepped in as the interim crew chief at Kansas, who van Gisbergen praised post-race.
“We’ve obviously got really good depth at Trackhouse,” said van Gisbergen.
“Chais did a great job stepping up. We still prepped hard with Stephen last night and this morning on set-up. Unfortunately, he’s not here with us, but it’s cool. I’m stoked.
“I’m proud of us. We’re getting a lot better at this stuff.”
Van Gisbergen was able to get onto the lead lap shortly after Stage 2 began on Lap 89 and from there worked his way into contention.
“It certainly made it difficult for ourselves,” SVG said of the penalties.
“I guess that’s NASCAR. You have the Lucky Dogs. It does help to get back in the race.
“It worked out well for us. Certainly made it difficult having the penalty.”
Van Gisbergen reiterated that “time” was the biggest factor in his understanding of each oval discipline.
“I need time to learn these places and the way the air works and how fast you go at these tracks,” he explained.
“It’s just different vehicle dynamics to what I’m used to. I’m getting better at it, but I still have a lot to learn. It’s been fun.”
The NASCAR Cup Series continues at the Charlotte ROVAL on Monday, October 6 with coverage live and exclusively on Fox Sports and Kayo Sports.
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