Shane van Gisbergen finished 5th at North Wilkesboro Speedway, his best finish on an oval track. He was the highest-finishing Chevrolet driver, above the likes of Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott. In the aftermath of the race, everyone’s trying to guess whether SVG will make the Top 16, especially now that Penske Fords have found their speed.
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The upcoming tracks that are going to decide the Chase lineup are Indy, Iowa, Richmond, New Hampshire, and Daytona. None of them are road-course races, which somewhat puts SVG under pressure against the likes of Joey Logano and Austin Cindric. However, not everyone is ruling out Kiwi driver’s hopes of having a shot at the championship.
Large made a bold prediction during the latest Rubbin is Racing podcast. “He [SVG] drives different and it seems almost disruptive. I think he’s gonna get higher. I think he’s gonna finish inside the Top 12.”
As per the points standings after the North Wilkesboro race, SVG is 21 points clear of the cutline. Logano, with his win, is breathing down SVG’s neck, and just 5 points separate the two drivers. Betting against Logano and Cindric on ovals isn’t ideal, but Large has his reasons for backing up the Trackhouse Racing ringer.
“Whatever he does at Indy, he does at Indy. But Iowa, Richmond, New Hampshire, I see him doing okay. And then Daytona is anybody’s f–king game. If anything, he’s a smart driver. He stays out of sh-t and does pretty well, and Shane van Gisbergen winds up being better than a three-time champion, Joey Logano,” Large concluded.
SVG doesn’t need to do anything special; keep it clean, collect points, and stay away from chaos. A DNF at this point in the season would be detrimental, but again that would be the case for those chasing him up to make their place inside the Top 16.
Erik Jones and Ryan Preece are two drivers who are going to go all out in these final few races. Preece had Top 5 finishes at Indy and Iowa last year; meanwhile, Jones came close to his first win this season at Michigan, followed by a P5 result at Atlanta. There’s a mix of short oval, intermediate, and drafting tracks. And SVG’s rivals will come prepared to do their best in snatching away the Chase spots for themselves.
SVG identifies the weak link in his racecraft
It is just hard to ignore the progress Van Gisbergen has made on the oval track. Nobody expected him to be inside the Chase bubble heading into the final stretch of races. Yet despite the Top 5 runs at Nashville and Madhouse, there’s one track type that SVG is still trying to improve on.
“I am still weak on intermediates. I think that’s probably my lowest rank.” In the last 10 starts at this style of track, he’s only managed two Top 10s. Four laps down, finishing 36th at Las Vegas, and a similar finish at Kansas later this season.
“I’m definitely getting better at drafting tracks. But on the intermediates, I’m weak, and we are weak as a team. We really need to improve on those types of tracks,” SVG said after the North Wilkesboro race.
It’s not just about seeing through the final stretch of races to make it to the Chase, but preparing for the big challenge. Tracks like Kansas, Las Vegas, Charlotte, and Homestead are all listed in the Chase, and SVG wouldn’t want to give away the opportunity of a better ranking to finish the season.
As things stand, the #97 team has a lot of work to do. Nothing but clean execution and good finishes will help them reach 10-race Chase for the championship.
