Shane van Gisbergen fans knew the Roval would be a race he couldn’t avoid. The Kaulig Racing star has been the focus of many fans ever since his debut in the Cup Series, one that came with his maiden win. The Kiwi driver has quite a bit of experience with road course tracks from his past and it looks like it’s coming in handy at the Roval. However, before SVG displayed his dominance on the road course tracks, it was his teammate AJ Allmendinger who boasted the title of being the ‘Road Course Surgeon.’

Shane van Gisbergen has 3 victories this year, all of which are at road course tracks.From the 2024 The Loop 110 to the 2024 Pacific Office Automation 147, he has proved that there is no other driver in the series that handles the road courses better and to add a cherry on the top, he impressed fans at the Roval qualifiers too.

Shane van Gisbergen’s bags pole position at the Roval

Shane van Gisbergen will be completing his debut season in the Xfinity Series and will move into the Trackhouse Racing team for the Cup Series next year. The driver has already secured his seat, and now the only thing left for him to do is win the Xfinity Series Championship. However, that is easier said than done, especially because he is currently ‘on the bubble’ of elimination. Before SVG started to make headlines, AJ Allmendinger impressed his fans with his maiden Cup Series victory at Watkins Glen and now it looks like the dynamics are shifting.

The Kiwi driver now stands 10th after the Talladega weekend after getting involved in a wreck on lap 76 of 94 at the United Rentals 250. Gisbergen ran 6th before the wreck took place, throwing him back to P37. This massively affected his playoff standings, but that’s when Charlotte Roval came in as a savior. Knowing van Gisbergen’s proficiency on road course tracks, many believe that he will make it into the top 8 by recovering.

Bob Pockrass was the one to reveal to X that Shane van Gisbergen will start the race from the pole, and that’s what had his fans riled up. This is his third pole position of the season. Joining SVG in the front row is Sam Mayer, another playoff driver who had a difficult race at Talladega. He did not start the race after he failed to meet the car’s height requirements.

AJ Allmendinger will be third in line to contest SVG’s chances for the win, followed by Josh Bilicki. Starting from pole at a road course race is often the right place to be, as overtaking on these tracks needs a different strategy compared to the ovals. SVG doesn’t only stand as one of the best road course drivers in the Xfinity Series, as he managed to surpass all the Cup Series drivers during the practice run. That was soon converted into another pole scored for SVG as he will be starting the Cup Series race from the front row too.  Although many remained unsurprised by his results, it did not stop the fans from celebrating the qualifying results in the comments section.

Fans were unsurprised to see Shane van Gisbergen take the pole

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The name of the two big rivals was brought up by a fan as they said, “SVG vs AJ Allmendinger today.” Both the drivers have been going head to head into the playoffs and although AJ Allmendinger is in the safe zone of the playoffs, the race can result in him getting eliminated. Luckily for him, he managed to qualify 3rd and instead of elimination, his focus should be on defeating SVG. For many fans, the race will be the proof of which Kaulig Racing driver will keep the road course ace title and the race will be an interesting one for sure.

“Road course merchant” was what one fan called Shane van Gisbergen after knowing how well he performs at road course tracks. This is his third pole position this season, and unsurprisingly, the other two poles were at Sonoma Raceway and Chicago street course races. It shouldn’t be a surprise for fans to know van Gisbergen’s history with road course tracks. Before making the jump to NASCAR, van Gisbergen raced in the Supercar series, one that saw him drive on tracks like Charlotte.

It meant that when tracks like Charlotte or Watkins Glen were up next, SVG knew he could impress. Adding on to this, while other NASCAR drivers struggled to cope with the Next-Gen cars’ handling on road courses, SVG took to it with ease. A fan played some sarcasm into their comment as they said, “What a surprise. The new road course ringer.” Sure, it’s not obvious that SVG has to take pole at every road course race; however, knowing how his season has transpired, it won’t come as a surprise if he aces the qualifiers.

Others took a humorous jab at the race being broadcast on The CW, with one fan quipping, “That’s great, Bob, but nobody can watch it. It’s on the Taylor Swift network The CW.” It seems like Swifties and race fans might have to battle for TV time.

One fan pointed out a tense moment during his qualifying run, stating, “He was terrified in that thing. He almost tipped the car over going through that one chicane,” proving that even the pros can have close calls when pushing their limits. It also highlights how the tweaks made to the Charlotte Speedway can bring to how the driver sees the track. However, SVG has won half the battle will be starting the race in front of the grid.

All in all, fans loved to see how well the Kiwi driver performed during the qualifiers. But now the question stands, will SVG manage to win his 4th race of the season? Share your thoughts in the comments below.