Shane van Gisbergen says "nothing" in his career prepared him for NASCAR at Atlanta

Shane van Gisbergen backed up his February showing at Atlanta with yet another sixth-place finish at the drafting track, leading the way for Trackhouse Racing.

Van Gisbergen now has four oval top tens in his Cup career, and three of those have been during the 2026 season. At Atlanta this past weekend, he was in contention for the win in overtime, and was three-wide for second with eventual race winner Ryan Blaney as the field raced towards the white flag.

While jockeying for position, he slipped back to sixth by the time the checkered flag flew, but it was still a very impressive day for the three-time Supercars champion.

Motorsport.com’s Matt Weaver caught up with Van Gisbergen after the race, and while thrilled with the result, he was still dwelling on what he could differently in the battle for the win.

“It’s awesome, but my brain is going crazy for what I could have done better,” admitted Van Gisbergen. “I was beside the No. 12 car [Blaney] coming off (Turn) 4, coming to the white (flag), but yeah, it was pretty fun. It’s awesome racing here.”

Despite racing on no fewer than four different continents in his impressive career, Van Gisbergen declaratively said that “nothing” prepared him for this form of racing.

“It’s so different, but this is one of my better tracks. For some reason, I’m always decent here, so I’ll take it.”

And it’s true, as Van Gisbergen now has a pair of sixth-place finishes in the Cup Series at Atlanta, but the track is also the site of his best-ever oval showing in the NASCAR O’Reilly Series. He finished third there in 2024, which was just his second-ever oval start in the O’Reilly Series at the time.

Watch: Blaney prevails with EchoPark win in wild OT

When asked if there was anything he could have done differently, Van Gisbergen had a few thoughts. Tyler Reddick also approached him after the race, discussing the finish as they both lost out on the final restart.

“Definitely the restart,” noted Van Gisbergen on what he would handle differently. “I thought I could have attached to the #45 [Reddick] better. He came up, gave me some advice after – it’s just critical to do that, and I just missed that. We probably could have gotten a better restart. And then off (Turn) 2 on the last lap, Bell really came up. I don’t know if I could have shot down below him or whatever. We kind of touched a lot and that killed all my run.”

Van Gisbergen also raced around longtime rival Austin Hill a bit during the race on Sunday, and there was no drama between the two following their sit down with officials in the NASCAR hauler.

Battle to make the Chase

Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet

The race was also a positive for Van Gisbergen’s Chase hopes, as he lost no ground and actually gained a point on the cut-line even with those around him (Jones, Logano, Cindric) all having solid points days. He is now 31 points above the cut-line.

“I was thinking that on the green/white (overtime restart), I’m like there’s no one around me that I’m racing for points, so I really needed to consolidate where I was,” added Van Gisbergen. “That didn’t change my approach, but good to get a P6.”

There are six races left in the regular season, with another Sunday night race next weekend at North Wilkesboro.