LIVE
This episode is brought to you by Indeed.
Stop waiting around for the perfect candidate.
Instead, use Indeed sponsor jobs to find the right people with the right skills fast.
It's a simple way to make sure your listing is the first candidate to see.
According to Indeed data, sponsor jobs have four times more applicants than non-sponsored jobs.
So go build your dream team today with Indeed.
Get a $75 sponsor job credit at Indeed.com slash podcast.
Terms and conditions apply.
I've never enjoyed my racing so much.
Fortunately, I think my car was a bit better than others.
We had a dream run, but I don't think it's easy.
That's for sure.
Hey, everybody, welcome into the Victory Lap.
I'm Caitlin Vincey, filling in for Kevin Harvick and so glad to see Shane Van Gisburg
and joining the show once again.
This has been a pretty common occurrence.
I would say throughout the course of this year, thanks for taking the time for us.
I know you're fresh, obviously, off the roval wind, and this one seemed a little
more hard fought for you because you had pressure from Kyle Arson, Christopher Bell
in the mix.
Did you enjoy that aggression you saw out of the other guys?
Yeah, thank you.
It was amazing race, plenty of action and yeah, it was definitely difficult that
last stage, but a lot of fun.
And then taking the team photo today with everyone.
And again, the feeling never gets old.
It's pretty cool to have it as a home race, I guess, for the team too.
And a lot of them were at the track.
They don't get to travel a lot.
And yeah, very special to win here at home.
And do you think some of the other competitors are figuring out they have
to do things a little differently, maybe even race a little out of their comfort
zone if they're going to beat you?
Because it seems like that might be what's transpiring here.
I feel like everyone's close.
It's probably closer than it looks.
We've just done a really good job of executing every week.
We always seem to qualify well and start up front.
That really helps.
And yeah, just I guess we've had really good luck too with the cautions
falling at the right time and everything sort of come together.
We had a dream run, but I don't think it's easy.
That's for sure.
Like there's some fast cars out there and really good drivers and just
worked out good for us.
Yeah, and where does the Roval stack up in terms of technicality and what's
expected out of the driver from the other road courses we visited this year?
I think it was, we ran the same tire everywhere, but the fall off was crazy.
We would lose three or four seconds of run, which is massive.
So it was a real challenge to try and keep the tires on the car and
try and be good on the long run.
And that was our strength, but it's crazy how slow you'd go at the end
and then you'd still be as fast as other people.
It felt like a real struggle, but fortunately, I think my car was a bit
better than others.
Very good car indeed.
Very good driver, of course.
And going into the season, drivers obviously always have a big goal list
of things they want to achieve, but did you anticipate that you would have
five wins in the 2025 campaign?
No, of course not.
You always dream about it going so well.
But yeah, it's been amazing.
We've obviously been, I had the expectation, I guess, to be the
fastest guy at the road courses, but not normally a NASCAR,
the fastest car doesn't win.
There's normally action or someone gets spun out.
So to get it right and to win the races and be genuinely the fastest
has been a pretty cool feeling.
It's been great to share it with all the people here.
Yeah, and obviously you've done your part behind the wheel,
but how has your whole team really risen to the occasion as well
around you and given you what you need to produce these kinds of results?
Oh, 100%.
You work with the engineers here and even the pit crew guys.
We just had our pit crew meeting and Kimbrough, our tire carrier,
had an issue.
So we had Drew fill in last minute and just how the team rallies
together and gets behind everyone.
It's a pretty cool, fun atmosphere.
And then, yeah, had a good little party afterwards.
And it's just a fun, fun way to be with everyone.
It's a really cool team.
It is.
And it's the winningest season, of course, in Trackhouse's history,
which says a lot right there.
What does it mean to you personally to be a part of that?
And also, what has Justin Marks done for your life and your career?
Yeah, well, you see how much it means to Justin and his family
and having them in Victory Lane and then, but also the highs and lows,
you know, with Ross missing out on the playoffs.
It was a bit of a contrast.
But yeah, it's been an amazing year to have six wins for the team
and see how stoked the teammates are about it as well.
