Shane Van Gisbergen definitely learned this the hard way. Dating your team boss’s daughter is one thing, but messing with the team is another. In 2016, the Kiwi phenom found himself locked in a three-way duel with his then Triple Eight teammates, and it became a weekend that would later be remembered; however, behind the scenes, a stern talking-to from his father-in-law and team boss is what is gripping the NASCAR world.

Speaking to the hosts of the Dinner with Racers podcast, the Auckland native clearly remembered the moment with team owner Roland Dane.

“It’s irrelevant. And like, it was awesome race 123 for the team, right?” he said. “And then we come in, and he lost it at all of us. He put us all in the street.”

SVG had just joined Triple Eight Race Engineering for the 2016 season, forming a powerhouse trio with the veteran Craig Lowndes, a multiple Bathurst 1000 winner, and six-time series champion Jamie Whincup.

The addition of SVG to the lineup was one of the biggest moves in Australian motorsport that year, as the team set out to field a three-car assault that could dominate every corner of the supercars calendar. But it all fell apart during the non-championship supercar support race at the Melbourne Grand Prix.

On that weekend in Melbourne, the three teammates found themselves at the shop end of the field, trading paint in a thrilling, no-points affair that nevertheless carried enormous pride.

“ Actually was one of the first ones, was like your first rules, don’t hit your teammate, right? … Three of us fighting for the lead, I pulled a move on Craig for a second, OK, and into three, which is like 100° right-hander, really tight corner. And I bombed him. And as I’ve got to the apex, I’ve braked so he couldn’t cross me over. Yeah, it’s hit me, and it’s broken my taillight, broken his headlight,” SVG recalled.

But back in the pits, the celebration was muted, not because of the results but because of the breach of the team ethos. Dane, a respected figure who built a culture of unity and respect inside the team for over a decade, wasn’t amused at drivers making contact, even in a non-championship event.

However, that incident became part of the lore of the Triple Eight’s 2016 campaign, a season in which the team asserted itself as a dominant force and supercar.

Fast forward to today, and SVG is making his own spot in NASCAR while drawing from his NASCAR peers rather than crashing into them. With multiple road course wins, the Kiwi is now shifting his focus to improving his oval game by taking inspiration from Kyle Larson.

SVG charts his oval path for the 2026 NASCAR season

While SVG’s road course dominance is well-established, his performance on ovals has shown noticeable improvement, and Kiwi openly credits Kyle Larson for inspiration. Speaking on the same podcast, SVG expressed admiration for Larson’s oval skills.

“Like you watch someone like Larson, Kyle Larson, he’s amazing at switching lines on corner entry to get clean air,” he said. “And running a line they haven’t done or a line that someone else hasn’t done, like it’s. They’re amazing to watch these guys and normally deal with the understeering you got.”

Larson’s mastery of ovals this year comes from a combination of strategic patience, adaptability, and precise track positioning. Over the season, he captured 3 Cup Series wins and recorded numerous top-five and top-10 finishes on oval tracks, reinforcing his status as one of NASCAR’s elite oval racers.

For the Kiwi, studying Larson’s approach is part of his mission to improve his own game. While the Trackhouse Racing driver dominated road and street courses in 2025, winning five races and finishing in the top 20 in seven of 10 events on such circuits, his early results were less consistent, often outside the top 20 due to the car’s unique handling dynamics.

However, his overall performance steadily improved throughout the season. Breaking into the top 20 at tracks like Michigan and Darlington was just the beginning.

In September, he scored his first oval top 10 finish at Kansas Speedway, finishing 10th, and followed that with solid 14th-place finishes at Charlotte and Richmond, matching his best results earlier in the year.

Riding this momentum, SVG enters 2026 with renewed confidence, determined to continue refining his oval craft by taking lessons straight from Larson’s playbook.