Shane van Gisbergen was eliminated after the Round of 16. The Trackhouse Racing star had been working on his oval racing skills, winning his first oval race in the Pro Legends division in late July. But that was not enough to avoid a string of poor finishes outside the top 25 in the first playoff round. Yet being eliminated hardly mattered on Sunday, as SVG harnessed his road course racing prowess at the Charlotte Roval.

The Kiwi speedster had already picked up four road course wins consecutively earlier. Up next was the Charlotte Roval. Although Tyler Reddick picked up the pole for the Bank of America 400, all eyes were on the former Supercars champion. However, Kyle Larson did not make it easy for Shane van Gisbergen.

Shane van Gisbergen’s team members bit their nails

After all, going up against the sport’s finest can be stressful. Kyle Larson, a 32-time Cup race winner, was not a contender initially at the Roval race. In Stage 1, Shane van Gisbergen battled with Tyler Reddick and came out victorious. From Stage 2 onwards, Larson started peeking into view. In Stage 3, it was a full-blown conflict, with SVG and Larson exchanging leads multiple times. With 18 to go, Larson was leading, and Christopher Bell was in 2nd. Yet SVG zoomed ahead and rubbed doors with Larson with 14 laps left. That was when SVG’s crew chief, Stephen Doran, felt pangs of stress.

The No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet crew chief revealed his racetrack emotions in a post-win media briefing. When he saw Shane van Gisbergen and Kyle Larson tightly locked in battle, Stephen Doran bit his nails. “Yeah, that’s a little bit stressful,” he confessed. But eventually, Doran had focused on the goal – to regain the lead before the checkered flag fell. He continued, “There was enough time left in the race. I just wanted him to get through there clean. I knew we had a better car in the long run. Just wanted to get clear of him, lock back in, and set sail.”

After Shane van Gisbergen traded paint with Kyle Larson, the latter dove to regain the lead. Then, with 12 to go, the aggression continued as SVG ran on Larson on the backstretch chicane to finally clear him. Despite this wild exchange of blows, Stephen Doran was confident that no messy fallout would follow. “I was never really nervous about Kyle roughing him up more than he did. Shane got into him a little bit into seven. Obviously, Kyle crowded him down the exit. Those two are both true professionals. I knew they were not going to wreck each other. But I also knew we needed to get clear and not mess up our day.”

Both Shane van Gisbergen and Kyle Larson hailed each other’s talents post-race. Larson especially praised SVG, who is inching closer to a NASCAR record – but that does not bother him.

Ignoring the milestones

After overcoming stiff challenges from Kyle Larson, SVG stamped his fifth consecutive road course win. This put him one race closer to tying Jeff Gordon’s record for consecutive road course wins. Gordon, a four-time Cup Series champion, won a record six straight road course races from August 1997 at Watkins Glen to June 2000 at Sonoma. And as Shane van Gisbergen enjoyed a 15.160-second victory over Larson at the Bank of America Roval 400, people are certain that Gordon’s record is not far off. Yet the New Zealand native said he doesn’t care “about that stuff.”

Ever since Shane van Gisbergen entered NASCAR, he has been on a mission. Despite gathering 80 wins and three Supercars championships, he was still hungry to achieve more in an entirely different motorsport. So small milestones do not mean much to him, as SVG always aims for the bigger goals. So SVG said about reaching Jeff Gordon‘s record, “It might be a weird thing to say, but yeah, I just try and do my best. When I retire, I guess I’ll look at that stuff and be pretty stoked, but at the moment, I just want to keep doing the best I can and try and add to that stuff.”

Evidently, Shane van Gisbergen’s focus is undeterred. More aggressive last-lap battles may follow between him and the sport’s best. Although that would be stressful for his crew chief, that would also fetch the team more wins.