“It’s a Shame!” Shane van Gisbergen Blame the Car for Disappointing Darlington Performance

Trackhouse Racing star driver Shane van Gisbergen has shared his thoughts on how bad their 2025 playoff opener was at Darlington.

“It’s a Shame!” Shane van Gisbergen Blame the Car for Disappointing Darlington Performance

Shane van Gisbergen (via NASCAR)

Trackhouse Racing’s Shane van Gisbergen made his NASCAR Cup playoff debut last Sunday at Darlington raceway in the Southern 500 and at the track that separate men from boys, he had a massive reality check. He finished the at P32, a massive 12 position worse than his finish the last time he raced at the venue.

Shane van Gisbergen came into the post-season with a massive 22 playoffs points owning to his four road course race wins. But all that advantage is off the window after just one race where luck wasn’t on his side. He is cruelty ranked P12, as three points above reigning champion Joey Logano at P13 and nine points bellow of Chase Elliott at P11.

On his post-race interview, SVG who started the race at P20, explained how he had bad start when the late caution ruined his one stop strategy in the last stage, costing him the positions he gained with lucky dog pass on stage two. One of the reasons for his drop was the change Trackhosue made to the No:88 Chevy, that made it slow and horrible.  

The caution came out at the wrong time, but we just had nothing anyway. Whatever was different from yesterday, the car was horrible. They tried everything they could, but we couldn’t make it better, and I couldn’t find a way to make speed.

Shane van Gisbergen said via Motorsport.com.

The three times Supercars champion lost his temper inside the car, as he was doing everything, he can to extract some speed from the Chevy. He was even seen venting on team radio, using expletive language, which is a side of the veteran driver the racing community never sees. But his frustration is understandable considering he couldn’t even get close to the reasonable hopes that was set for him, and felt helpless.

I was losing my sh*t inside the car. It’s a shame. I had reasonable hopes. We ran good here in the spring, and our cars are getting better. I just felt helpless out there.

Shane van Gisbergen added.

Shane van Gisbergen admits Trackhouse got the strategy wrong at Darlington

In the same conversion the Kiwi driver explained the team decided to make some significant change to their car despite them securing a P20 in qualifying expecting better results.  But the change coupled with the new strategy backfired. The late caution coming at the wrong time ended any chances of redemption for them.

Shane van Gisbergen
Shane van Gisbergen (Via IMAGO)

It was a tough day for the No. 88 Chevrolet team. Our car was very different from yesterday. Stephen [Doran, crew chief] didn’t give up on tuning it, but we just couldn’t make it better. We tried something different with strategy, but got a caution at the wrong time and couldn’t rebound from it.

Shane van Gisbergen said.

The comment from the driver proves it was more the car and strategy than the driver that cost the team a good finish on Sunday. If he had a better car like teammate Ross Chastain, who finished P11, he could have been a better spot for the playoffs.

The upcoming races at Gateway, later R-16 finale at Bristol are going to be tough challenge for the racer and if Trackhouse Racing failed to give him better cars early elimination is on the table. But if they succeed, there is a solid chance that the veteran will make it R-8, as R-12 features the ROVAL road course race where he will undoubtedly be the front runner.

Also Read: Christopher Bell Blasts Carson Hocevar for “Ruining” His Darlington Race