After Shane van Gisbergen won last weekend at the Roval, his legendary status ramped up. With 5 consecutive road course trophies, the Kiwi speedster is one race away from Jeff Gordon’s record. The four-time Cup Series champion won six consecutive trophies between June 1997 and August 2000. What is more, Denny Hamlin set SVG above Gordon. Yet while the New Zealander basks in this fuzzy glory now, he may not do so in the next year.

Shane van Gisbergen’s teammates were in dire condition. Ross Chastain eventually got eliminated from the playoffs after a hotly contested battle, whereas Daniel Suarez could not crack the playoffs. However, the same state of affairs will not persist in 2026, with a stellar newcomer in Trackhouse Racing – Connor Zilisch.

Shane van Gisbergen expects a dilemma

Connor Zilisch is competing as a rookie Xfinity driver in 2025. And he already has achieved everything that NASCAR’s second tier has to offer. With his victory at the Charlotte Roval, Zilisch officially owns 10 victories this season, on his way to an almost sure-shot championship. But what is thrilling fans more is the prospect of the 2026 season. In late August, Trackhouse confirmed Zilisch’s Cup Series seat in the No. 99, which is now being driven by Daniel Suarez. You know what that means, right? Two road course racing gods are going to be in the same fold – and Shane van Gisbergen is a bit concerned.

The former Supercars champion got candid about his thoughts in a recent FOX Sports interview. Kaitlyn Vincie asked him about the possible internal battle. SVG responded, “It’s friendly competition…one of the cars has to win. We have to make sure the team comes first, right? We don’t want what happened at Watkins to happen all the time, because that wasn’t very good, you know?”

Indeed, SVG traded sparks with Connor Zilisch in three Xfinity races this year. It started in Chicago, where SVG got aggressive with the 19-year-old and snatched the win. Zilisch responded in kind in Sonoma, never yielding the lead with two laps left when SVG hounded his bumper. Things escalated on their third encounter in Watkins Glen, where a clash resulted in SVG slamming hard into the outside wall at Turn 7.

Nevertheless, Shane van Gisbergen is optimistic about next year. That is because of the camaraderie he shares with Connor Zilisch, as he continued, “I think it’s gonna be really cool. He’s an awesome young guy, and everything we’ve done with each other so far, we get along really well and bounce ideas off each other when we’ve been on sim or teammates. So yeah, I’m really excited and interested to see how it’s going to go next year. But I do think it would be really good.”

While SVG broods over the impending team-up with Zilisch, a Cup Series rival is contemplating his recent encounter with the Kiwi.

Figuring out one road course genius

Although the 2026 season is still months away, Cup Series drivers are sure of something. They are going to have two raging road course talents on the field with them. Shane van Gisbergen and Connor Zilisch are sure to ramp things up, from the Roval to San Diego’s naval base. As there is still time until Zilisch’s arrival, Kyle Larson is focusing his attention on SVG. He had to, as he was caught off guard by van Gisbergen’s bold opening maneuver in their last lap battle.

Kyle Larson reflected on his crazy exchange of blows with the Kiwi, a battle which the latter won in the end. Larson bit his nails, as he said, “I was just watching him come at me super fast in my mirror, and then he was, I don’t know, three car lengths back into seven, and I was like, ‘Alright, he’s probably going to wait here and get me on the front stretch or somewhere else. And then he bombed it in on seven and drove right into the side of me. So, I was like, ‘Alright, well, I’m going to hit you a couple of times here now.’ …Once he got back into second, I was like, ‘Alright, I’m done being crazy here,’ because I feel like at that point we were even and I didn’t want to get to where he owed me again.”

Evidently, Shane van Gisbergen is giving his rivals a tough time right now. In 2026, his teammate may do the same thing to him – so we cannot wait to see how this iconic internal rivalry plays out!