The Trackhouse Racing driver scored the third-most points of any driver at the short oval, finishing second in Stage 1, fifth in Stage 2 and fifth again in Stage 3.
The result moved van Gisbergen from 15th to 14th in the standings, extending his gap over the 16th place cut-line from 31 to 54 points.
Van Gisbergen and Joey Logano leapfrogged Austin Cindric, who dropped two places to 16th.
The highlight of the race was van Gisbergen leading during Stage 1 when a spirited call to take two tyres as opposed to four during the first caution vaulted him from ninth to fourth.
A good restart got him up to second and challenging Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin for the lead.
After getting by Hamlin, van Gisbergen settled into the lead but was beaten to the green-chequered flag on the final lap by Hamlin’s stablemate Ty Gibbs.
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“It’s good to be up there to genuinely lead,” said van Gisbergen.
“When I took the lead, I got pretty excited.
“Thank you to Wendys, Trackhouse, Chevy – awesome day. Just amazing to get stage point both stages.
“I’m a bit pissed I threw it away at the last corner on that first stage. It was awesome racing up front all night.”
“I’m leading, what the f*** do I do now?!?” 🤣
SVG after realizing he took the lead at @NWBSpeedway 😅 pic.twitter.com/dCx2uetho8
— TNT Sports U.S. (@TNTSportsUS) July 20, 2026
Van Gisbergen asked for water and electrolytes mid-race, complaining about cramp in his leg.
He swapped from left-foot braking to right-foot braking during Stage 3 to combat the problem, holding on to a top five finish.
“It’s just hot man,” van Gisbergen explained.
“Just soaked the whole time. When you’re behind people you just start cooking as well, you feel the brakes, tyres, everything just gets hot. I was struggling.
“I felt fine but when I stopped I was like ‘oh shit, I’m pretty cooked’. It was fun. I swapped, I right-foot braked for half the race because my left leg was sore.”
NASCAR legend Jimmie Johnson hailed van Gisbergen’s progress, noting the benefits of additional track time in the preceding day’s Craftsman Truck Series race in which he was third.
“Shane’s trouble for the rest of this field, man,” said the seven-time Cup Series champion.
“It’s reps. Him running the Truck race and getting all this seat time, the guy has got it. He’s coming along.”
Bet you didn’t expect @shanevg97 to gain a spot in the standings at North Wilkesboro.
SVG now has more top five’s on a oval (2) in 2026 than he had top 10’s on a oval (1) coming into this season. pic.twitter.com/UMe8ZKR7FA
— Xfinity Racing (@XfinityRacing) July 20, 2026
TNT Sports commentator and former driver Jamie McMurray gave van Gisbergen a wrap for the result.
He was impressed by the New Zealander’s ability to back up following Sunday’s hot and humid scenes.
“He deserves flowers for the last couple of weeks. It’s been really impressive to see,” said McMurray.
“One thing we need to point out with Shane is that he ran the Truck race yesterday, it was hot. All those guys got out there hot.
“The cumulative fatigue of being in a car and being dehydrated, it eventually will catch up with you.
“Awesome job to be able to drive to the lead.
“There’s no doubt that within the garage they don’t want to see him do well at ovals because we know how good he is at road courses.
“If he gets to run around the top five on ovals on a consistent basis, that’s a dangerous combination.”
The NASCAR Cup Series continues at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 27 (AEST).
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