“He’s going to run 25th to 30th”: NASCAR Youtuber makes his case for Shane van Gisbergen’s upcoming rookie season

Trackhouse Racing’s Shane van Gisbergen, a three-time Supercars Champion from New Zealand, is set to compete full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2025. Recently, NASCAR YouTuber Eric Estepp discussed SVG’s expected performance in his 2025 rookie season as a Cup Series driver.

In a recent YouTube video, titled My Way-Too-Early NASCAR Playoff Predictions | 2025 Edition, Eric Estepp shared his thoughts about Gisbergen’s performance in his upcoming full-time Cup season with Trackhouse Racing. He talked about SVG's ability to race on NASCAR’s oval tracks.

According to the YouTuber, SVG’s first full-time NASCAR Cup Series season will be challenging. While he is expected to do well on road courses, Estepp believes he will struggle on intermediate and short oval tracks, where his average finish might come down to the 25th to 30th range. Since SVG is expected to perform well on superspeedways and road courses, winning even one of these races could get him a spot in the playoffs.

The 30-year-old also talked about Trackhouse Racing providing competitive equipment. However, the demanding NASCAR ovals will pose a challenge for the New Zealander, nevertheless.

“Track house will give him good equipment. Look, Shane van Gisbergen is going to struggle at the ovals. He's going to run 25th to 30th at every intermediate, every short track. He'll be fine on Super Speedways, I'm sure, but he won't be competitive much of anywhere else. But on the road courses, he could dominate, and he just needs to win one out of five. I like those odds.” said Estepp.

Trackhouse Racing announced that Shane van Gisbergen will join the team for the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series on August 24, 2024, at the Daytona International Speedway.

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“I have a lot to learn and a lot to get better at” - Shane van Gisbergen on racing in Cup Series

Before coming to NASCAR, Shane van Gisbergen raced in the Australian Supercars series, New Zealand Formula First and Formula Ford Championships. Joining NASCAR in 2024, SVG competed in 33 Xfinity races and 11 Cup Series events, focusing on understanding NASCAR’s demands.

In a recent interview with autosport.com, SVG described oval racing as unlike anything he had ever done. It might require him to have a different approach to car setups, strategy, and racecraft.

“It’s a completely different sport,” SVG explained. “A different style of racing to anything that I have ever done. I felt like I got competitive at some points, but I have a lot to learn and a lot to get better at.”

Shane van Gisbergen's decision to spend a year in Xfinity before committing full-time to Cup was deliberate, allowing him time to adjust to the cars and racing culture.

“That was the right decision, to do a learning year and to settle into the country and the style of racing before getting thrown to the sharks in the Cup series,” he added.

Talking about his weakness in the sport, SVG talked about finding the intermediate ovals such as 1.5-mile tracks, challenging. Elaborating on that, he said:

“My weakness, I would say, is the intermediates. I've had some good results, but I've had some pretty average ones as well where I've never really been competitive or comfortable.”

Citing an example of where he needs to show improvement, Shane van Gisbergen also talked about his 2024 race at Watkins Glen, where he led the Cup race on the final lap before a mistake in the Bus Stop handed the win to Chris Buescher.