Shane van Gisbergen admits he needs to “justify” his NASCAR Cup Series seat
Despite dominating in Mexico City for his second NASCAR Cup win, Shane van Gisbergen says he must improve on ovals to prove he belongs in the Cup Series full-time.
NASCAR Cup Series rookie Shane van Gisbergen has admitted he needs to do a better job to justify his seat in the category, despite taking a dominant victory in Mexico last weekend.
Van Gisbergen led 60 of the 100 laps on NASCAR’s first visit to Mexico City to claim a commanding 16s victory over Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota rival Christopher Bell.
This marked the Kiwi’s second Cup Series win, following his sensational debut triumph on the streets of Chicago two years ago, and further underlined the talent of a driver who won three Supercars titles in Australia before making the switch to North America.
But van Gisbergen is not getting carried away by his success at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, conceding that he still has work to do on ovals if he is to retain his drive at Trackhouse Racing in 2026.
"That's why I'm here, to win road races," said van Gisbergen. "But I'm not here to run last on the ovals either. I need to keep getting better to justify being a Cup Series driver. I need to be performing on the ovals, too.
"I feel like we're really making strides, but this is what I'm here to do, make the playoffs, put another Trackhouse car in the playoffs.
“Can't wait to do the victory lunch during the week at Trackhouse and just see how stoked everyone is there.
"You see the effort everyone puts in, and they don't get the glory. They're just stuck at the shop. I love taking that and sharing that moment with them during the week."
Although his Mexico win provisionally secured him a playoff berth, van Gisbergen remains a distant 30th in the overall standings with just 242 points to his name.
His struggles on ovals have been a major limiting factor, with no finishes better than 14th on such layouts so far this year.
In fact, during his limited time in the Cup Series, including his cameo outings in 2023 and ‘24, he has yet to crack the top 10 at an oval.
Van Gisbergen's first Cup Series victory was on the Chicago street circuit, while his triumph last weekend was on the same road course used by Formula 1 for the Mexico GP.
His only other Cup Series podium came last year in Watkins Glen, another road course in an otherwise oval-dominated calendar.
"I am getting better and more competitive on ovals," he said. "My average oval running position has gone from 85th to 10th to 20th or 10th to 15th on a good day.
“We're really making a lot of progress and sort of not been forcing. I've been methodical, got better every week and it's been really fun working with my No. 88 crew all year.
“The last couple of months, it's been great to show some improvement and be competitive."
