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Shane van Gisbergen continues to be a bright spot for Trackhouse Racing amid their tough 2026 NASCAR Cup Series campaign. His latest performance at North Wilkesboro has given team owner Justin Marks renewed hope heading into the final stretch of the season.
Gisbergen started the Window World 450 race at North Wilkesboro on Sunday from eighth place. On lap 52, he took the lead of the race from Denny Hamlin and almost took victory during the first stage of the race.
In the second stage of the race, he passed Joey Logano and led the race again, albeit briefly, before an eventual fifth-place finish, marking his career-best oval finish. While talking to Sirius XM NASCAR radio, Justin Marks showered praise on the No. 97 driver.
“I said, ‘That’s the best work I’ve seen you (Shane van Gisbergen) do since you started at Trackhouse,’ and it’s also a great points haul.” Marks said during the interview. “We are trying to keep our streak alive of making the playoffs with at least one of our cars every single year.”
Although Justin Marks is aware of the challenges drivers face to make it to the Chase playoffs, he believes that SVG’s recent performances, including a sixth-place finish at Atlanta the weekend before North Wilkesboro, have given the team momentum heading into the final stretch of the season. The Trackhouse team owner said,
“We’re not in the win-and-you’re-in era anymore, so it’s tough on a guy like this to make the playoffs. But I’m also very encouraged by the fact that he had a performance like that at North Wilkesboro because we’ve got Iowa coming up. We’ve got Richmond coming up. We’ve got New Hampshire coming up some tracks that you could draw some similarities to. His confidence is through the roof, and I like our chances.”
After the race at North Wilkesboro, the Kiwi driver got a 23-point boost, and he sits 54 points above the chase cutoff line. He sits in 15th place in the drivers’ championship with 469 points to his credit.
What helped SVG get his career-best NASCAR result
They say some habits die hard. However, it was these habits that aided Shane van Gisbergen in getting his fifth-place finish at the oval on Sunday.
During his interview with NASCAR.com post-race, he revealed how his right-foot braking, a technique he picked up during his time racing at the road courses, helped him.
“It’s a bit like a road course here,” van Gisbergen said. “I tried right-foot brake for a bit. Half the race, I right-foot braked and just felt comfortable doing that. It’s a real balance track, and you can really affect the car with your driving technique. So yeah, I felt comfortable doing that.”
This fifth-place finish marked another milestone in Shane van Gisbergen’s NASCAR Cup Series career.
Read more on the Daytona Racing Digest!
