Shane van Gisbergen will make his first start in the NASCAR All-Star Race this weekend at Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway (Sunday 17 May 2026). Last year, he came close to racing his way into the All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro after securing the pole position for the open race, but unfortunately finished 13th. SVG is locked into Sunday’s main event as a 2025-2026 race winner.
“Just got to keep accumulating (points),” commented SVG. “Going to try to learn a little bit at Dover. I’m looking forward to a long practice and getting to try some things, experiment a little bit.
“Also, got some decent tracks coming up. Especially Charlotte, that was obviously awesome for us last year. I was pretty competitive too and Ross won that race. But, yeah, looking forward to getting to those tracks. Just going to try to keep scoring points and maximizing every week and not make mistakes.”
Van Gisbergen put on an impressive show on Sunday at Watkins Glen, claiming his second checkered flag in back-to-back races at the 2.45-mile road course. Van Gisbergen secured his fifth career pole position, but first at the Upstate New York circuit.
A caution in the final stage shook up strategy, and the No. 97 team opted to pit with 25 laps remaining. Van Gisbergen emerged in 26th place and 29.2 seconds back from the leaders. Van Gisbergen charged his way through the field, retaking the lead in only 18 laps, leading the final eight laps and winning by 7.3 seconds. The New Zealander led four times for 74 laps.
“It was amazing,” said SVG. “The first half of the race was straight forward, going quite well. But once the yellows started falling at the wrong time, it got really mixed up.
“So, I think the team did an amazing job. Stephen (Doran, Crew Chief) made some great calls, when to pit, how to manage the race, paint the picture in my head how many laps on tires I had to do. As a team, that was one of our best wins.”
Although this weekend is not a points paying race, the Watkins Glen win put van Gisbergen back in the final spot of The Chase, six points above the cutline.
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