Before the start of the 2026 Cup Series season, Shane van Gisbergen had a whopping seven Top 10 finishes on oval tracks across his combined NASCAR Series starts. So far this season, he has three, but the results do not match the performance. As SVG continues to learn the NASCAR oval-style of racing, SVG has had multiple great performances that just didn’t translate into finishes. Take Charlotte and the Coke 600, for example, Shane had an average running position of 7.83. He spent 97.3% of that race inside the Top 15, but the early end to the race landed him just 1 place shy of the top 10.

Last night/ this morning’s Quaker State 400 saw another fantastic run by Shane on an oval. He matched his 6th-place finish from earlier this season at EchoPark Speedway. Again, it wasn’t a fluke finish. Shane held an average running position of 11.64, well within the top 10 all race long.

Following the second-to-last restart, Shane even had a legitimate opportunity to win the race. A fantastic battle was brewing among him, Ryan Blaney, Bubba Wallace, Christopher Bell, and Carson Hocevar for the win, with three to go. One final restart, and Shane ended up P.6 showing that he is vastly improving on ovals. Hell, the guy led laps at the Clash.

Where could he be performing if TrackHouse Racing had the performance it had from 2022 to 2024? Professional analysis, He could be learning more running up front and honestly contending for wins. He clearly has the talent; he clearly has the drive. He just needs the team’s performance.

Image via SVG Social Media