“We Lost So Much When the Track Dried Out…” — Shane van Gisbergen Breaks His Silence as Wet-Weather Tires Turned the Race Upside Down Before Daytona

Shane van Gisbergen’s No. 97 Had the Speed — Until the Track Changed

Shane van Gisbergen and the No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet appeared to have discovered something special at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

On a damp circuit, the New Zealand driver looked almost untouchable. He qualified fifth, immediately showed strong pace once the race began and quickly moved past William Byron to take control of the race.

For a driver fighting to protect his position in the championship picture, it looked like the kind of performance that could change the momentum of the season.

Instead, the drying track exposed a problem that Van Gisbergen and Trackhouse Racing now have little choice but to confront.

The No. 97 Chevrolet went from leading the race by nearly seven seconds to falling all the way to 20th place, with the dramatic change in performance coming almost immediately after the field switched from wet-weather tires to slick tires.

Van Gisbergen did not hide his frustration afterward.

The veteran racer admitted that being so competitive in wet conditions and then losing so much ground once the circuit dried showed that the team is still missing something.

That admission could prove particularly important with Daytona now approaching.

The Wet Track Turned Van Gisbergen Into the Driver to Beat

The race began under unusual circumstances, with the track still damp enough for NASCAR to send the field out on wet-weather tires.

That was when Van Gisbergen came alive.

The No. 97 Trackhouse Chevrolet immediately displayed the kind of balance and grip that allowed the Kiwi to attack corners with confidence. He quickly moved forward and eventually took the lead from Byron.

Once out front, Van Gisbergen was not simply holding position.

He was pulling away.

At one stage, his advantage approached seven seconds, giving the impression that the No. 97 had found a significant advantage over the rest of the field in the difficult conditions.

For Trackhouse Racing, it was an encouraging sight.

For Van Gisbergen, it was a reminder of why his reputation as one of the world’s most accomplished drivers in changing conditions remains so strong.

But the advantage came with a warning.

The track was drying.

And everything was about to change.

The Tire Switch Changed Everything

As the surface continued to dry, NASCAR called a competition caution that required teams to change from wet-weather tires to slick tires.

That decision was logical for the evolving conditions.

But for Van Gisbergen, it effectively removed the advantage that had allowed him to dominate the opening portion of the race.

He retained the lead following the change, but the pace difference was immediately apparent.

The No. 97 Chevrolet could no longer produce the same performance it had shown on the damp surface.

By the end of Stage 1, Van Gisbergen had fallen from first to ninth.

The problem became even more pronounced afterward.

He never returned to the top 10 during the second and third stages and ultimately crossed the finish line in 20th place.

That transformation is precisely what appears to be bothering the Trackhouse driver.

The issue was not that Van Gisbergen suddenly forgot how to race.

The issue was that the car behaved dramatically differently once the conditions became normal.

“We Are Missing Something”

Van Gisbergen’s post-race comments were unusually revealing.

The driver made it clear that the contrast between the car’s performance on wet-weather tires and slicks was too significant to ignore.

He acknowledged that being extremely fast on the wet tires before falling so far back on slicks suggested the team had a technical problem that needed to be understood.

The message was simple.

Trackhouse Racing has work to do.

Van Gisbergen said the team needs to learn from what happened because both he and teammate Connor Zilisch struggled badly once the track dried.

For a team preparing for the pressure of the closing stages of the NASCAR season, that is a worrying discovery.

The performance gap was not a minor fluctuation.

It was large enough to turn a potential victory challenge into a 20th-place finish.

And with the championship battle becoming increasingly intense, there is very little room for such a weakness to remain unresolved.

Why the Result Matters More Than the 20th Place

At first glance, a 20th-place finish might simply look like another disappointing result.

The circumstances make it far more significant.

Van Gisbergen entered the New Hampshire weekend needing to protect his position in the playoff race. After the event, he was left with a 31-point cushion over Ryan Preece, while the No. 97 owner’s standings advantage was only six points.

That means every lost position matters.

Van Gisbergen himself admitted that he would have preferred a larger cushion heading into Daytona.

The result therefore creates two separate concerns for Trackhouse Racing.

The first is performance.

The second is championship security.

The No. 97 needs to understand why it was so competitive in damp conditions but struggled so badly once the circuit dried.

At the same time, Van Gisbergen needs to avoid giving away valuable points during the final stretch of the season.

Daytona Is a Completely Different Challenge

The next stop only makes the situation more complicated.

Daytona International Speedway represents one of the biggest unknowns on the NASCAR schedule.

Unlike New Hampshire, Daytona is a superspeedway where drafting, track position, manufacturer cooperation, pit strategy and avoiding the inevitable multi-car incidents can be more important than having the fastest car over a single lap.

Van Gisbergen knows that.

He also knows that Daytona can produce results that are almost impossible to predict.

His concern is therefore not simply about whether the No. 97 can be fast.

It is about whether the team can arrive with enough confidence to survive whatever the race throws at them.

Van Gisbergen acknowledged that he would have liked a bigger points cushion before heading into what he described as a major unknown.

That makes the lessons from New Hampshire particularly valuable.

