It didn’t take long for Shane Van Gisbergen to establish himself as one of the better racers in NASCAR. Now that he can secure multiple points at ovals, SVG is en route to becoming a fully-fledged NASCAR veteran. But what are his best and worst tracks in NASCAR? During his interview with Kevin Harvick, SVG couldn’t stop himself from describing his fears about some NASCAR tracks.

Shane Van Gisbergen highlights the most important NASCAR strategy

For SVG, things might get slightly difficult this weekend. He is going to race at one of his most difficult tracks this weekend, the Phoenix Raceway.

“Phoenix and Bristol are probably my worst tracks. Just need to get better at those and understand why I’m struggling at them, but they’re difficult tracks.”

Not only that, but it was also visible from his drive at the Circuit of the Americas that his car simply does not have enough power to overtake or even compete at an equal level with the front-runners.

In his view, Phoenix and Bristol are two of the most difficult tracks. 

“Bristol is the toughest one. Like it’s just a rush when you get there. How dynamic that track is. And you know, you think you are going well on the bottom, and then someone passes you on the top, so you go up there, and then you’re like, ‘Oh, I am doing good.’

“Then, someone just passes you from the bottom. It’s just crazy how fast-paced that is. And then in 15 laps, the leader is coming. And they’re halfway through the field. It’s ridiculous there.”

Although there are some ovals, which are some of his best, he can’t help but like them. Atlanta, which gave him his best career finish, is one of them.

“I kind of like all of them. I liked New Hampshire; I ran decently there, and it was a fun track with all the different lanes. Vegas is pretty cool. It is one of the most exhilarating qualifying laps you’ll ever do. Yeah, Vegas and Atlanta, they are fun.”

Aside from that, SVG is also making some changes to the way he races. The drivers who have been participating in NASCAR have known it for a long time. Even if you do not manage to win the race, stage points are your best friends.

SVG, being a Supercar driver, was more interested in going all the way to the end and trying to win it. But in the 2026 season, he is ready to adopt a fresh outlook towards racing.

“Firstly, I definitely need to qualify better, more consistently, because stage points are just so important, and I was never really strong at the start of oval races.

“You’ve got to score those stage points now and accumulate as many as you can. So starting up front will help. Especially on tracks, I am starting to get a handle on it. I think that will really help, and I just have to show some improvement.”

While SVG prepares himself for the upcoming weekend. Let’s have a look at an important question that pops up from his latest race at COTA.

Is Shane van Gisbergen no longer the infallible road course warrior?

Out of the six road course races, SVG won the final five races in the 2025 season. He was entering COTA with the hopes of breaking Jeff Gordon’s road course winning streak.

However, his plans were thwarted by Tyler Reddick, who went on to create a unique record for himself. While SVG hasn’t been the most successful at COTA, he was unable to chase down Tyler Reddick for 20 laps in the final stage of the race.

So is SVG finally being triumphed over by the other drivers? Well, first of all, his car was not exactly the best one that day. Tyler Reddick’s pace in qualifying showed just how good his No. 45 is since the first few races of the season.

The effect of this difference was visible when SVG was chasing Reddick in the final stage. His car was unable to keep up during the straights and faster corners. However, through sheer grit, SVG was able to close the gap on Reddick multiple times through the esses and slower corners.

So, from that perspective, it is safe to say that SVG is still among the best on the road courses. It was Tyler Reddick’s perfect driving under pressure, paired with his car’s better power output, that put him on the top step of the podium that day.