SVG win at Watkins Glen stamps his authority on NASCAR road courses

Shane Van Gisbergen (SVG) has sauntered to another NASCAR road course race victory. It is his fourth race win this season, with a yawning 11sec gap to second in New York.

SVG continues to dominate the road courses, with wins in Mexico, Chicago, Sonoma and now Watkins Glen. And that’s all inside of eight weeks.

He kicked off second on the grid and was at the pointy end of the field for the entire race before clearing out on Christopher Bell with Chris Buescher in third.

He finished second to the latter in the 2024 race at Watkins Glen.

Which made the win all the more satisfying. “Good to get that one back,” he quipped afterwards.

“The car was just amazing again.”

He had his father trackside following the recent passing of his mother.

“It’s amazing to have him here, it has been a tough year for dad and he hasn’t be able to travel. So to have him here for the next three weeks and share this with him is amazing.”

Van Gisbergen is now equal with Denny Hamlin with the most wins this season. Monday’s result moves him up to second in the NASCAR play-off standings. He has also just signed a new contract with his Trackhouse Racing team.

“I’m just a very lucky guy to drive for an amazing bunch of people and just execute.”

To progress during the play-offs, he will need to improve his racing on the oval circuits. And he believes he is tracking in the right direction.

“Who knows, it isn’t going to be easy, but I’m getting better at it and I’m enjoying myself.