Shane van Gisbergen encouraged by finish at Charlotte, laments missed opportunity

Shane van Gisbergen took yet another step forward in his NASCAR career on Sunday. The Cup Series rookie finished 14th in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, his second-best finish on an oval.

Van Gisbergen managed to secure a top-15 despite damaging his car in the Lap 245 caution. Perhaps this could have been even better for the New Zealand native. Still, it’s progress. Trackhouse Racing has to be elated about that.

“We’ve just been chipping away the last few weeks; getting better and better,” van Gisbergen said, via Nate Ryan of NBC Sports. “I feel like we’ve just been growing in confidence. We’ve been a bit under the radar, but we had some good pace there. Unfortunately, when Daniel [Suárez] and Ryan [Blaney] wrecked, I had to go across the infield, and it damaged something underneath and we were really tight.

“There were about five of them jumping on the front splitter to get it back down, but it wasn’t quite the same. A lot of the cars we finished behind, we were better than them, but it was promising.”

Shane van Gisbergen showing progress on ovals

In the All-Star Open at North Wilkesboro Speedway, van Gisbergen led laps from the pole position. Then, he put together a solid showing in one of NASCAR’s Crown Jewel events. The arrow is pointing up for van Gisbergen at the right time with some favorable racetracks coming up.

On Sunday, June 15, the first Cup Series race in Mexico. It’s a road course, giving van Gisbergen a good shot to find Victory Lane. Three weeks later, the Chicago Street Race, which van Gisbergen won in his debut in 2023. The following week, a trip to Sonoma Raceway.

If van Gisbergen is going to clinch a spot in the playoffs, it’s likely to come from a victory in one of those three races. Sitting 33rd in the points standings, it’s his only path.

“Road courses are our thing. That’s no secret,” van Gisbergen told Steven Taranto of CBS Sports. “Three races coming up pretty soon in a short succession. So, hopefully we can get a good result and get another win for Trackhouse.”