DAYTONA BEACH, FL - FEBRUARY 11: Shane Van Gisbergen 97 TrackHouse Racing SuperFile Chevrolet is being interviewed during Media Day for the NASCAR, Motorsport, USA Cup Series Daytona 500 on February 11, 2026 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, FL. Photo by Jeff Robinson/Icon Sportswire AUTO: FEB 11 NASCAR Cup Series Daytona 500 Media Day EDITORIAL USE ONLY Icon2602111658500
DAYTONA BEACH, FL - FEBRUARY 11: Shane Van Gisbergen 97 TrackHouse Racing SuperFile Chevrolet is being interviewed during Media Day for the NASCAR, Motorsport, USA Cup Series Daytona 500 on February 11, 2026 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, FL. Photo by Jeff Robinson/Icon Sportswire AUTO: FEB 11 NASCAR Cup Series Daytona 500 Media Day EDITORIAL USE ONLY Icon2602111658500
Despite having a formidable outing in the Coca-Cola 600 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway, Shane van Gisbergen walked away far from satisfied. Having started from third, Van Gisbergen led 11 laps and came home in 11th place on an oval despite being a road course racer.
"I don't know," Van Gisbergen said when asked if fans and experts should be after seeing his performance improvement. "It's hard, like I had an amazing day, but I'm p****d. Just bad shoes and should be top five or six."
After the qualifying was washed out due to rain, SVG started from the second row, as the metric was on drivers' placement in the Watkins Glen race. As a result, SVG was running in the top five for several laps.
The Trackhouse man was even a race leader at a point, but everything turned upside down after his team failed to provide him with a good late-race weather strategy, and he ended up beyond the top 10.
"We had an amazing day and then just didn't execute at the end, but it was really cool to run up front all day. Obviously, gifted a good starting position by the rain out. Yeah, filthy with myself for the end. Should have been a bit better," SVG further added.
The race, however, did not run to its full schedule, as the governing body ended it prematurely with 373 laps run due to the wet weather. Daniel Suarez, who was the leader at the time, won the race, ahead of Christopher Bell and Denny Hamlin.
Trackhouse teammate lauds Shane van Gisbergen after Charlotte race
Ross Chastain, Shane van Gisbergen's Trackhouse Racing teammate, shared his thoughts on the latter, saying that he wasn't surprised by the way he pulled off the race.
"I’m not surprised," Chastain said. "We’re all trying to figure out what our Trackhouse cars want and need for us to drive them. People can downplay his oval, banking racing. It’s not true. He can drive a car. He can find the limit.”
While Shane van Gisbergen finished the race and took home an important 33 points, Chastain's day ended on Lap 317. The No. 1 car driver encountered a wreck while trying to cover Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
You can read more on the Daytona Racing Digest!
Written by
Sabyasachi Biswas
Edited by
Ankita Yadav