It only took five weeks for Shane van Gisbergen to solidify himself as the NASCAR Cup Series’ newest “King of the Road.”
First came Mexico City, where he won by more than 16 seconds for the series’ largest margin of victory in 16 years. Next up was Chicago, where he completed the weekend sweep. The cherry on top of the trifecta sundae was last weekend at Sonoma Raceway, where SVG put on an absolute drubbing of the field by leading a whopping 97 of the race’s 110 laps.
He’s won three consecutive road races in Cup in convincing fashion. He’s winning by absurd margins. He’s rewriting the NASCAR history books for road course ringers. He’s so skilled on the left and right turns that Chase Briscoe likened racing against SVG at Sonoma to playing basketball against Michael Jordan in his prime.
And he’s only getting better. At Mexico City and Chicago, SVG had formidable competition for part of the race in the forms of Ty Gibbs and Michael McDowell, respectively, and both drivers had passed him on track at least once. That wasn’t the case at Sonoma, where SVG led every lap outside of pit cycles and restarts and set a race record for most laps led in his first-ever Cup start in Wine Country.
The Cup Series has a new hierarchy on road courses, and SVG is firmly at the top.
But just because he’s at the top now doesn’t mean he’ll stay there forever.
Remember Chase Elliott’s reign of terror on road courses in the twilight years of the Gen 6 car? He won four consecutive road course races between 2019 and 2020, and there was a feeling of inevitability that he would find his way to victory lane time and time again. Road America in 2021 gave him his seventh road course win in Cup, and it was all but a guarantee that he would break Jeff Gordon’s all-time record of nine road course wins.
More than four years have passed, and Elliott hasn’t won a road course race since; he’s still stuck at seven. The Next Gen car changed the playing field, and while Elliott is still one of the series’ best road racers, the stars just haven’t aligned for him to return to victory lane.
Same thing happened to Gordon. He went on an unprecedented run of six consecutive road course wins between 1997 and 2000, and while he remained one of the series’ best until retirement, he only won three of his final 32 Cup starts on the twisties.
It happens in all sports. Every once in a while, there’s a special team that takes the world by storm, enjoys a dynasty and changes the game. But their time on top doesn’t last forever, as their competitors adapt, improve and overcome the hurdles they previously faced.
It happened with Gordon, Tony Stewart (second in road course wins with eight) and Elliott on road courses; SVG will likely meet the same fate at some point in time, no matter how long his dominance lasts.
Even if it feels one-sided, the new SVG-era of road racing will ultimately improve the Cup Series as a whole. He’s the latest X factor that has changed the game, and his competition will have to adapt, improve and overcome the hurdles they currently face. The end result will be a new and improved generation of road racers that will be able to keep up with, contend with and defeat the very best the series has to offer.
We’re already seeing flashes of that new generation. Eighteen-year-old Connor Zilisch has lived up to the hype with three road course wins in the NASCAR Xfinity Series (plus an “oval” win at Pocono Raceway), and he beat SVG straight up to win last weekend’s Xfinity race at Sonoma. His Cup debut at Circuit of the Americas in March was cut short by a crash, but we’ll see him back in action at the Cup level at Watkins Glen International next month.
But that new generation of road racers won’t just consist of new faces: it will also consist of present-day road racers that will elevate their game to the next level. And with the sheer number of drivers that have found glory on road courses in the Next Gen car — Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell, Michael McDowell, William Byron and Kyle Larson to name a few — there are more than a dozen drivers that are determined to get back in the winner’s circle on road courses. Their time will come again.
Until it does, simply marvel at what SVG has been able to do in these races. It’s been just over two years since his first start in a stock car, and he’s already leaving a legacy behind.
Stephen Stumpf is the NASCAR Content Director for Frontstretch and is a three-year veteran of the site. His weekly column is “Stat Sheet,” and he formerly wrote "4 Burning Questions" for three years. He also writes commentaries, contributes to podcasts, edits articles and is frequently at the track for on-site coverage.
Find Stephen on Twitter @stephen_stumpf