Kyle Larson Predicts Shane van Gisbergen’s Oval Dominance if He Can ‘Figure out’ One Factor

Hendrick Motorsports’ ex-NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson shared his thoughts on Shane van Gisbergen becoming a solid oval racer.

Kyle Larson Predicts Shane van Gisbergen’s Oval Dominance if He Can ‘Figure out’ One Factor

Kyle Larson and Shane van Gisbergen (Via IMAGO and NBC Sports)

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Last week race at Chicago Street marked another dominant run from Shane van Gisbergen, who won his second race of the season in style. The event proved there is no road course race expert in the current garage capable of matching the Kiwi racers’ pace. 2021 Cup champion Kyle Larson thinks the three times Supercars champion is capable of producing similar runs on the ovals.

Before making his NASCAR move, Shane van Gisbergen had close to no experience in the oval track and the 2024 Xfinity season gave him a reality check about how the new chapter of his career will be.  Before the road course stretch of 2025 started, SVG was outside the top 30 in the points table owing to poor oval runs. But now with two wins to his name, the veteran is in a secure spot for the playoffs.

Hendrick Motorsports veteran Kyle Larson assessed his Chevy teammates performance over the last few weekends and highlighted how the veteran easily detaching himself from the competition on the track. His right-foot breaking technique suits road course racing a lot as the American racers doesn’t do it unlike the rest of the world.

You know, he’s so good, and it’s rare that you see somebody stand out and distance himself from the competition as much as he is. He’s way, way, way better than us at the road course stuff. And he’s got his own technique; you can call it. Not his own because the rest of the world does it — right-foot braking, clutching and all that stuff.

Kyle Larson said via Motorsports.com.

The No:5 Chevy driver, who himself claimed to be one of the most versatile racers in the world, admitted that even if he tried, he can’t learn this technique and use it better than his current left-foot breaking style. But this racing style isn’t the only advantage SVG has, as he has superior natural talent and speed, that as per Larson is capable of making him a dominant NASCAR racer if he can figure out oval racing.

You can’t teach an old dog new tricks. Like, there’s zero chance I can learn how to do that. And even if I did, like there’s zero chance that I can have it be better than what I’m probably doing with left-foot braking. So yeah, he’s just so good…He’s still new to the oval stuff, so he’s going to continue to get better at that. And, yeah, I mean, if he can figure out the ovals, he’s going to be dominant.

Kyle Larson added.

Kyle Larson hoping to match Shane van Gisbergen at Sonoma

Further talking about the point, the Hendrick Motorsports driver shared his thoughts on how the road course racing is going to playout with SVG on the track. He expected COTA and Sonoma to have more close racing, while Watkins Glen is also expected to have good races unlike Chicago and Mexico, though the Kiwi will dominate qualifying.

Kyle Larson
Kyle Larson (Via IMAGO)

I would say the competition’s a little closer to him as we come to more normal road courses, like COTA and hopefully Sonoma. Watkins Glen — he was still the fastest there last year, but it’s a race…So, yeah, I don’t know. We’ll see. I hope that we’re much closer to him this week, but as good as he is, I expect him to be fastest in qualifying and execute in a good race again.

Kyle Larson added.

The No:5 HMS driver came into the race hoping to have a good qualifying at Sonoma, but only secured P11 worthy speed while the veteran secured the pole position. But there is still hope for him on Sunday and the Cup drivers will be racing hard in the main event, with playoffs spot as well as their credibility in peril.

Also Read: Shane Van Gisbergen Admits ‘NASCAR Is More Intense’ Than Australian Supercars