Road courses have always tested NASCAR drivers in unique ways, demanding precision and strategy that differ from the high-speed ovals dominating the schedule. Richard Petty, the seven-time Cup Series champion with 200 career victories, knows this firsthand; his six wins on road courses, all at the demanding Riverside International Raceway between 1963 and 1969, showcased his adaptability despite the era’s focus on left turns.
Those Riverside battles, where Petty outmaneuvered rivals like Dan Gurney in the 1969 Motor Trend 500 by conserving tires and capitalizing on late-race cautions, remain a benchmark for blending stock car grit with road-racing finesse. Today, drivers like Shane van Gisbergen echo that mastery, with his back-to-back Xfinity Series triumphs at Portland and Sonoma in 2024 highlighting an unmatchable edge that carried into his full-time Cup debut.
Petty, observing van Gisbergen’s Sonoma dominance up close, noted how the Kiwi paced himself early to let competitors burn through their tires before pulling away decisively. “The way it looked to me was that when they throw the flag and he’d take off, he ran just hard enough for those guys to think they had a chance to catch them, and they’d use their tires up,” Petty reflected. As Trackhouse Racing fields both van Gisbergen in the #88 and Ross Chastain in the #1, these insights add layers to the team’s evolving dynamics. But what happens when the King and his crew turn that praise up a notch on a specific matchup?
Richard Petty’s high praise for SVG’s road mastery
Richard Petty didn’t hold back in a recent Instagram reel, labeling Shane van Gisbergen as the ultimate asset on road courses while drawing a stark contrast with teammate Ross Chastain. Petty explained, “It’s him okay. Then you look at, I guess the number one car is also a partner with him including on the same team. And he just so much better on than the one driver on road courses.” This nod to van Gisbergen’s superiority stems from his flawless execution, like his 2025 Watkins Glen Cup win, where he led by over 11 seconds, marking his fourth road course victory of the season and tying him with Denny Hamlin for the most wins that year.
Petty’s view underscores how van Gisbergen‘s background in Supercars, with over 80 career wins including three Bathurst 1000 titles, translates to NASCAR, allowing him to navigate turns and braking zones with a precision that creates built-in advantages. Expanding on that, Petty flipped the script for ovals. “Now, when you get to a regular racetrack, it goes around the other way. The #1’s better than the #88.” Here, “the #1” refers to Chastain, whose strengths shine on tracks like his 2022 COTA victory, his only road course win in 30 Cup starts there, with an average finish of 16.8.
Yet, this comparison reveals Chastain‘s ongoing challenges on twists and turns, where he’s notched just six top-fives across those attempts, often hampered by mid-pack qualifying and tire management issues. In 2025, as van Gisbergen’s teammate, Chastain’s road course finishes often finished outside the top 15, amplifying the pressure in a playoff format that rewards consistency across all track types.
Steve Evenson, Petty’s co-host in the reel, echoed the sentiment by calling van Gisbergen a crew chief’s ideal. “He brings that car alive, and it makes it easy on strategy to figure it and fairly easy on the pit crew… I’d tell him I’m okay, take your time and make sure not to make no mistakes on the road because they created such an advantage with him driving the car.”
This “dream driver” tag highlights how van Gisbergen’s leads reduce pit stop risks, as seen in his five Cup wins in 38 starts. For Chastain, the misery compounds with Trackhouse’s spotlight shifting; his single 2025 win at the Coca-Cola 600 pales against van Gisbergen’s haul, potentially eroding confidence and forcing strategic tweaks that could disrupt his oval momentum heading into playoffs. As van Gisbergen’s star rises, his position at Trackhouse Racing solidifies in unexpected ways.
Shane van Gisbergen now Trackhouse’s leading man
Van Gisbergen’s 2025 run has put him squarely in the Trackhouse spotlight. Frontstretch notes that his string of road-course results gave him four road wins in the season and made him the most prolific single-season winner in Trackhouse history. That kind of output moves a driver from a supporting role to the principal face of a team.
On pure momentum, van Gisbergen’s Sonoma triumph was textbook: pole speed, strong long-run pace, and the ability to manage multiple late restarts to hold position. NASCAR’s race recap and Jayski’s reports confirm the win came through decisive late-race execution, the sort of finish that changes how competitors plan for him on street and road courses.
From a brand and team perspective, Frontstretch argues Trackhouse can capitalize on van Gisbergen’s outsider status and recent form to expand its reach. His international pedigree and rapid success in NASCAR give Trackhouse a marketable figure and a short-term competitive window that the team can exploit while his road-course edge remains pronounced. Those are the practical reasons Trackhouse looks to be pivoting around him now.
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