Kaulig Racing’s New Zealand speedster charmed his fans for the third Xfinity race in Chicago. Shane van Gisbergen was entangled in a battle with a NASCAR heavyweight – Kyle Larson. Both exchanged leads like throwing balls until Larson got caught in the Kiwi magic. The grand rivalry made Larson feel like SVG was “toying” with him.

Indeed, the three-time Supercars champion stamped his ticket to glory first on a road course at the Chicago Street Race last year. And he continued that trend this year on a fiery note – revealing his almost-invincible talent on the roads. He admitted to his buttery smooth performance.

Shane van Gisbergen lets slip his powerful stand

The Kiwi speedster has been exceptional on road courses aside from Circuit of the Americas. There he led 20 laps before an on-track incident involving Austin Hill dropped him to 27th place. But after that, it was like a cakewalk – Shane van Gisbergen introduced his snazzy rugby signature upon winning at Portland. Then in Sonoma, he got back at his COTA detractor, Hill, in style.

So all these led people, even Kyle Larson, to believe in the Kiwi magic on road courses. Although Shane van Gisbergen was humble at first, eventually he admitted. The press asked him if the pressure to defend his Chicago title got to him, but SVG rubbished this, saying, “These things are kind of a holiday or a fun weekend. So I still studied hard for this and wanted to be good at it. But yeah, got out and just did my thing. There was a lot of media yesterday, but today the team’s really been good with you know, just focusing on the driving.”

Although nine of the final dozen regular-season races are on ovals, Shane van Gisbergen has advantages. Pocono Raceway or ‘The Tricky Triangle’ races a lot like a road course, and then the Charlotte ROVAL plays in SVG’s favor. Hence the Kaulig Racing star has a solid shot at securing the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship this year.

Shane van Gisbergen is also a fast learner and may overcome his jittery posture on ovals soon. His three Supercars titles, anyway, gave him a ton of experience to perform under pressure and come out on top. SVG’s best oval performance was 6th place at Phoenix Raceway, and second-best was 11th at Martinsville Speedway, the championship cutoff race.

Yet SVG’s oval excellence is a work in progress. He compared his road course mettle and oval inexperience on a primordial level.

SVG grew up racing the streets

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Every single racer has their own forte. Road courses spell Shane van Gisbergen’s strong point, as he basks in three Xfinity wins this season. Yet ovals still evade his grasp – with only two commendable performances this year, the Kaulig Racing No. 97 team has its work cut out for it. So SVG confessed that while road courses were smooth, ovals were not yet – “I’m more focused on the ovals at the moment.”

Thus van Gisbergen’s ambition of securing the championship seems a bit dreamy at the moment. Some superb oval racers stand in his way – Austin Hill, Cole Custer, Justin Allgaier, and others. After snagging his Portland win, SVG admitted to the different upbringing: “I’m a long way from (winning on an oval) and I understand that, but it’s a process, you know. These guys have been doing it since they were kids whereas this stuff (road racing) I’ve been doing since I was a kid.”

However, given Shane van Gisbergen’s fast learning curve, the Kiwi speedster may just overcome the oval hiccup in time.