Shane Van Gisbergen Finds Success in Madness of 'The Madhouse'

Shane Van Gisbergen brought home a solid ninth-place finish in his first outing as a full-time NASCAR Cup Series driver at Bowman Gray Stadium. | Jacy Norgaard/HHP for Chevy

In his first weekend as a full-time NASCAR Cup Series competitor, Shane Van Gisbergen is already turning heads… this time on the short track of Bowman Gray Stadium, bringing home a ninth-place result in the Cook Out Clash.

From the drop of the green flag in Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series practice, to the final laps of the 200-lap main event, Van Gisbergen had a solid weekend, showing speed comparable (and at times, much quicker) than his two teammates at Trackhouse Racing, Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez.

RACE RESULTS: 2025 Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium

At a racetrack widely known for its chaos – as was put on display at times throughout the weekend – the Auckland, New Zealand-native managed to keep his Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet mostly damage free, other than the slightest contact with Chase Briscoe in a mid-race incident.

That in itself is a victory, and something that many others, with much, much more experience on short ovals and in NASCAR Cup Series vehicles in general, failed to accomplish.

Van Gisbergen has amassed 14 starts in the NASCAR Cup Series, and although he’s already rattled off a victory, two top-five finishes, and four top-10s, all of those have either come on road courses, or at the Chicago Street Course. His best finish on an oval, is 12th, at Martinsville last Fall.

Despite his limited experience on ovals, Van Gisbergen says he was pretty well-prepared for his debut at the quarter-mile Bowman Gray Stadium, giving props to both his crew chief Stephen Doran and spotter Josh Williams, both of whom worked with rookie driver Zane Smith in 2024.

“I felt comfortable in the car from the start of practice,” Van Gisbergen said after the race. “We had really good preparation with Stephen [Doran] and Josh [Williams]. I just felt good from the start and pushed on with it. It was pretty fun. It’s like Martinsville. I’m good there because there’s a little bit of road course technique, I guess. It just seems to suit me.”

Van Gisbergen finished the evening inside the top-10, in ninth, but was among the drivers that hung in and around the back-half of the top-10 throughout the entire evening, running as high as seventh, and dropping no lower than 12th or 13th-place.

However, the three-time Supercars champion admits that the evening wasn’t necessarily perfect, even though – in typical Shane Van Gisbergen fashion – he exited the car with a smile on his face after having run in the racecar.

“It was a lot of fun,” SVG commented. “I think I still put myself in bad spots and got moved out of the way. And then, I didn’t know how to get back down without making people mad. But yeah, I had a lot of fun. I felt like I could come down, but you’d just get shipped the next corner. That’s part of it, I guess.”

It’s an overall positive way to start the first full-time NASCAR Cup Series campaign for Shane Van Gisbergen, who will be locked in a season-long fight against Riley Herbst of 23XI Racing for Rookie of The Year honors in 2025.

“It was awesome,” Van Gisbergen added. “It was a good, low stress way to come back. Most of the guys on the No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevy team are new people at Trackhouse, so it was a good way for us to all settle in and have a little team bonding. Running well helps, as well.”

In 2025, Van Gisbergen’s team – the third full-time NASCAR Cup Series entry for Trackhouse Racing – will be a hodgepodge of members that worked for other organizations in 2024, including a number of people from the No. 71 at Spire Motorsports. The team will also feature mechanic Stephen Gonzalez and interior specialist Trevor Adams from the No. 14 at Stewart-Haas Racing.

Van Gisbergen and Trackhouse Racing will now shift their focus to the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series campaign, with the Daytona 500 coming up in just two weeks – the first attempt at ‘The Great American Race’ for the Supercars legend.

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