Shane van Gisbergen on Trackhouse’s real issues
“It’s going well, but we still need a bit more speed,” is what SVG had to say after qualifying in fifth place at Martinsville. While it isn’t the front row, the result was rather impressive considering how van Gisbergen usually performs on ovals.
“Those type of tracks we probably need to get better as a team,” he said, referring to the Las Vegas race earlier. “But overall on our side personally, 97, it’s been pretty decent. We need to keep getting better and less mistakes.”
.@shanevg97 says this is one of his strongest ovals, a lot like his mentor Marcos Ambrose who he says may be coming back to America soon. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/aaEODvVoU9
— Peter Stratta (@peterstratta) March 28, 2026
Having raced in the Supercars series back at home in Australia for several years, Shane van Gisbergen has more road course experience than any other full-time driver on the current Cup Series field. In fact, he had managed to win at his debut in Chicago, making him a promising driver for the future.
While almost all road course races guarantee him a race win, Trackhouse’s overall pace has been rather disappointing this season. He finished the race at COTA in second place, a win that was clearly expected from him, as he struggled to snatch the lead from Tyler Reddick. Despite this, he managed to pull off an impressive qualifying result at Martinsville.
And Shane van Gisbergen excels in the same. At the end of the day, it enables him to dominate the track. However, there will be a lot more aspects to the race.
Fellow driver’s comments on Martinsville echo optimism for SVG
As mentioned, Martinsville could potentially be a strong track for Shane van Gisbergen because of the track type and the challenge it will provide to other drivers. Austin Cindric, while discussing his sim sessions practicing the 0.5-mile circuit, had discussed the impact that higher horsepower would have on the track, mentioning:
“Martinsville also comes like a drop gear change, too. So, they’re kind of anticipating some of the power changing things up a little bit.”
This indicated that the drivers will essentially be slowing down a lot more in the corners, which is rather expected. All of that braking and shifting will be key for van Gisbergen to put on a dominant performance. His starting position will already provide him with a great advantage, considering the pace he has had on the track so far. However, he will have to make sure not to sustain any damage so as not to repeat what happened at Las Vegas.
Shane van Gisbergen has showcased a really strong performance this year, and not just on the road courses. He has been improving on the ovals ever since last year, and there is a very visible change that is taking place in his overall driving style and racecraft. After an impressive start to the season, Martinsville could perhaps become his track to clinch his first oval win.
