Rookie Shane van Gisbergen remains NASCAR’s king of the road courses with 4th victory of the season

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (AP) – Shane van Gisbergen’s latest victory in NASCAR’s premier series was as historical as it was emotional.

With his father, Robert, on hand for the first time this year, the Auckland, New Zealand, native set a Cup Series rookie record with his fourth victory, blowing out the competition again at Watkins Glen International.

“It’s just amazing to have him here,” said van Gisbergen, who last saw his father while visiting home over the Christmas break. “It’s been a very tough, tough year for dad, and he hasn’t been able to travel, so to have him here for the next three weeks and share this with him, it’s amazing.”

As amazing as van Gisbergen’s rookie season in the Cup series.

The Trackhouse Racing driver joined 2020 champion Chase Elliott and NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon as the only drivers to win four consecutive Cup races on road or street courses.

Unlike his prior wins at Mexico City, Chicago and Sonoma, van Gisbergen was unable to start from the pole position after being edged by Ryan Blaney. After qualifying second, van Gisbergen bided his time and took his first lead on the 25th of the 90-lap race. He then settled into a typically flawless and smooth rhythm on the 2.45-mile road course.

“I’m just a very lucky guy to get to drive for an amazing bunch of people and just execute,” van Gisbergen said. “The day went flawlessly.”

The 36-year-old rookie made his final pit stop with 27 laps remaining and cycled into first place on Lap 74 of a clean race with only three yellow flags. Cruising to a big lead while leading the final 17 laps, van Gisbergen beat Christopher Bell by 11.116 seconds.

“I’m thrilled because we’ve been struggling a little bit,” Bell said. “Just trying to execute the races has been tough for us, so really awesome to have a good day. Frustrated to get our butts kicked by (van Gisbergen). He’s doing such a really good job.”

With five victories in only 38 career starts in NASCAR’s premier series, van Gisbergen trails only Elliott (seven wins) and Kyle Larson (six) among active drivers on street or road courses. He also is the fastest to five wins in Cup since the legendary Dan Gurney, who won his fifth race in his 13th start in January 1968.

The win validated the decision by Trackhouse to sign van Gisbergen to a multiyear contract extension last week. Tied with Denny Hamlin for the series lead in victories, van Gisbergen holds the No. 2 seed in the playoffs with two races remaining in the regular season.

The first round will be held at three oval tracks, where the inexperienced van Gisbergen, who raced exclusively on road and street courses while winning three championships in the Australia-based Supercars, has an average finish of 26.9 this year.

“It ain’t going to be easy, that’s for sure,” van Gisbergen said of his playoff outlook. “The first round, it’s some very difficult left-handed tracks for me, but I’m getting better at it, and I’m enjoying myself, and it’s a challenge. That’s why we’re here, and we’ll have a proper crack at it.”

Third-place finisher Chris Buescher improved to 34 points ahead of Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing teammate Ryan Preece in the battle for the final playoff spot.

Buescher outdueled van Gisbergen on the final lap to win at Watkins Glen last year. His team tailored its strategy Sunday toward amassing stage points instead of following the win-oriented strategy used by van Gisbergen.

“Last year, we didn’t have to deal with the points side of things, so we brought a fast race car and made it happen,” Buescher said. “We had a really fast race car again, just definitely took the opportunity to capitalize on some big stage points early.”

It was another frustrating race for Ty Gibbs, who spun John Hunter Nemechek late in Stage 2 and then complained about the handling and strategy of his No. 54 Toyota. Joe Gibbs Racing competition director Chris Gabehart, who recently began working as a strategist and consultant to Gibbs’ team, radioed the driver to “stay in the game” after the Nemechek wreck and later took issue after Gibbs questioned his team’s strategy.

“I’m sure you’ve got a real good understanding from inside the car,” Gabehart told Gibbs on the radio. “So you can call the strategy if you want, or we can keep rolling.”

Gibbs, the grandson of team owner Joe Gibbs, finished 33rd and remained winless since moving into Cup after winning the 2022 Xfinity Series championship. Teammates Chase Briscoe, Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell have qualified for the playoffs with victories this season.

The Cup Series will race Saturday at Richmond Raceway, which will play host to its only NASCAR race weekend this season. The 0.75-mile oval had two annual races on the Cup schedule from 1959-2024.