The Strange Contradiction Inside the No. 97 Team

There is an interesting contradiction emerging around Van Gisbergen.

On one hand, the No. 97 demonstrated extraordinary speed.

On the other, that speed appeared to be highly dependent on the surface conditions.

That is not necessarily a problem that can be solved simply by asking the driver to push harder.

If anything, the New Hampshire performance suggests the opposite.

Van Gisbergen was already extracting enormous performance from the car.

The question is why that performance disappeared when the tires and track changed.

The fact that Zilisch also struggled after the transition makes the situation even more important for Trackhouse engineers.

The problem may therefore extend beyond one driver’s setup or driving style.

For Trackhouse Racing, finding the answer could become one of the most important technical tasks before the next major championship event.

Van Gisbergen Has Already Shown What He Can Do in Difficult Conditions

The New Hampshire result should not erase what Van Gisbergen has already demonstrated during his NASCAR career.

His ability to adapt to difficult track conditions has repeatedly been one of his biggest strengths.

The Kiwi arrived in NASCAR after building a remarkable reputation in Australian Supercars, where changing weather and difficult road-course conditions became part of his racing identity.

His NASCAR career has also included memorable performances when rain complicated the competition.

During the 2026 Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium, for example, Van Gisbergen used wet-weather tires to charge through the field and eventually take the lead, leading 15 laps before a late incident ended his challenge and left him classified 20th.

That race showed just how dangerous Van Gisbergen can become when grip is limited.

New Hampshire delivered another example.

The problem was what happened afterward.

The Slick-Tire Problem Could Be the Bigger Story

The most important takeaway from New Hampshire may not be that Van Gisbergen is exceptionally strong in the rain.

That part was already known.

The bigger question is why the No. 97 becomes so vulnerable when the track returns to conventional conditions.

A NASCAR Cup Series team cannot depend on rain to unlock its maximum potential.

The majority of races are contested on dry tracks.

That means Trackhouse needs the car to be competitive when the circuit is completely dry, not only when the surface is damp.

The New Hampshire race effectively exposed that difference in front of everyone.

Van Gisbergen had the opportunity to lead.

He had the track position.

He had the pace.

Then the conditions changed.

And the advantage disappeared.

Trackhouse Now Has Little Time to Find Answers

The timing is not ideal.

The season is entering a crucial phase, and the pressure surrounding the No. 97 is increasing.

Van Gisbergen needs points.

Trackhouse needs consistency.

And the team cannot afford another weekend in which an apparent strength suddenly turns into a weakness.

The New Hampshire weekend nevertheless provided something valuable.

It provided evidence.

The team now knows that the car can perform at an extremely high level under certain conditions.

The next challenge is identifying what prevents that same performance from carrying over to slick tires.

That information could be more valuable than a single strong finishing position.

Van Gisbergen’s Message Ahead of Daytona

Despite the frustration, Van Gisbergen did not sound defeated.

Instead, his comments suggested that he understands exactly what the team needs to do next.

The No. 97 driver wants Trackhouse to learn from the dramatic change in performance and carry those lessons forward.

That is particularly important because Daytona can punish even the smallest mistake.

A bad qualifying position can create traffic problems.

A poor pit stop can destroy track position.

An ill-timed strategy call can leave a driver trapped in the wrong lane.

And one incident in the pack can end an otherwise perfect afternoon.

Van Gisbergen’s priority, therefore, will be simple.

Score points, protect the championship position and avoid unnecessary risk.

But he also needs the No. 97 to be capable of fighting when opportunities appear.

The Real Test Begins When the Track Is Dry

The most dramatic part of Van Gisbergen’s New Hampshire weekend happened before the final result was written.

The No. 97 Chevrolet showed everyone that it had serious potential.

The wet-weather tires transformed the race.

Van Gisbergen transformed that opportunity into the lead.

Then the drying track exposed a weakness.

That sequence may ultimately prove more important than the 20th-place finish itself.

For Trackhouse Racing, the challenge is now to turn that disappointment into information.

For Van Gisbergen, it is about keeping his championship hopes alive.

And for the fans watching the No. 97, there is now a fascinating question heading into Daytona.

Was New Hampshire simply a bad day when the conditions changed, or did the race expose a deeper weakness inside the Trackhouse package?

The answer could have major consequences.

Daytona Awaits — And Van Gisbergen Cannot Afford Another Collapse

Van Gisbergen has already made his feelings clear.

He would have preferred to carry a larger points advantage into Daytona.

But he also knows that the situation is still recoverable.

The 20th-place finish does not define his season.

What matters now is whether Trackhouse Racing can understand why its car went from nearly seven seconds ahead to struggling outside the top 10 once the surface dried.

That is the lesson the team cannot ignore.

The wet-weather performance proved the speed is there.

The slick-tire collapse proved something is missing.

Now the pressure is on Trackhouse to find it.

Because at Daytona, there may not be a second opportunity.

Shane van Gisbergen has already shown that he can turn difficult conditions into an advantage.

The next challenge is proving that the No. 97 Chevrolet can remain a threat when the rain disappears, the track dries and the championship pressure reaches its highest point.

And after what happened at New Hampshire, all eyes will be on the No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet when Daytona arrives.