It looks like Shane van Gisbergen has come equipped to tackle the oval challenge after conquering the road courses. Before the playoffs began, there was a lot of talk about how deep of a run SVG could have in his rookie year. Some suggested that he might clear the first round thanks to Roval, but his odds looked bleak as the playoffs shifted gears.

However, the Kiwi Speedster surprised everyone with a P8 finish at his first Kansas Speedway race yesterday. In fact, this was his first top 10 results on the mile-and-half race track. This was indeed a big surprise given that SVG is still learning the trick of the trades on the ovals. But as it turns out, there was an element of luck involved with his strong performance, which he revealed after the race.

Shane van Gisbergen was pushing his luck at Kansas

It seems unfair to the former V8 Supercars driver that he has to constantly prove himself as an oval expert in his rookie season. However, he found himself in trouble with lack of grip at Kansas, and he got anxious on the team radio, stating the car was undrivable. Thanks to the constant changes and adjustments made by his team and his skilled driving, they managed to overcome the scare. At a point, he even labeled his race car as undrivable, but they pulled through. As it turns out, there was more on play than his skills and adjustments made by his team that helped him finish P8.

“Yeah, Kevin, Walter, and the guys they were doing so many changes to try and get it at least handling where I could be comfortable and just learned to be up high. I would feel comfortable up there, and the wall kind of saved me countless times, which was fun. And then yeah, we got amazing results out of it. Eight was pretty good for how we ran most of the day, really.” The Kaulig Racing driver said this to Frontstretch after the race.

One of the biggest edges SVG has over his rival is his ability to adapt quickly and learn the racecraft on ovals. Not only that, despite a strong start to the playoffs, he is well aware that things can go south quickly, and he is not out of the woods just yet. “Plus eight on the board, but we’re still near the cutline, but we just got to keep chipping away. have a decent week next week at Talladega and then we should be fine at the Roval. So just got to get the simple things right,” he added.

Although this was just his first playoff race in NASCAR, this result does prompt the question, What’s next for Shane van Gisbergen? And just how long will the Kiwi speedster remain in contention for the title?

SVG needs to buckle up to have a deep playoff run

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Kansas, Roval, and Homestead are the three racetracks van Gisbergen has yet to get a feel for racing. Having cleared the Kansas trials, the road to the next round looks pretty clear for him, right? Given that he had a road race in the mix. But, even for a driver with a caliber like Shane van Gisbergen, his win at Roval is anything but assured. Not to forget, he couldn’t convert wins at COTA and Watkins Glen because of mistakes.

“There’s three tracks really that are worrying in the playoffs, but the rest of them I’ve been to before, and I know what to expect you know. So yeah, that’s going to be interesting to see second time around, how much I’ve improved and how competitive can I be on the ovals. But you know, still probably a little way from winning outright but we’re definitely closer to, you know, being in the top five on some good weekends.” This was SVG before his top-10 result at Kansas.

On Superspeedway, he hasn’t been the field of the class. In the two Daytona races in 2024, he’s yet to finish inside the top 10, and he ended 22nd in the spring race at Talladega. And next on the playoffs schedule is the race at Talladega, which will test his skill on ovals. He entered the playoffs 10 points above the cutline, and after the first race, he’s down to 8 points.

So, you see, he does need to gain momentum and consistency if he wants to go deep in the playoffs. But those optimistic fans hoping for a championship race for Shane van Gisbergen will need to keep their expectations in check.