Kevin Harvick's Happy Hour presented by NASCAR on FOX - Shane van Gisbergen Interview following win at Watkins Glen | VICTORY LAP

Episode Date: August 12, 2025

Fresh off his Watkins Glen victory, Shane van Gisbergen joins Mamba Smith for this week’s Victory Lap on Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour. SVG opens up about the conversations surrounding his road course dominance and oval track challenges, and shares what has made him so successful in his first full NASCAR season. They also dive into his excitement for the future with Trackhouse Racing, his new contract extension, and how he’s preparing to take the next steps in his career. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I've made huge strides. Yeah, getting closer and closer. And as a team, you know, we're helping each other. Boring is good when you're the one who's winning, you know. Welcome, everybody, to Kevin Harvick's Happy Hour podcast. I'm stepping in for OG for this week's Victory Lab, Mabba Smith in the House. I got my guy. Look at him.

Mr. Red Bull himself, Shane Van Gisberg. Shane, how are we doing, homie? I'm good. How about you? I can't complain, bro. Let's just get right into it. This is what I want to know. Do you hear all the chatter that about you on the social media about, man, he's just dominating races.

It's just too easy for him. Like, we shouldn't have all these road courses. Do you hear that? Do you care? Do you not care? Where are you at with that? Well, obviously, you see a bit of it. But, yeah, I try and live on the positive side, I guess.

But, yeah, it's hard, you know? You know what it's like when someone dominates. You know, you want change and you want difference. But, yeah, for us, we've had an amazing run, but, you know, boring is good when you're the one who's winning, you know. When you're not, you want it to be changed. So it's probably a bit of that. But, yeah, we've had an amazing run and we've had some really good race cars, which, you know, they make it look easy, which it never is. It's just we've just been executing, getting everything right.

and yeah, the speed certainly helps. Kevin's talked a lot about you now racing full-time, obviously, in the Cup series, and being able to do that, you understand what you need out of the car, what the car can do what it can't do. Has that helped with the process of getting the car set up with how you want it versus last year you're kind of just stepping in in the 16 and then here and there? Oh, 100%. Yeah, they would prepare the car here and give it to call it to run,

and we'd be only doing, you know, one race a month at the most type thing and be a big break between races and very different to the Xfinity car. And this year we're just been, you know, we're just developing and, you know, getting better every week kind of thing. Ovales and road courses. And yeah, I think we've been able to make our road course car a lot better now that, you know, it's been an evolution every weekend. And I felt like we've been getting it better and better. And it just compounds, you know. working with the same guys every week and, you know, they're preparing with the same people every week. It makes a huge difference.

I think people underestimate that quite a bit. You know, they see you guys doing what you're doing and your team. We talked about on the podcast, your team is putting whole races together. The whole group is doing what they're supposed to be doing. But the pressure to win when you're supposed to win is different than when you're the new guy to stepping in. You know what I mean? Oh, 100%. Yeah, I said that in a meeting today.

know like it's really good uh i guess there's pressure or expectation probably from everyone now that we go to the road course and we're the standard and i think that's great that we just keep executing and especially the you know not just me but you know the guys doing the setup the engineers the car preparation then the strategy on on the day and then the pick crew just you know especially doing backwards stops as well that's not easy changing over and there's just all these little things we just keep ticking the boxes and making no mistakes and and also we have a lot of fun doing it you know everyone's you know chest out because we're all excited and stoked to be there and but you just get that you just get that uh anticipation or excitement every week in the shop it's been it's been a massive

shift since the 600 when ross won i feel like the you know we're always pretty happy at track house anyway but just the environment is really really cool here at the moment and i find it really really fun for everyone. Has that energy transferred? Obviously, Ross winning the 600, you've gone on your run, that energy that upbeat, do you feel that and you feel like, okay, our Oval program, what I'm doing, I'm getting some of that energy. Like, I'm refocused, I'm focused in on what I'm trying to do.

