Overview

• Van Gisbergen secured his spot in the NASCAR Cup playoffs after two road course victories at Mexico City and Chicago and front-row starts in both Xfinity and Cup events at Sonoma Raceway.
• He extended his road-course dominance by capturing consecutive pole positions at the Chicago Street Course and Sonoma, outqualifying seasoned NASCAR regulars.
• Acknowledging his lack of top-10 finishes on ovals, the New Zealand driver has enlisted Ross Chastain’s guidance on restarts and track positioning to improve his speedway results.
• Drawing on early-morning advice from F1 champion Max Verstappen, van Gisbergen adapted his wet-weather driving to master slick conditions at Mexico City.
• After a 35-second delay to throw caution for Cody Ware’s crash, he urged NASCAR to equip cars with G-sensor crash-severity technology and Mike Forde confirmed a review of race-control protocols.