SVG’s Oval Masterclass at Charlotte Has NASCAR Fans in Awe

“It’s tough,” Kurt Busch said in March about Shane van Gisbergen’s (SVG) chances of winning an oval race. The 2004 Cup Series champion surmised that the Kiwi speedster would probably get it done in 2026. Four months later, however, SVG proved Busch wrong.

He had a marvelous appearance at the Brickyard 400, where he dodged several chaotic incidents. The Trackhouse Racing driver wheeled his No. 88 Chevy to a remarkable 19th-place finish. But what he left unfinished in Indianapolis, SVG achieved in Charlotte.

Shane van Gisbergen masters the left foot

For the three-time Supercars champion, right-foot braking has been the norm. That is what propelled Shane van Gisbergen through three back-to-back road course wins in the Cup Series this year. From Mexico City to Sonoma, SVG was untouchable. However, a lion’s share of oval races in NASCAR capitalize on right-foot braking, a skill which SVG is still perfecting. That is why he has a chunk of DNFs in ovals. The Brickyard 400 finish was his fifth top 20 oval result in 2025. But after two years of working on this skill, SVG finally struck gold.

Shane van Gisbergen wheeled the No. 97 Legends Car in the latest Summer Shootout feature. The race was held at Charlotte Motor Speedway, with notable racers like Keelan Harvick, Scott McLaughlin, and Bubba Wallace competing. In the final few laps, SVG fended off hard charges from Jake Bollman to win his first-ever oval race with a 0.417-second margin. FloRacing’s post caption could not capture the sentiment of this achievement enough: “S! V! G! His first victory on an American oval, @shanevg97 wins the 2025 #SummerShootout @USLegendCars Pro finale at @CLTMotorSpdwy!”

This was a culmination of steady progress. Just last weekend, Shane van Gisbergen wheeled his car to a runner-up finish at another Legend Car Pro feature. He yielded the lead only to Keelan Harvick, 2014 Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick’s son. However, that meant SVG was slowly learning. What is more, he and Scott McLaughlin were also part of a series of YouTube videos filmed by Bubba Wallace. According to the 2025 Brickyard 400 winner, that helped out both Kiwi speedsters immensely. Wallace said, “It helped SVG this weekend. The son of a bitch qualified 11th on the oval. He’s figuring it out.”

This fascinating turn of events has got the NASCAR fans on the edge of their seats. They cannot wait to see SVG unleash his dominance again.

SVG reigns supreme in the community

Fans joined in the celebration with jaw-dropping awe about the Kiwi’s racing prowess. Shane van Gisbergen is already a road racing god, owning 8 wins out of 16 road course starts. Now, few people would doubt the versatility, with SVG showing clear signs of improvement on ovals. One fan wrote: “That tells me he is talented anything he drives in no matter what car.” Given his multifaceted achievements in Supercars and NASCAR, SVG may easily rival other global racers. Namely, Max Verstappen and Kyle Larson. So another fan is not surprised if SVG threw in his name alongside them: “Hmm. Almost like he’s a world class talent.”

What this much-awaited victory means is that SVG’s NASCAR rivals need to be more careful. They are already intimidated by Shane van Gisbergen’s invincible dominance in street courses. If SVG becomes dominant in ovals, too, he will become unbeatable in NASCAR. Somebody wrote, “svg won on an oval it’s over for the rest.”

Since the time that the Kiwi speedster arrived in NASCAR, some diehard followers of the sport have booed his arrival. However, he is silencing them with his wins. So one fan dissed SVG’s haters who doubted him for so long. “HE WON ON AN OVAL TAKE THAT HATERS.” Somebody else reinforced the faith they already had in SVG, pushing him to do better. They congratulated him on his novel win: “Way to go I knew you could win on an oval”.

SVG is officially in the conversation to become a NASCAR legend. We are literally waiting with bated breath to watch what magic he conjures next.