Oh, 100%. And then, especially for me on Oval's, I know that Ross's and Daniel, they're both race-winning drivers, and I'm trying to compare to them and get to their level. And I think I've made huge strides getting closer. qualifying especially was weak. Start of the year, I'm starting to match them in qualifying now. And then in races too, you know, Ross is still a big step ahead. But, yeah, getting closer and closer.

And as a team, you know, we're helping each other. Ross is always open on the ovals, so is Daniel. And then both ways on the road courses, you know. And I think that has showed. They were both very quick on the weekend. And we had three cars in the top 10 for the first time. So I think as a team where we're doing really well together. I think you can really hear it in your voice that you're excited to be in the spot that you're in

coming over obviously from the supercar side. I got to tell you, when Ryan put it on the poll this weekend, Bubba came up to him and he's like, well, now he's just going to really kick her asses. You just made him mad. He's really going to kick her asses now. He did good and like his car was really good, but in his first stint, he didn't put a foot wrong. You know, I tried to put pressure on him at the start and, man, he was driving. really well you know like there's been there's been some good guys on road courses but we just seem to

be able to put the races together you know they we you know change strategies halfway through and he sort of fell away but his pace was every bit as good as ours one thing that i think uh was really cool this weekend specifically is you know you moved obviously very far away from home um you know i moved from vermont down in north carolina so being away from your family and in a new place is really tough and you were able to have your dad there what was that like oh it's awesome you know we're very close um and he has he would come to basically all the races in australia he'd fly over from new zealand and watch all the supercar races and yeah he hasn't really been able to do that the last year or two and then this year he's been a bit sick so hasn't been able to fly um so yeah he finally

got clearance and this was his first race so just awesome to have him there he arrived Saturday morning so it wasn't real nice. I don't think he had fun watching me crash out, but Sunday, what an awesome day. And, yeah, just to share moments with him, you know, we talk so much anyway, but, yeah, just to have him there and, you know, I hadn't seen him for a while. So it was very cool, very cool to have him there.

And then the next couple of weeks, he's driving the bus for me to Richmond and Daytona. So I probably drive with him on one of them. And, you know, it's like old school when I was younger, you know, driving to the races with him and had the car trailer on the back and stuff like that. So it'll be fun. Just have some fun going racing and low stress races before playoffs start, I guess.

Yeah, you talk about the playoffs, some really tough races in this beginning round, some places that you've been to, some that you maybe aren't as familiar with. What are you looking forward to? What are your expectations going into round one? Yeah, well, Darlington, hopefully we can build on that. That was one of our stronger races. We're pretty decent there most of the day. And then, you know, Gateway I haven't been to.

And it looks odd with the two different corners. And then Bristol is very, very difficult for me. So, yeah, a lot, you know, the very different styles of racetrack. And who knows, you know, stoked to get a bunch more playoff points. That just helps us. And like, it doesn't take pressure off. We still have to go and have three decent races. But certainly all the buffer we can.

can get helps us for sure and hey before i go i got to say congratulations on the extension that's a huge deal i'm sure the weight of like performing i were performing well now i know that i'm here for a little while you can really lock into what you're doing yeah like we're pretty you know certain about next year but it's just even for the future you know and um like when justin brought it up i was more than happy to keep it going and i love it here i love the atmosphere and the team and and I really enjoy my racing, enjoy the fans. Like it's been one of the most fun things

I've challenged myself to do. So, yeah, I'm happy to stick it out here for a lot longer. Hey, I also, before you're good, too, I want to say thank you

for buying in to the burnout competition that we've been holding all year long on the show because your burnouts, brother, you got them pretty down pat. Like,

the hand-out-the-office. Yeah. What did I get this week? So, I mean, you beat your last, you were the leader in the clubhouse. So now you're first and second because you high-fived about 15 people and you just barely kissed the wall, you know, just a little bit just to keep her there. It was pretty sick. Yeah, it was awesome. So getting better at them.

That's why lucky I'm getting more practice, which is good. So hopefully they keep getting better. Love it, man. Well, good luck this weekend. Looking forward to seeing you at Richmond. And good luck in the playoffs. Cool. Thanks a lot, mate. Have a good day.