The Trackhouse Racing driver enjoyed arguably his best oval performance to date, winning stage points in all three legs en route to 11th in the Coca-Cola 600.
While it did not eclipse his season-best Atlanta result earlier this year of sixth, van Gisbergen’s ability to consistently run inside the top 10 over the course of the 373-lap race made waves.
Eight-time NASCAR Cup Series race winner Kyle Petty, son of NASCAR legend Richard Petty, drew comparisons with the championship’s established names.
“What impressed me during that second segment watching him run was he looked like (Kyle) Larson, he looked like Denny (Hamlin),” said Petty on NASCAR Inside The Race.
“He moved around. He was trying to find a place. He didn’t just say ‘I’m a Cup driver, I’m going to stick it on the [white] line and this is where I’m going to be’. That’s what he’s done in the past.
“He has just gotten comfortable running one place on the race track. If there was a knock about Shane on the ovals, it was he didn’t move around. He didn’t try to find the place.
“Last night, he tried to find a place that he could run. He ran the middle, he ran the top, he worked traffic good. He did a lot of good stuff.
“Before the restarts, before he got to the front of the pack, there was a lot of good stuff he was doing phenomenally well with that car in seventh, eighth, and ninth position.”
The result did come with a caveat in that he was gifted a third-place starting position after qualifying was rained out, which meant the grid was set based on the metric from Watkins Glen.
Nevertheless, the Kiwi was able to stay at the pointy end of the field and had an average running position of 7.81 by the end.
Former crew chief turned commentator and analyst Steve Letarte said van Gisbergen transcended from being an oval student.
“He held the lead, controlled the race, comfortably running the middle, running the top, with the biggest names. This was a big weekend for me and SVG,” said Letarte.
“I no longer think, well, his pathway to The Chase is a couple of road course races that’s coming up. I now think to myself, well, what ovals hasn’t he got figured out?
“He looked good in Charlotte.”
Jamie McMurray, who won seven races in NASCAR’s top division with stints at Ganassi and Roush, said van Gisbergen’s performance relative to his teammates was most impressive.
“He was really good this weekend, but there is going to be a Pocono or somewhere that’s unique where he’s struggled – but that’s okay, everyone has those,” said McMurray.
“To me, what’s most impressive about Shane is that Ross Chastain is an incredible driver. [Connor] Zilisch can almost win every race we run on Saturday. Shane has just outperformed those guys.
“It’s not necessarily just about being faster, but the team has done a better job of getting to the end, of finishing all these races.
“It was pretty impressive to watch him last night with what he was able to do on an oval, because he is typecast as just this road racer, but he’s done a good job on all different types of ovals.”
The NASCAR Cup Series continues at Nashville Superspeedway on Monday, June 1 (AEST).
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