Shane van Gisbergen earns first Cup oval top 10 at Kansas
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Five road course wins and steady improvement on ovals all led to Shane van Gisbergen breaking through for his first top-10 finish in a NASCAR Cup Series oval race.
Van Gisbergen finished 10th in Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway, the site of his 45th Cup start and a big breakthrough for the driver otherwise known (and hired) for his road course prowess.
The day of SVG’s first top-10 finish was inevitably going to start rough after officials found his No. 88 Trackhouse Racing team made unapproved adjustments to his car before practice Saturday. NASCAR ejected crew chief Stephen Doran, revoked the team’s pit selection and forced SVG to start at the rear of the field. Plus, he had to serve a stop-and-go penalty after taking the green flag.
After going through all of that, the race really began for SVG – and Michael McDowell who served the same penalty. McDowell received the free pass during the first stage break — on lap 80 — and SVG received it when the next caution flew about 10 laps later.
As the race set itself up for the longest green flag run of the day, SVG found himself in 32nd. After 72 laps, he found himself in 19th when the second stage ended on lap 165.
In the final stage, SVG continued his ascent. Another green flag run saw SVG climb to 15th before the next caution flew on lap 212. Under that caution, a quick pit stop put him in position to restart 11th.
Although SVG was ahead of the crash that ensued on the restart, he couldn’t avoid trouble completely.
While racing in the middle of William Byron and Alex Bowman off of turn two, his car tightened up and door-slammed Bowman into the wall. The contact forced Bowman to pit and lose two laps he couldn’t make up, as SVG continued with some damage.
The damage didn’t keep SVG from maintainng track position as another caution flew and two more restarts ensued.
When the checkered flag flew in double overtime and post-race tech inspection cleared hours later, Shane van Gisbergen finished in the top 10 of a NASCAR Cup Series oval race for the first time ever.
SVG is now tied with Austin Dillon for 14th in the playoff standings. They are five points behind Alex Bowman and 29 points ahead of Josh Berry. All four drivers are no longer in contention for the championship, however.
SVG missed the Round of 12 by 16 points after finishing 32nd, 25th and 26th to start the playoffs. Had he made the Round of 12 and scored the same amount of points, he would be 10th in points – 12 points below the cutline – heading to the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval road course where he is an instant favorite.
While SVG won’t be racing for a playoff spot next Sunday at the Charlotte Roval, he’ll be in the mix for his fifth win of the 2025 season. A win would help teammate Ross Chastain, who goes into the cutoff race 13 points below the cutline.
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com