Shane van Gisbergen reflected on last Sunday’s heartbreak in the NASCAR Cup Series race at San Diego. The driver of the No. 97 posted a 38th-place result after exiting the race due to a crash on the 12th lap of stage two.
SVG is known for his dominance on the road courses with six wins in the last eight road course races in the Cup Series. Earlier this season, the Trackhouse Racing driver dominated at Watkins Glen, earning his first victory of 2026.
Aiming for his second win of the campaign, SVG’s hopes of that went up in smoke.
SVG reflects on San Diego crash: ‘Pretty pissed about that’
On the 12th lap of stage two at San Diego, SVG was running in third position.
Directly in front of the New Zealand native was a side-by-side battle for the lead between Austin Hill and Trackhouse teammate Connor Zilisch.
Suddenly, the two collided while gunning for the top spot, leaving SVG nowhere to go but to drive directly into the carnage. Prior to the crash, SVG started on the pole and led seven laps.
It was a tough pill to swallow for the 37-year-old as he knew he missed out on an opportunity for another victory.
When speaking to reporters on Friday at Sonoma, SVG was in better spirits. However, he admits it took him a few days to get past the heartbreak on the Coronado Street Course.
Yet, SVG said it is a new week and he looks forward to chasing another road course win this Sunday at Sonoma.
“I feel pretty good today. Took me a couple of days, for sure. Pretty pissed about that and a good opportunity gone wasted. The best thing about this sport is it either brings you back down to earth pretty quick or brings you back up. You race again the next week and reset. I feel pretty reset today and another weekend,” van Gisbergen said.
The Sonoma weekend got off to a solid start for SVG as he qualified on the pole for Saturday’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race.
Piloting the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, it was SVG’s third straight Sonoma pole in the series. SVG won at Sonoma in the NOAPS in 2024 and finished runner-up last year.
Yet, SVG said it is a new week and he looks forward to chasing another road course win this Sunday at Sonoma.
SVG’s San Diego heartbreak comes with Chase implications
With nine races remaining until The Chase, SVG sits as the first driver below the cutline in the 17th position. He is five points out of The Chase.
Had SVG not gotten involved in the stage two melee, it would be interesting to see not only if he would have won, but where he would stack up among The Chase contenders.
Although SVG has shown improvements on ovals, the last few weeks have not been kind to him. Coming off a fifth-place finish at Nashville four races ago, SVG finished 30th and 31st at Michigan and Pocono, respectively.
On top of a third straight finish outside the top 30 last Sunday at Coronado, SVG has left a lot of points on the table in the last three races.
NASCAR’s SVG on San Diego Heartbreak: ‘Took Me a Couple of Days’