Shane van Gisbergen’s NASCAR journey continues to be one of the most closely watched stories of the 2025 season. A road course ace turned into a full-time Cup Series rookie; the New Zealander has already proven he can win at the highest level, but the true test lies on ovals, the backbone of the sport.
Richmond Raceway, with its demanding short-track characteristics, offered another checkpoint in that progression. Entering the weekend fresh off a road course victory at Watkins Glen, SVG faced the challenge of balancing patience, pit strategy, and consistency in a race that required discipline as much as speed. But what followed was a performance that reflected both its growing adaptability and the hurdles still left to overcome.
SVG gets nudged in the pit road amid a pit stop
Shane van Gisbergen put in a respectable qualifying effort at Richmond raceway, clocking a lap time of 22.646 seconds, which positioned him 27th on the starting grid for the Cup Series race. While not among the speedsters at the front, SVG’s lap was still competitive enough to place him just behind Riley Herbst and ahead of two-time Cup Series champion Kyle Busch, providing a solid foundation from mid-pack to launch his race strategy.
The Kiwi’s race saw a mix of pit strategy and resilience as he worked to stay in contention. Early in the event, he pitted alongside Cody Ware, adjusting his car for the long run. Later, on lap 126, he returned to Pit Road with a group that included Erik Jones and Carson Hocevar, continuing to keep his Chevrolet tuned for the changing track conditions. Persistence paid off when, under caution at lap 193, SVG was awarded the free pass, putting him back on the lead lap and giving him another shot to climb the field as the race entered its critical stages.
SVG made the most of it once the green flag dropped, keeping his car consistently in the 15th to 20th range through much of the evening. That steady pace not only highlighted adaptability on short tracks but also gave track house racing opportunities to play with strategy as the race unfolded. However, it was one pit entry that could potentially ruin his chances. As he entered pit road and attempted to stack his car in his team’s stall, he got nudged in the process, adding a moment of chaos to the stop.
SVG apologized for this, but it wasn’t his fault!! #NASCAR | #Cookout400 https://t.co/hzeWtseflJ
— JJ (@TomcatNASCAR_2) August 17, 2025
SVG’s oval progression has become gradual but consistently upward. His best oval result of the 2025 season so far came at the Coca-Cola 600, where he finished 14th, while his teammate Ross Chastain captured the crown jewel win. Across the year, he has locked five top 20 finishes on ovals, showing steady improvement in an area that remains his steepest learning curve. The biggest challenge is tracking time, something in short supply in today’s NASCAR, with limited practice sessions and condensed two-day weekends.
Still, SVG benefits from familiarity, as eight of the 12 races left on the schedule will be at tracks. He has already seen it earlier this season. Entering the playoffs with four wins and more than 20 bonus points, he has already surpassed expectations. While another road course sits in the middle of round two, his ability to advance deep into the postseason will ultimately hinge on how much he can extract from the remaining oval races.
SVG looks up to Denny Hamlin for oval racing technique
SVG remains a student of the oval game, eager to refine his craft against some of NASCAR’s best. You provide a better benchmark than Denny Hamlin, who owns an average finish of 8.1 across 36 short track starts, including five wins and 20 top fives. While SVG has already proven dominant on road courses, he acknowledges that mastering ovals is still very much a work in progress.
Heading into Richmond, he openly admitted he hopes to pick up pointers from Hamlin’s unique approach.
Fresh off his Watkins Glen triumph, SVG spoke in a pre-race press conference about his appreciation for Hamlin’s technique. He said, “ It’s just amazing… it’s just the different styles, right? And his (Hamlin’s) style is very unique. The way he’s mainly using a different gear and stabbing at the throttle, and it’s just techniques, I’ve never come across or needed to use before. But in NASCAR, there’s so many different ways to get the car around the track fast. And I’m trying to be as open-minded as possible and changing my style. And especially for a track I’ve never been to before. And I probably won’t try it today in practice, but if it gets stalled out in the race and or in a moment where I’ve got time to try stuff, I’ll experiment a bit.”
SVG’s history at Richmond is limited. He finished 14th there last season in the Xfinity Series, making Sunday’s Cup race only his second career start at the track. Still, the signs of progress are evident. Away from NASCAR, he recently captured his first oval win in a Legends Car, taking the Pro-Legends A Feature at Charlotte Motor Speedway during the Cook Out Summer Shootout Finale.
On the NASCAR side, he has also shown pace in qualifying, earning a pole at North Wilkesboro, a sixth-place start at Dover, and 11th at Indianapolis. For now, SVG continues to sharpen his oval skills wherever he can, balancing competition with valuable seat time in grassroots racing.
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