Well, the alarm bells rang two years back already. In July 2023, Shane van Gisbergen became the first driver in over five decades to win a Cup Series race on his debut. He took the NASCAR world by storm, and bated his breath in the past two years, waiting to unleash his spark again. It was unleashed in Mexico City this year, and it continued into Chicago and Sonoma. But in the last race, SVG’s rivals truly witnessed his unlimited potential, and Dale Jr, too, was left stunned.

The 26-time Cup Series race winner has been in the sport for almost three decades. After retiring from full-time racing in 2017, Dale Jr took up broadcasting, regularly scrutinizing drivers’ moves. This qualifies him to tell when a legendary race strategy is used, like how SVG used one last Sunday.

Dale Jr has no answer to the Kiwi’s brilliance

Shane van Gisbergen was not in a good state at the start of the 2025 season. In over 16 Cup Series races, the best oval track finish he could manage was 14th in Charlotte. His best road course finish came as a 6th-place finish in the Circuit of the Americas. However, SVG sought to turn around his sour season sheerly through skill, and he succeeded. He won from the pole in three consecutive road course races in the Cup Series. Throw in an Xfinity Series race in there, and his NASCAR win total went up to four this year and eight in his career.

Throughout the Toyota Save Mart 350 race, Shane van Gisbergen was dominant. The only pitfalls were during pit stop cycles. Yet SVG was so good that pitting with two laps left in Stage 2 hardly deterred him from a stage win. He seamlessly overtook Kyle Larson on the last lap, and Dale Jr could not help but marvel at that move: “When he flipped stage 2 and won it, that was like, the holy s–t right? What does anyone else do? What can you do? If a guy flips a stage and then wins the stage, that’s the ultimate f–k you. That’s like the rest of the field’s got no, there’s no strategy, right? Unless they all didn’t pit and put him in the back of the field.”

Dale Jr is not alone in scoffing at the rest of the field. In fact, SVG’s rivals also agree on this, including Chase Briscoe. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver ran from a runner-up spot to a runner-up finish, comparing the Kiwi to Michael Jordan‘s level of brilliance. Then, William Byron also witnessed his race craft up close, spending the first half of the race in van Gisbergen’s rearview mirror in second place. Eventually, the back-to-back Daytona 500 winner had to settle for an 8th-place finish. Byron commented on SVG’s racing: “Watching him on road courses reminds me of the best guys on ovals. They’re so in tune with what the car needs to do, and they just know. Watching him, I just feel like he has that feel for road courses. He’s just right there.”

Indeed, many in the industry have compared Shane van Gisbergen to NASCAR’s legends. However, the Kiwi speedster humbly disagreed.

Shane van Gisbergen acknowledges his primary weakness

Without a doubt, Shane van Gisbergen has been an absolute beast on road courses. The Sonoma victory tied him with NASCAR Hall of Famers Darrell Waltrip and Tim Richmond in 11th place in all-time road wins. He also tied 4-time Cup champion Jeff Gordon’s mark of three consecutive road course victories from the pole (1998-1999). After picking up 81 wins in the Australian V8 Supercars series, SVG is well on track to achieve and surpass Gordon’s 9-win road course streak. SVG’s three wins in 2025 put him on par with Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson for most wins in a rookie season. No matter how mind-boggling these stats are, the Kiwi does not forget his weakness – racing on ovals.

Presently, SVG ranks 26th in the Cup Series standings, all because of his dismal oval race streak. Hence, Shane van Gisbergen humbly admitted recently, “Obviously it’s unreal to be mentioned in the same breath as those guys, but it’s not comparable with the ovals. I’m not an idiot about that. It’s amazing to have such success here, and it’s what I was brought in to do here, right? Get in the Playoffs, try and get through. It’s just been amazing to do that.” However, he is looking forward to improving. SVG continued, “We’re definitely getting a lot better on the ovals. We’re still not great, but we’re in the 20 most weeks for speed, and it’s a huge improvement from where we were at the start of the year.”

While the path ahead might be rocky, SVG is surely prepared to walk on it. Veterans like Dale Jr are confident in his strategy, so let us see how the Kiwi performs next.