When Shane Van Gisbergen rolls into Watkins Glen this weekend, he'll be doing so without his usual superpower—but don't count him out just yet.
The three-time Supercars champion, who has five Cup Series wins to his name in 2025, showed grit at the season's first road course race at Circuit of the Americas. There, he fought hard for a second-place finish behind Tyler Reddick. But here's the catch: that result came with a lot more sweat than his previous victories.
Van Gisbergen admits he's not automatically the favorite at The Glen this time around. Why? Because his Trackhouse Racing team is struggling across the board, and even his legendary road course skills can't fully mask that reality.
"That's a hard one," Van Gisbergen said last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway. "We can't magically go have amazing cars next week, right? I definitely felt it at COTA—I didn't have a good car compared to last year or compared to everyone else. So, we're not going to magically show up at Watkins Glen and have the best cars. We need to get better. It's been a difficult season, especially the last few weeks for everyone, but I also enjoy the grind of trying to get better. It's frustrating not being fast, and we do need to get better."
There's a silver lining, though. Van Gisbergen sits 19th in the standings—a massive improvement from his rookie season as he's gotten comfortable with oval racing at the highest level. He's also just 16 points behind his veteran teammate, Ross Chastain. But that stat cuts both ways: Chastain is 18th in points with only two superspeedway top-10s this season. The issue isn't the drivers—it's the cars at Trackhouse, which have taken a step back year-over-year.
Van Gisbergen wasn't terrible at COTA, but he admits the car lacked the edge that made him so dominant last season. "It was just everything," he explained. "I didn't have turn, drive, or power—and those are the three things you need. It made it difficult at COTA, and we struggled in qualifying, so that's frustrating."
Still, if there's one driver who can turn a tough weekend into a statement win, it's SVG. Watkins Glen may not be his superpower track this time around, but don't be surprised if he finds a way to contend anyway.