NASCAR Xfinity Series Fahrer SHANE VAN GISBERGEN 97 bereitet sich auf das Training für das Bank of America ROVAL 400 auf dem Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course in Concord, NC, Concord, Vereinigte Staaten von Amerika vor NASCAR Xfinity Series driver, SHANE VAN GISBERGEN 97, prepares to practice for the Bank of America ROVAL 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course in Concord, NC, Concord, United States of America Copyright: imageBROKER/GrindstonexMediaxGro ibxiqx12959277.jpg Bitte beachten Sie die gesetzlichen Bestimmungen des deutschen Urheberrechtes hinsichtlich der Namensnennung des Fotografen im direkten Umfeld der Veröffentlichung

Jun 27, 2026, 8:00 PM CUT

"We're frustrated": SVG gives a peek into his Trackhouse team amidst major decline

A DNF on a road course can be the worst news for Shane van Gisbergen. That's what happened at San Diego, where he was expected to win and boost his ranking in the standings.

While he still has Sonoma on Sunday to fix things, SVG now sits outside the Chase cutoff in 17th, dropping three positions down. A win would've seen him jump five to six positions. Both the Kiwi and the 97 team at Trackhouse are frustrated with where they're at right now.

SVG did an interview with Kevin Harvick's Happy Hour co-host Mamba Smith, where he got honest about the feeling around the team.

Speaking on the podcast, he said, “It’s frustrating. We’re not where we want to be or need to be. It’s cool fighting every week and trying to get better, but obviously we’re frustrated we’re not as fast as we want to be. The atmosphere on the team is still good but we do need to get some speed going.”

May 10, 2026; Watkins Glen, New York, USA; Crew members work on the car of NASCAR Cup Series driver Shane Van Gisbergen (97) in the garage prior to the Go Bowling at The Glen at Watkins Glen International. Mandatory Credit: Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

SVG finished 11th in Charlotte and 5th in Nashville, two oval tracks where he wasn’t expected to be a high finisher. But he also failed to win at COTA or San Diego, two road courses where he was expected to.

Despite that, currently, SVG is Trackhouse's best-ranked driver (17th) as Ross Chastain sits 22nd and Connor Zilisch further down in 34th in his rookie season.

SVG told Smith, “It’s been a tough year. Everyone’s pushing hard, but we’re struggling a little bit, to be honest. I feel like our group within the group, the 97 guys, it’s a pretty good atmosphere there, and I guess we’ve been sort of the best of them, particularly in the start of the year.”

SVG will need to ensure he picks up the win at Sonoma after the disappointment of San Diego, the only road course left before the Chase begins.

His supercar background makes him undeniably the best road course driver on the grid, and this will be a race he needs to make the most of.

SVG talks simulator's impact on preparations

Ahead of the race in San Diego, a track where no driver had been before, there was a lot of talk about simulator time and how much each driver focused on that particular track.

While most drivers pay more attention to road course simulations, with SVG, it’s probably the other way round. Going into Sonoma, a track where he won last year, SVG was asked on the same podcast about how he approaches simulator time and if it varies week on week.

SVG said, “It depends week to week how much sim we do. Some weeks it’s really beneficial, and we learn a lot; other weeks, not so much. This week, we haven’t done too much, really, but we have a good base set up to rely on. We were pretty good there last year.”

With reduced sim time this week, it means that SVG is well rested and ready to take back-to-back wins at Sonoma.

Written by

Debrup Chaudhuri