Shane van Gisbergen Reveals the “Little Intricate Details” That Makes Oval Racing Hard

Trackhouse Racing star driver Shane van Gisbergen has shared his thoughts on how tough the oval racing is for him in NASCAR.

Shane van Gisbergen Reveals the “Little Intricate Details” That Makes Oval Racing Hard

Shane van Gisbergen (Via IMAGO)

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The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season witnessed one the best rookie season in the history of the sport and it came from 36-year-old Shane van Gisbergen. He drove the Trackhouse Chevy to the victory lane five times, all of them coming in the road course races. The RC race dominance of Shane van Gisbergen was expected since his debut owing to the Supercar experience.

But as expected he struggled massively on the oval races, as he has limited experience in those tracks compared to the rest of the Cup grid that races in such venues even before they can remember. Though it seems easy to race, as there are just two corners to be worried about, according to Shane van Gisbergen there so many factors that dictate the race and result that he is yet to master.

It’s everything. Everything adds up to how difficult it is here. It seems more simple, you would think for two corners, but there’s so many little intricate details of how the cars are set up just to turn one way.

Shane van Gisbergen told Stuff (Via The Post).

These intricate factors can be the likes of banking in the corners, something SVG got very limited exposure to before coming to USA. He often raced in flat street tracks or the ones with limited bank. The 20 mins practice time allotted to the Cup drivers isn’t enough for him, or anyone to familiarize themselves with the changes.

How they load up and how they feel once you’re on the banking. With the banking, it’s just such an odd, unique feeling that you don’t get in any other form of racing and then you have no practice.

Shane van Gisbergen added.

The other drivers in the Cup garage can get over the disadvantage of the limited practice time, with their previous experience at the venue unlike the three times Supercars champion. The Kiwi racer will have to race as much he possibly can in the ovals, with non-Cup race starts and build experience that he can later take advantage of.

You basically have 10 or 15 minutes and one set of tyres and to learn a new track and get ready for the weekend. It’s just taken me time to build up that experience, I guess.

Shane van Gisbergen asserted.

Ex-racer Marcos Ambrose explains what it will take Shane van Gisbergen to become good at Ovals

One driver that Shane van Gisbergen can learn how to adjust to US oval racing is Marcos Ambrose. The Aussie racer made a similar move to NASCAR from Supercars in the 2000s and made a name for himself with his grit.

Marcos Ambrose
Marcos Ambrose (Via theracetorque.com)

He was one of the best ringers of his generation and over time made a name for himself as a solid oval driver. The key behind him improvement was gaining experiencing by racing in these venues for years in an attempt to match his much-experienced peers.

Over time, you get better at it, but the guys who have done it since they were eight, or nine or 10, they’re just way up the road.

Marcos Ambrose said.

It is exactly what SVG is doing by making selected, NASCAR second division appearances as well as starts in the regional legends cars series.  It would be interesting to see how everything is going to playout for him in the coming years.

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