It is no secret that Shane Van Gisbergen has been struggling to show good results on ovals. The Trackhouse Racing driver is often labeled as the ‘Road Course King,’ but after his performance at Charlotte, a NASCAR veteran feels that he needs to retire that label. 

During the Coca-Cola 600 held last weekend, SVG qualified in third place after the session was cut short due to the rain. He lost his third-place start but managed to stay in the top 10. He finished the race in 11th place after chaotic restarts. 

While looking back on the Kiwi’s performance at the 373-lap event, Kyle Petty spoke about the improvements Gisbergen has made on NASCAR's "Inside The Race" segment. 

"What impressed me during that second segment watching him run was he looked like (Kyle) Larson, he looked like Denny (Hamlin)," Petty began. "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."

Contrasting SVG's past racecraft on ovals with what the Trackhouse Racing driver showed at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday, Petty added:

"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."

This 11th-place finish marks his third-highest finish at an Oval in the cup series. The first two came at Atlanta (2026) and Kansas (2025), where he finished in 6th and 10th, respectively. 

It seems like SVG has finally found his footing at ovals. 

Ross Chastain Commends SVG’s Oval Uptick After Coca-Cola 600

Over the years, many fans have questioned SVG's ability to master ovals. But it wasn't entirely his fault because he had no oval background, having raced only road/street courses in the Supercars championship in Australia.

However, his recent performances at the ovals say otherwise. Post the Coca-Cola 600, his Trackhouse Racing teammate Ross Chastain spoke about SVG’s performance on the 1.5-mile oval.

"I’m not surprised," Chastain said.  "People can downplay his oval, banking racing. It's not true. He can drive a car. He can find the limit."

Despite finishing the race outside the top 10, SVG sees this as a big step forward towards his performance improving on the ovals, which is NASCAR's core track type.

Written by

Chionia Libania Colaco

Edited by

Yask Kotak