Justin Marks Spills the Beans on Brutal Reality over Shane Van Gisbergen’s Deep Playoff run Chances

Justin Marks gets real on Shane van Gisbergen's chances to succeed in the playoffs, keeping in mind his weakness over the short-oval tracks.

Justin Marks Spills the Beans on Brutal Reality over Shane Van Gisbergen’s Deep Playoff run Chances

Justin Marks and Shane van Gisbergen (Via @NASCAR_Trucks/X)

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Shane van Gisbergen‘s dominance at street course circuits has helped him emerge victorious in three races in the 2025 season. The Trackhouse Racing star has locked his spot in the playoffs, following his multiple victories.

However, short-oval circuits remain Gisbergen’s weakness as he will have to go through these races in the playoffs. Now, Justin Marks comes clean on the 36-year-old’s playoff chances, keeping in mind his inferiority on ovals.

Shane van Gisbergen‘s three victories this year have all come from a street course circuit. Racing around ovals has remained a massive task for SVG, as his best finish on such a track is just P14, which came at the Coke 600.

Now, even with the Trackhouse veteran making it to the playoffs, he will be faced with a stern challenge from the leader of the pack, as they seem to excel on oval circuits.

Trackhouse Racing’s boss, Justin Marks, is managing expectations on Shane van Gisbergen’s chances to succeed in the playoffs and climb the ladder to the championship battle.

Marks raised uncertainty on what was realistic in terms of results or goals for Gisbergen. The owner acknowledged that the #88 crew still had a chance to go into the playoffs with a lot of points and have a cushion to fall back on if their results fail.

I don’t know if I think about what’s realistic or what the goals are from like a finishing standings position or anything like that, What we have an opportunity to do with the 88 team is to go into the playoffs, have a lot of playoff points and be able to have somewhat of a cushion.

Justin Marks said via Cup Scene.

Justin Marks reckoned that Shane van Gisbergen’s momentum at the beginning of the playoff would really determine where he would end up in terms of his championship ambitions.

Realistically, Mark asserted that reaching the round of 8 was definitely possible for him. But then, Gisbergen will be met with some of the best guys in NASCAR, as he would find it difficult to win from there onwards, especially on short-oval circuits.

I think as the momentum continues to grow and his experience continues to grow, I think the Round of 8 is something that’s very possible for us. And then you’re really among the best guys in this sport, executing at the most important time of the year, and that’s when it just gets really, really hard.

Justin Marks added.

Justin Marks hopes for Shane van Gisbergen to keep ‘improving and grinding’ this season

The regular 2025 season is almost over, with just four races to go after Go Bowling at The Glen at Watkins Glen. Shane van Gisbergen clinched a P2 start for the main event as he hopes to keep up with the winning momentum.

As such, if Gisbergen figures out how to perform well on oval circuits as well, he could be a strong contender for the championship. Now, Justin Marks delivers his hopes for SVG this season, as he signs a multi-year contract extension.

Shane van Gisbergen
Shane van Gisbergen (Via IMAGO)

Justin Marks insisted that the #88 crew’s focus was to keep improving and grinding every week in and out. He reckoned that this was the first of many playoff appearances for Gisbergen, as he shows promise to come up in many more playoffs in the future. As such, for now, it would be great for the 36-year-old to gain the experience of fighting it in the round of 16 and its subsequent rounds.

The focus is to really just stay with the week in and week out of just improving and grinding, I think this is the first of many playoff appearances for him, so I think it would be good for him to just get the experience of how the dynamic of the championship changes once we get to those rounds.

Justin Marks noted.

Shane van Gisbergen has definitely put forth one of his best performances this season, as his championship chances cannot be discounted easily. The 36-year-old needs to practice hard on oval circuits and ensure that his weaknesses do not give him problems in his hunt for the Cup Series title. However, even if he loses, it would be a great learning experience for the Trackhouse star.

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