Shane van Gisbergen has already delivered two wins to Trackhouse Racing in his rookie season. He has struggled on ovals, but team owner Justin Marks believes that the veteran driver will soon become the complete NASCAR package.
"We wouldn't be doing this if we thought, 'Ok, we can go win road courses and then we just know we're not going to run that good on the ovals because he's never done it before,'" Marks said after the Chicago street race.
"At this level of the game, you have to be a complete package. For his level of intelligence and how he studies and how he adapts and how he learns, there's a real opportunity here for him to figure the ovals out and get fast at the ovals and be a complete Cup driver."
Van Gisbergen, who made his oval debut last season at Talladega Superspeedway, has faced a steep learning curve despite the similarities between the Supercars cars and the Gen 7 Cup Series car. He has spent his career competing on street and road courses, so he didn't have any experience in traditional NASCAR racing.
The three-time Supercars champion has shown speed on ovals as he has gained experience, but he has also dealt with issues. He finished 26th or worse in his first three starts at intermediate tracks, but he crossed the line 12th in his first start at Martinsville Speedway.
This season, he finished 30th or worse in six of the first 10 races, which included crashes at Phoenix and Las Vegas. A mechanical issue ended his day early at Bristol.
However, van Gisbergen has made progress as his rookie season has progressed. He posted 20th-place finishes at Darlington and Kansas before crossing the line 14th at Charlotte. He also finished 18th at Michigan.
These finishes are steps in the right direction for van Gisbergen as he moves closer to becoming the complete package for Trackhouse Racing.
He was born in Auckland, New Zealand, but the Winner’s Circle at @NASCARChicago is truly home. pic.twitter.com/BL6PRjuwy9
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 7, 2025
"I think we've seen him coming that way just in the last month and a half," Marks added. "He's pretty consistently top 20 now on the ovals when he started running kind of like 30, 32nd, and I think that that development is just going to continue.
"I think when you think about the project, we've got somebody who's talented and that we can make a Cup driver out of, and while he learns in the meantime, we can win a ton of road courses and punch that ticket to the playoffs and give our sponsors a ton of return for their investment."
The veteran driver is not yet the complete package that Marks and Trackhouse Racing want him to be, but he has made strides. He has logged crucial laps at NASCAR's bread and butter tracks, which will only set him up for return trips later this season.
Van Gisbergen will be better prepared to take on Darlington and Las Vegas, in particular as he sees each track for the third time. The timing of Darlington is especially important as the track opens up the playoffs.
"That first round is going to be very difficult," van Gisbergen said on Sunday. "It's got one track I haven't been to, Gateway. It's got my favorite oval in it, Darlington. I love that place.
"And then Bristol, which is what I've found the most difficult track. I feel like I may as well be driving the other way there. It's so hard. It's some pretty difficult places for me. But I feel like we're making still massive leaps on the oval, and there's still a few weeks left to keep getting better."