“That’s a problem.” Dale Earnhardt Jr’s worried statement came two weeks ago when he learned of a Cup Series racer’s stats in Talladega. That racer is none other than Shane Van Gisbergen. Less than a year ago, the Kiwi speedster was having fun in the Xfinity Series, embarrassing his rivals with back-to-back road course victories. However, his Cup Series debut in 2025 has been far from his fans’ expectations. As Dale Jr pointed out, the ‘problem’ may be a bit too far-reaching.
The driver of the No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet painted a pretty picture at the beginning of this season. With a new sponsor in Red Bull and memories of his 2023 Chicago debut win still fresh, SVG was off to a great start. Yet all that enthusiasm has melted away 12 races into the schedule.
Shane Van Gisbergen – A Tale of Tears
Well, it should have been a Tale of Glory for the New Zealand native’s large fan base. For someone as successful as the three-time Supercars champion and triple Bathurst 1000 winner, a 35th-place in the Cup Series championship standings hardly seems suitable. Shane Van Gisbergen has undergone a tumultuous 2025 season so far, never being able to crack the top 15 except for a lone 6th-place finish at Circuit of the Americas. He recorded a 20th-place finish at Darlington Raceway, his best oval result this season. The rest of the stats are pure horror – it seems that SVG keeps swimming in the area outside the top 25 or the top 30 positions. However, the real concerning factor is how these results came out.
As it turns out, the Trackhouse Racing recruit owns a staggering number of penalties already this season. Ever since the Daytona 500 kicked off, Shane Van Gisbergen has been at the receiving end of NASCAR’s judicial arm. Most of these offenses were via pit road speeding in Darlington, Las Vegas, Talladega, and other places. The latest one was at Talladega – with 12 laps remaining in Stage 2, SVG misjudged his entry speed and fought to retain control under heavy braking. That resulted in narrowly scraping a wreck and landing a drive-through speeding penalty. The number of times that SVG found himself in such a dilemma is sure to befuddle you. Journalist Kelly Crandall updated on X that SVG currently leads with 6 penalties.
The speeding penalty breakdown through Texas (includes Duel races):
SVG: 6
Busch: 4
JHN: 4
McDowell: 4
Herbst: 4
Ty Dillon: 3
Hamlin: 3
Elliott: 3
Yeley: 3
Suarez: 3
Ware: 3
Gibbs: 2
Stenhouse: 2
Bowman: 2
Larson: 2
Jones: 2
Wallace: 2
Gilliland: 1
McLeod: 1
Buescher: 1…
— Kelly Crandall (@KellyCrandall) May 5, 2025
Given the dire state of his NASCAR career, this is truly a concerning time for Shane Van Gisbergen. Dale Earnhardt Jr’s prediction came true in Talladega, and SVG admitted to his misery. “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.” Yet some notable improvements were still visible at the Alabama track. SVG started the Jack Link’s 400 race from 36th place, and yet wove his way into the top 15. Towards the end of stage 2, SVG was placed 14th when he dived to the pit road among a group of seven Chevrolet drivers. He then sat in the ‘Lucky Dog’ position as first of the lapped runners for much of Stage 3.
These glimmers of hope may signal better times ahead. Indeed, Shane Van Gisbergen’s day in Texas went way better than many of his Cup Series rivals.
Dodging a load of carnage
The wildcard nature of the Texas track has become a staple. After NASCAR reconfigured the 1.5-mile racetrack in 2017, two different ends have emerged. While Turns 1 and 2 are wider and more flattened, Turns 3 and 4 remained the same. This inconsistent nature has led to several crashes. The 2024 Cup race witnessed a whopping 16 caution flags. In 2025, none of the three national series was spared. The Craftsman Truck Series race recorded 11 cautions, and the Xfinity Series also had the same number. The Cup Series drivers saw 12 cautions for 73 laps, from Denny Hamlin’s car catching fire to Jesse Love spinning out. However, Shane Van Gisbergen put in some extra effort on Sunday. After starting 37th, he never fell off the lead lap throughout the contest and ended up 35th and 30th in Stages 1 and 2.
Shane Van Gisbergen narrowly missed disaster a few times. On Lap 220, he was on the outside of Jesse Love as the two were battling wheel-to-wheel through Turns 1 and 2. Right then, the backend of Love’s #62 Beard Motorsports Chevy snapped around and ended up at the inside wall. After avoiding this carnage and finishing 22nd, SVG patted himself and his team on the back a little bit. He said post-race, “A decent finish today for my SafetyCulture team. Just wasn’t comfortable with the car there at the start and struggled to find speed. Thanks to my 88 crew for never giving up and continuing to work to make my Chevrolet better and better. We will learn from this and continue to make improvements.”
Shane Van Gisbergen will probably not let go without a solid fight. Here’s to hoping that the Kiwi speedster will redeem his pace soon enough the NASCAR.
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