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The Underdog House: Shane van Gisbergen Translates Road Course Prowess to Martinsville Success

Caleb Barnes

Top Dog: Shane van Gisbergen

There’s something about Martinsville Speedway that seems to suit the driving style of road course aces. 

It could be the tight corners, heavy braking or steep curbing requiring a tidy, precise line that feel more like certain road course characteristics than an average oval.

After 500 laps, Shane van Gisbergen finished on the lead lap in 12th in his first Cup Series start at Martinsville. In fact, this was his first Cup race on a short track and just his fourth non-superspeedway oval race as a Cup Series driver.

While he didn’t make any superb impressions during the race, van Gisbergen stayed mainly out of the limelight — except for the corner Ryan Blaney punted him into William Byron.

The Kiwi fell off the lead laps a couple of times only to find his way back with great strategy and a quick car. SVG has definitely shown to be a quick learner, and he aced his first Martinsville quiz.

See also
Stock Car Scoop: Who Should Have Been Awarded Final Title Berth?

Let’s also talk about the car. The Kaulig Racing team overall has noticeably lacked speed outside of the road course races, and the No. 16 car hasn’t found too much success this season. 

However, AJ Allmendinger flexed consistent race speed a week ago at Homestead, winding up in eighth at the checkered flag. After another solid run this weekend, maybe the Kaulig crews have found a bit of something at the tail end of this season. 

The 2025 season starts with two superspeedways and a road course, and then the Cup Series returns to the same four tracks that end this current year. It will be interesting to see if SVG can continue to grow in his learning, or if Kaulig Racing can improve on their late surge and get off a better start with Allmendinger.

Notable Underdog Runs 

Let’s continue this Kaulig Racing talk for just a second because the team as a whole really showed out. 

Somehow, Daniel Hemric finished on the lead lap after falling victim to Carson Hocevar in the second stage.

Hemric stayed on the lead lap after the spin, and he restarted the final stage in 25th. He was directly in front of the leaders when the final caution came out to preserve his status on the lead lap, and he held steady until the end of the race. 

It’s been a murky season for Hemric, who really hasn’t found his way. He’s earned four top-20 finishes during the playoffs, but his 17th at Martinsville is his best finish since Atlanta Motor Speedway in September (11th). 

Two spots behind Hemric was Erik Jones, who had a solid, quiet day. 

A top-20 finish, just one lap down, may not seem like much, but Jones has had a shockingly bad second half of the season.

From Nashville Superspeedway on, Jones has found the top 20 just twice on non-superspeedway tracks. Sunday afternoon, Jones started in 21st, and he more or less ran around that spot for the majority of the race. 

Since making the crew chief change at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL, the No. 43 team has shown small improvements from week to week. 

Another notable underdog — for a different reason — was Hocevar.

A week after going toe-to-toe with some of the best at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Hocevar managed to yet again get on the bad side of a number of drivers at Martinsville. 

https://twitter.com/m_massie22/status/1853168455198900331

It’s truly a wonder how the driver of the No. 77 can go on for weeks, displaying his impressive talent and a world of potential, only to eventually slip into his destructive tendencies. 

Not only did Hocevar spin Hemric and Todd Gilliland in stage two, he also booted Harrison Burton a little earlier in the race.

After the incidents, Hocevar drew ire from his fellow competitors, tired of seeing these same shenanigans repeating at the short tracks.

In the final stage, Hocevar seemed to get a taste of his own medicine after Alex Bowman had enough and sent the No. 77 spinning.

Getting in three incidents in one day is never a good thing. While Hocevar finished 25th, one thing is for sure: Hocevar is the most intriguing driver to continue to watch grow and develop.

What They’re Saying

Van Gisbergen (12th):

Small Team Scheme of the Week

I mean, it’s hard to go wrong with flames.

Justin Haley’s OpTic Gaming Chevrolet looked especially nice with the green flames against the black background, and the grafitti look on the hood really sealed the deal.

About the author

Caleb began sports writing in 2023 with The Liberty Champion, where he officially covered his first NASCAR race at Richmond in the spring. While there, Caleb met some of the guys from Frontstretch, and he joined the video editing team after graduating from Liberty University with degrees in Strategic Communications and Sports Journalism. Caleb currently work full-time as a Multi-Media Journalist with LEX 18 News in Lexington, Kentucky and contributes to Frontstretch with writing and video editing. He's also behind-the-scenes or on camera for the Happy Hour Podcast, live every Tuesday night at 7:30!

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