Time will tell whether Shane van Gisbergen will be remembered as the greatest road- and street-course racer in NASCAR history.
But the New Zealand native already can make an indisputable claim to unprecedented greatness barely two years after his Cup Series debut. No one ever has been this good at so many tracks with left- and right-hand turns on NASCAR’s premier circuit.
by Nate Ryan, NASCAR
The sample size might be small for van Gisbergen, who has three wins in nine career road-course starts in Cup.
But the diversity of layouts on his Cup resume dwarfs the myriad NASCAR Hall of Famers whose sterling road-course records are the measuring stick for ranking Shane van Gisbergen among the all-time greats.
Sonoma will mark his seventh unique road or street course in the Cup Series, and Shane van Gisbergen has at least one top 10 on each of the previous six road or street courses he has raced in Cup.
He was unbeatable at Mexico City and might be undefeated on the streets of Chicago (his two victories were sandwiched around getting wrecked there after winning Stage 1 last year). He also started from the pole position at the Roval last year, a few weeks after nearly outdueling Chris Buescher in a runner-up finish at Watkins Glen International.
It’s entirely plausible that van Gisbergen will end his Cup career as a winner on several road and street courses.
While that would be an astounding feat, it’s difficult to put in perspective because there’s little historical analog in NASCAR’s modern era that began 53 years ago.
From 1972-85, the Cup Series held 29 road course races – and all were at Riverside International Raceway.
Cale Yarborough has the highest percentage of laps led (36.9 percent), the best average starting position (3.8) and the best average finish (7.4) on road courses in the modern era, but 13 of his 14 starts were at Riverside.
The two greatest road course winners in NASCAR history are Jeff Gordon (nine victories) and Tony Stewart (eight). Yet during their illustrious careers, they raced at only two road courses: Sonoma and Watkins Glen
From 1989-2017, those were the only road courses on the Cup circuit.
The Roval was added in 2018, and the trend massively accelerated with seven road courses in 2021. Every Cup season since has included at least five road or street courses, and that likely will continue given the buzz around the new stops in Chicago and Mexico City.
This is the Road Course Era of NASCAR, and it’s undeniable that van Gisbergen has set the benchmark for versatile excellence.
Photo: NASCAR