“I actually was going pretty good at the start…then we made a bit of a bad adjustment.” Shane van Gisbergen said these words after his disastrous Las Vegas finish in mid-March. However, the same misery applies to almost all of his races in the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season. For someone as successful as the three-time Supercars champion and triple Bathurst 1000 winner, a 34th place in the championship standings looks odd. Dale Earnhardt Jr was also worried, dropping an ominous prediction before the Talladega race.
Shane van Gisbergen entered NASCAR first via Trackhouse Racing’s Project 91 program in 2023. The same program also brought Helio Castroneves, who exercised the Open Exemption Provisional at the Daytona 500 – leading to criticism by Dale Jr. Recently, the veteran driver scrutinized a concerning detail in the ‘Project 91’s graduate’s racing.
Shane van Gisbergen’s discrepancy in speed
For the New Zealand speedster who picked up his Cup Series debut win at the 2023 Chicago Street Race, speed is not expected to be a factor. However, Shane van Gisbergen’s 2025 situation does not look good. His horror stats from oval tracks were inevitably linked to some kind of technical issue. During the Daytona 500, the wreck led to nose-to-tail contact and damage to the airbox ultimately ruined his race. Then in Las Vegas, SVG complained about his ill-handling No. 88 Chevrolet, whose right front gave way, and he was spat into the wall. Even Martinsville, where he had a career-best oval finish last year, gave him problems. SVG finished six laps down after losing a wheel and also struggled with mid-corner handling. The Trackhouse Racing driver’s Talladega outing was miserable as well.
But a peculiar piece of information pointed out that the Kiwi’s lack of speed continued from last year.
As we all know, SVG has been developing his oval racing skills, having primarily experienced as a road course racer. He encountered a DNF at Talladega last Fall. Three days ago, one fan pointed out some numbers on X from SVG’s last Talladega race that look odd. “Last fall, SVG qualified at a speed of 179.912 mph. During the race, his fastest lap was 199.438 mph. Nearly a 20 mph difference between single car and peak draft speeds ” Dale Jr, a six-time winner at Talladega, found this bizarre as well. “That’s a problem,” he wrote.
That’s a problem
— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) April 26, 2025
Lo and behold, SVG ran into problems in his next ‘Dega outing as well, confirming Dale Jr’s suspicion. Shane van Gisbergen qualified in 36th place for the Jack Link’s 500. He stayed at the back of the pack for most of the race, rarely making any moves to advance because of a lack of speed. Although he could stay out of the four cautions, that also meant his track position could not improve. By the end of the race, SVG could only move up to 31st.
During his 2024 Xfinity Series campaign, Shane Van Gisbergen usually qualified toward the back on ovals and didn’t run very well in the first two stages. But then he would improve his pace by the end. His only two DNFs came at Iowa and Talladega. But in 2025, SVG has not fared well on ovals, with a best finish of 20th at Darlington Raceway. After piling up his woes in Talladega, SVG wrote a candid message for his fans on X: “Tough day at Talladega in our @SafetyCultureHQ Chevy. Just don’t seem to have any speed at the moment and I made a mistake getting onto pitlane trying to get everything out of it. Thanks to everyone at @TeamTrackhouse for their hard work, onto Texas next weekend ”
As Shane Van Gisbergen looks to improve his speed, his fans are with him. Dale Earnhardt Jr’s concerns also hint at more support for the Kiwi speedster. Not too long ago, the NASCAR veteran had lauded SVG’s skills of getting revenge.
Subtly attacking his rivals
Well, Shane Van Gisbergen may be having a rough rookie season in the Cup Series. However, the New Zealand native’s earlier exploits can hardly escape our thoughts. After shocking the NASCAR world on his Cup Series debut win, SVG led a phenomenal 2024 Xfinity Series season. He picked up three victories at Portland, Sonoma, and Chicago. Driving the No. 97 Chevy for Kaulig Racing, SVG also carved out impressive storylines of resurgence. The most notable one was probably getting back at Austin Hill after the latter bullied SVG at Circuit of the Americas. He forced him off the track on the way to the victory. Then SVG responded in kind, subtly nudging Hill for the win at both Sonoma and Portland. He did not even adopt the same level of aggression as Hill, and yet his comeback was great.
In light of Matt Tifft’s brawl at an ASA Stars National Tours event, Dale Earnhardt Jr was vocal last year. He expressed displeasure about the heightened physicality, and urged people to take example from Shane Van Gisbergen last September. He said, “Look at SVG, right? They have such strict rules in Supercars, that he got to Cup racing and he’s like, ‘Damn these boys run through you, they bump you around, they push you around.’ He’s like, ‘We can’t do that at Supercars, we’re not allowed to touch each other. We gotta learn to get around a guy without f—ing, it’s a penalty, like encroachment if you bump into another car.”
Shane Van Gisbergen’s racing style had impressed the NASCAR world until 2024. However, things have taken a downturn in 2025. Nevertheless, the Kiwi speedster may have time on his hands yet to ameliorate his stats.
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