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Shane van Gisbergen is now in the conversation to make NASCAR's playoffs, The Chase, after a Watkins Glen win.

Shane van Gisbergen didn’t just win his first NASCAR Cup Series race of 2026 this weekend at Watkins Glen International. The New Zealander straight up dominated the Go Bowling at the Glen on Sunday, leading an astonishing 74 of 100 laps to pick up his first victory in car No. 97 (after swapping from the No. 88 entry) with Trackhouse Racing.

Van Gisbergen’s dominance is, of course, not new or surprising on road courses. He now has seven career NASCAR Cup Series victories, the most of any internationally born racer.

The No. 97 car had possibly the stint of the season thus far. Van Gisbergen hit pit road with 24 laps to go and soared through the field, closing a 25-second gap between he and the leaders, retaking the lead with eight laps remaining.

“I felt like this is one of the best races I’ve driven,” van Gisbergen said. “You know, not many mistakes. Yeah, it was a pretty cool feeling.”

Van Gisbergen’s dominance was vital in his attempt to qualify for The Chase. He scored 68 points at Watkins Glen, and he is now sitting 16th in the standings as the last driver to qualify for The Chase.

Shane Van Gisbergen’s Playoff Hopes

Van Gisbergen is narrowly in The Chase, as of now. With some more road courses on the schedule, he could jump further ahead in the standings.

Unlike last year, van Gisbergen’s victory does not automatically qualify him for the postseason. Now, he must be inside of the top 16 in the driver standings.

However, the concern for the No. 97 Trackhouse Racing squad is the ovals. He was 19th in the standings leading up to Watkins Glen. But now that he has the win under his belt, momentum may be on his side to leapfrog him on the ovals, as well.

Last year, with five road course victories, van Gisbergen had an average finish of 21st. This year, through 12 races, the Trackhouse Racing driver has improved to an average result of 18.2.

But the challenge will be immense for van Gisbergen, who will likely need to also improve his oval capabilities slightly if he wants to make The Chase.

Shane Van Gisbergen’s Playoff Competitors

He is just six points ahead of Joe Gibbs Racing’s Chase Briscoe and Team Penske’s Joey Logano is just behind him, along with Trackhouse Racing teammate Ross Chastain. Essentially, van Gisbergen needs to keep doing what he is doing, while also hope that none of these three drivers suddenly gets hot, which is quite possible during the summer stretch heading into The Chase.

“I really want to earn my way in this year, and that’s what you have to do,” van Gisbergen said. “I felt like we’ve been hovering around that cut line even though the last few races haven’t been good. We didn’t have an amazing COTA. It’s been cool to be majority ovals and still fighting to get into the chase.

“It’s been a pretty cool thing even to be struggling to be there, and I know that we need to get a lot better as a team, and myself, I still need to improve a lot as a driver. Still have so much to learn. Yeah, it’s cool to be in that fight knowing we can still improve so much, and hopefully we can do it.”