Shane van Gisbergen came to NASCAR with a reputation for winning on road courses. The longer he spends racing stock cars, however, the harder it becomes to define him by that one specialty.
And that could create an interesting problem for Trackhouse Racing.
With the 2028 NASCAR Cup Series season still more than a year away, van Gisbergen is already emerging as a driver worth watching in the sport’s next major round of contract negotiations. According to The Athletic’s Jordan Bianchi, some of NASCAR’s top organizations are taking notice.
The interest makes sense. Van Gisbergen has proven he can win on road courses, and the oval-track results that once seemed like the biggest obstacle to his NASCAR career are steadily improving.
For teams looking several seasons ahead, that’s a compelling combination.
Shane van Gisbergen’s NASCAR Future Could Get Interesting
During a recent episode of “The Teardown” podcast, Bianchi identified van Gisbergen as a potential factor in the 2028 driver market.
“I will tell you what, next year, his contract– there’s options and everything, but he’s basically free agent after 2027,” Bianchi said. “Okay. I’m telling you right now, we’re looking ahead a little bit to 2028.”
That doesn’t mean van Gisbergen is preparing to leave Trackhouse. Contract options remain part of the equation, and there is no confirmed agreement with another organization.
But Bianchi believes rival teams are already considering what they could accomplish with the New Zealander behind the wheel.
“SVG is somebody to watch. There are teams out there that are looking at this guy going, big teams are looking at him going, ‘Man, we get him in one of our cars. Like we’re better than Trackhouse. We’re going to win some road course races.’”
There’s an obvious attraction in adding a driver capable of delivering victories at tracks where other organizations might struggle. What makes van Gisbergen particularly interesting, though, is that his potential value no longer begins and ends with those races.
Van Gisbergen Is Giving NASCAR Teams Something Else to Consider
Sunday’s Bank of America 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway offered another example of how far van Gisbergen has come.
He finished seventh, ahead of several drivers with considerably more experience on NASCAR’s intermediate ovals. It was also his second consecutive top-10 finish on an intermediate track during the Chase.
Those results matter because road-course success was never the biggest question surrounding van Gisbergen’s move to NASCAR. His ability to compete consistently on ovals was.
He’s beginning to answer it.
“He’s really, really good and doesn’t have the experience these guys have,” Bianchi said. “Nor is he with a great team.”
Bianchi also questioned what van Gisbergen might accomplish with an organization performing at a higher level than Trackhouse currently is.
That assessment comes at a potentially awkward time for the team.
Trackhouse is already facing significant questions about its future lineup. Ross Chastain’s contract situation is another storyline to watch beyond 2027, while Connor Zilisch is reportedly set to move to Hendrick Motorsports after next season.
Van Gisbergen’s situation adds another layer of uncertainty, although there is no indication that Trackhouse has given up on keeping him.
And there’s still plenty of racing between now and 2028.
But the conversation surrounding van Gisbergen has changed. When he first arrived, the question was whether a road-racing star could become a competitive NASCAR oval driver.
Now, rival organizations may be wondering just how good he could become.