Shane van Gisbergen evaluates his chances in the NASCAR Xfinity Series playoffs at familiar tracks

Shane van Gisbergen has evaluated his chances of a deep playoff run in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in his rookie year. While SVG expects good results at familiar tracks, the driver is worried about ovals and the tracks he's never raced on.

SVG entered the American stock car racing league as a three-time Australian Supercars champion. He has three wins in the second-tier series so far this year, all of which have come on road courses, namely Portland International Raceway, Sonoma Raceway, and Chicago Street Race.

In an interview with SiriusXM, Shane van Gisbergen, who drives the No. 97 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet Camaro, was asked about his expectations ahead of the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs. He playfully answered the question, saying:

“I have no idea. That’s up to you guys to talk about. I just go and do my best.”

SVG shared feeling more comfortable running around ovals, mentioning his runs at Indianapolis and Darlington where he finished in 4th and 7th, respectively.

“I don’t really know. Like I’ve had some really good runs on ovals genuinely. I think Indy was a standout. We’ve run fourth at Darlington. I think we drove from the back to sixth and we really had pace at times… top three pace, and that’s the most comfortable I’ve felt on ovals,” SVG said.

“There’s three tracks really that are worrying in the playoffs but the rest of them I’ve been to before and I know what to expect, you know. So yeah, that’s [going to] be interesting to see second time around how much I’ve improved and how competitive can I be on the ovals.”

While Shane Van Gisbergen didn’t specify the three tracks, the 35-year-old driver hasn’t been at Kansas Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course, and Homestead-Miami Speedway.

SVG concluded by saying:

“Still probably a little way from winning outright but we’re definitely closer to, you know, being top five on some weekends. It’s good to be there.”

Shane van Gisbergen is ranked 5th in the 12-driver NASCAR Xfinity playoff grid, slotting between Chandler Smith and Jesse Love. He is +10 above the cutline, with the top ranked Justin Allgaier sitting +27 above it.

The next race at Kansas Speedway will be the first of three races in the opening postseason round.

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Shane van Gisbergen will drive full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series with Trackhouse Racing next year

Shane van Gisbergen will drive full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series with Trackhouse Racing starting next year. He will fulfill the driver role with the newly-acquired third charter from outgoing Stewart-Haas Racing.

SVG, who is currently competing full-time in the Xfinity Series as a rookie, was glad to graduate to a full-time role in the Cup Series in a short amount of time.

“It’s been a pretty awesome 18 months,” van Gisbergen said. “I never thought it would happen this quick and I’m very glad we’ve done the learning year this year in Xfinity. Kaulig Racing has been great to work with, and then also a lot more races to finish the year now. Been a huge learning experience but just excited to get full-time in the Cup Series next year.”

The Kiwi driver will be piloting the No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet Camaro in the 2025 Cup Series season.