Kevin Harvick reacts to Shane van Gisbergen earning first top 10 oval finish in NASCAR career
Shane van Gisbergen has mastered road courses in the NASCAR Cup Series. Slowly but surely, he’s starting to figure it out on ovals.
Van Gisbergen finished 10th in this past Sunday’s race at Kansas Speedway. It was his first top 10 finish on an oval in his rookie season in Cup. Earlier in the season, van Gisbergen could hardly buy a top 20 finish on an oval. His improvement over the course of 2025 has been fun to watch, Kevin Harvick said.
“We keep talking about his oval racing and how much better that it is getting and the gains that they are making,” Harvick said on Tuesday’s Happy Hour podcast. “I think this was one of those weekends that really showed how much better he has become at racing on ovals. I think that improvement is fun to watch. We’ve talked on here a lot just about his maturity level and his knowledge to be able to look through the data and critique himself, and you have to be able to critique yourself, and you have to be able to take criticism.
“But you have to be able to learn how to apply it, and I think his racing IQ is high, and I think he’ll continue to get better.”
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Shane van Gisbergen is getting better on NASCAR ovals
Van Gisbergen made the playoffs this season after winning four races — all on road courses. With the Charlotte ROVAL serving as the Round of 12 finale, the opportunity was there for van Gisbergen to advance as far as the Round of 8 if he could find a way to get out of the Round of 16.
It didn’t work out for the New Zealand native at three tough racetracks, Darlington Raceway, Gateway, and Bristol Motor Speedway. Despite that disappointment, van Gisbergen is “over the moon” about the result at Kansas.
“It was really cool to get a top 10 finish at Kansas Speedway,” he said after the race. “I feel like we’re getting better and better at these tracks. It was difficult starting a lap down and having that penalty, but [interim crew chief] Chais Eliason did a great job. We had really good speed at points of the race, so I’m stoked to get a top 10. I’m over the moon with that.”