It's, yeah, really, I love my time here.
I really enjoy it and looking forward to it continuing for a long time.
Yeah, what has surprised you the most about this whole endeavor,
coming to the United States, making a huge statement
and now really impacting a major sport
that you had no prior experience in?
What has that all been like?
It's been what I hoped it would be,
but it's been a lot more fun.
Like I really enjoy going to the racetrack every week.
I love how versatile, I guess the series is.
Like every week there's a different type of track.
It doesn't get monotonous.
You always got new challenges
and it seems to be a evolving sport.
Like there's just new things happening every week.
There's storylines every week.
I find it's really fascinating sport to be a part of
and I enjoy it a lot.
That's probably the biggest thing.
I've never enjoyed my racing so much.
It's really cool.
That is very neat to hear you say that.
So we know you have the road courses dialed in, obviously.
We're going to a mile-and-a-half race track
at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend.
How do you feel your progress has been on the other style of tracks?
Yeah, steady, I think.
We obviously had a pretty low bar at the start of the year
and I think we've been getting better
and I feel more comfortable on those tracks.
Vegas is a pretty tough one, the speed and the bumps
and it's going to be a real challenge.
It's not going to be easy.
Yeah, I feel like I'm getting there but I still have a lot to learn.
Every week I'm out there, I learn something
and have thoughts how to be better again.
So yeah, I know I have a long way to go.
That's for sure but I'm enjoying that process.
Well, Justin Marks told me just last week
he's seen a lot of progress on the other style track
so he's obviously very happy with what you're doing.
There's been a lot of talk about Connor Zillich
coming over to the program next year
and you two are arguably the best road course racers
in your respective series.
What do you think that dynamic is going to be like
with the two of you and this internal battle
friendly competition you're going to be having
on these road courses?
Yeah, well I think we just got to keep that attitude
of it's friendly competition and we have to
one of the cars has to win.
We have to make sure the team comes first right
and we don't want what happens at Watkins
to happen all the time because that wasn't very good.
So yeah, I think it's going to be really cool.
We're all some young guy and everything we've done
with each other so far we get along really well
and bounce ideas off each other too
when we've been on the same or teammates.
So yeah, I'm really excited and interested to see
how it's going to go next year
but I do think it would be really good.
I think it's going to be very entertaining.
We talk about it on a happy hour all the time
and we're excited to see the two of you paired up together.
So we're down to the home stretch
three very different tracks left to go in the Cup Series.
What's still kind of on the goal list for you
or what you kind of still want to achieve
as you close out 2025?
Well, I think the next three weeks are completely different.
You know, you've got a mile and a half,
a super speedway to the short track.
So yeah, it'd be nice to get a B fast at all of them,
you know, show our progress and finish off the year
on a high with some great results.
So it's going to be tough.
As I said, three completely different tracks.
So it's going to be going to be a hard one to get right
throughout for that challenge.
Yeah. And we've talked about the strengths of your team.
Was there any area you've identified that you're like,
all right, this is a weaker spot for us
that I really want to focus in on
for the final remaining stretch of races?
Yeah, the driver.
That's the main thing.
Like I, I'm fortunate I have very good benchmark teammates,
you know, Ross and Daniel have, you know,
obviously very good at what they do
and I just try and get as close to them
as I can every week.
And you know, a lot of weeks it's Ross,
a lot of weeks it's Daniel and I just, yeah,
reference them and if I can get close to them,
I'm doing a good job.
So that's kind of my aim, I guess.
You referenced the shop and the fact
you guys just did a big team photo today.
How's the vibe over there at Trackhouse?
Everybody pumped up to head off to the next race?
Oh, 100%.
It's cool.
And as I said, it was a home race too.
So a lot of them went to the race
and got to see the car they helped build
so on and really cool.
Just, yeah, it's a special time here at the moment
and cool to be a part of that.
Very cool to watch you as well.
It's been such a bright spot seeing you coming into your own
and your career and joining us here in the NASCAR world.
Congratulations on yet another win
and best of luck to you as you close out
the rest of 2025.
Great. Thank you.
0:00
9:42