Van Gisbergen is 35th in the points standings after 10 of 36 races, with an average starting position of 29.5 and average finish of 28.
The 35-year-old is running a full-time Cup program this year with Trackhouse Racing after a single Xfinity Series campaign in 2024 that included three road course wins.
McLaughlin, who moved from Supercars to IndyCar in 2021 and has become friends with his former rival, said van Gisbergen is “too good for this not to work out”.
The Penske driver noted NASCAR’s method for setting its qualifying running order – a metric that relies 70 percent on the entry’s previous race result and 30 percent on owner’s points – isn’t helping.
Van Gisbergen has started each of the last three races in 36th place.
“I’ve said this to him, you’ve just got to stick it out,” McLaughlin said when asked during an appearance on the Stacking Pennies NASCAR podcast what advice he’d give to his fellow Kiwi.
“There’s going to be a point where it’s going to either click or you’re just going to have some luck go your way and that’s going to change that qualifying metric, you’re going to be able to qualify not third-last.
“That’s the hardest thing and I know he’s getting frustrated, that metric thing, he’s stuck [down the back], then you get lapped and you’re toast.
“I feel for him, but he’s got to stick it out. He’s too good for this not to work out. If there’s one person in Supercars that I thought was going to come over and be OK, it was going to be him.
“It’s going to be tough, but you think about all the places he’s gone this year that it’s his first time, first time in a Cup ride.
“It was always going to be hard, but I think it has been a little harder than he probably thought.”
Van Gisbergen’s only top 20 starting spots and finishes in points races this year came on the Circuit of the Americas road course, where he started and finished sixth.
The Cup series schedule from June to August includes five more road courses, while a four-race Xfinity Series road course program with JR Motorsports will also provide a chance to shine.
“I don’t think the Trackhouse stuff has been that great this year,” McLaughlin added.
“You look at [teammates] Ross [Chastain], Daniel [Suarez], both winners in the Cup series, they’re qualifying right around Shane. It’s tough.”
McLaughlin related van Gisbergen’s current experience to his own rookie IndyCar season which he ended 14th in points before shooting into title contention the following year.
“I went through it my first year in IndyCar. You’ve just got to work at it, you’ve just got to stick it out,” he continued.
“There was a point [for me], and I said for him that it would eventually happen, it just clicked.
“I had a good practice, it was weird, I was like top of the charts practice, had a bad qualifying, but something clicked, and it just came around.
“That was one of the last two races of the year, won the first race the next year and away we went.”
Both Kiwis are in action this weekend, McLaughlin tackling the Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park and van Gisbergen running the Wurth 400 at Texas Motor Speedway.
Get the latest NASCAR news, stats, and US racing coverage at Speedcafe US
Discussion about this post