Shane van Gisbergen felt “helpless” in difficult playoff opener

Shane van Gisbergen knew the opening round of the 2025 NASCAR Cup playoffs would be difficult, but he had hoped that Darlington would be a strong showing for his No. 88 team.

Unfortunately, it was instead a frustrating 500 miles, and luck wasn’t on his side either. SVG complained about the balance of the car early, and despite a daring last-lap charge to steal the free pass at the end of Stage 1, there wasn’t much to be excited about.

During the final stage, he went onto an aggressive one-stop strategy (while the majority of the field was following a two-stop plan), pushing the tires further than any other playoff driver. There was also a fairly large window of opportunity where a caution could fall and he would find it beneficial, but instead, the caution that eventually flew came at an unfortunate moment and trapped him off the lead lap.

“The caution came out at the wrong time, but we just had nothing anyway,” said van Gisbergen after the race. “Whatever was different from yesterday, the car was horrible. They tried everything they could, but we couldn’t make it better, and I couldn’t find a way to make speed.”

No room for error

He crossed the line in 32nd place, which is 12 spots worse than where he finished in the last Darlington Cup race.

SVG entered Darlington with 16 points between himself and the elimination zone. The good news is that he is still on the positive side of the cutline, but he is on the bubble with just three points between himself and reigning Cup Series champion Joey Logano.

“I was losing my sh*t inside the car,” laughed SVG as he reflected on the opening stage. “It’s a shame. I had reasonable hopes. We ran good here in the spring, and our cars are getting better. I just felt helpless out there.”

The road racing ace now heads to WWT Raceway, which is a track he has never raced at before. The Round of 16 ends one week later at Bristol Motor Speedway, where the bottom four drivers in the standings will be eliminated from title contention.

It will be a difficult task for the New Zealander to remain above the cutline, with his cushion now gone, a three-time champion breathing down his neck, and no laps at the next track on the schedule.