Shane van Gisbergen is NASCAR's newest superstar

It's only been two years since Shane van Gisbergen put together arguably the most impressive debut in NASCAR history and won the 2023 Chicago Street Race. 

Over those two years, van Gisbergen has added two more Cup Series wins — Mexico City on June 15 and Sunday's race in Chicago — to his resume, making him the winningest foreign-born driver in Cup Series history. 

Add in four Xfinity Series wins, an Xfinity Series playoff berth in 2024 and a Cup Series playoff berth this season, and you're looking at a driver that, in just a couple of years, has quickly become NASCAR's newest superstar.

Yes, there's still plenty of work to do on oval tracks that are unfamiliar to van Gisbergen. But winning a single race at the highest level of NASCAR is an incredibly difficult task. Winning three in two years, albeit at road courses where van Gisbergen is most comfortable, is incredibly impressive. 

"It's a unique project with Shane," said Trackhouse team owner Justin Marks in a news conference on Sunday. "We wouldn't be doing this if we thought, 'Let's go win on road courses,' and we knew we weren't going to run that good on the ovals because he's never done it before.' At this level of the game, you have to be a complete package. There's a real opportunity for him (van Gisbergen) to figure the ovals out." 

Road courses are van Gisbergen's bread and butter, but the 36-year-old driver has undeniably improved on ovals. Over the last six oval races, van Gisbergen has finished top-25 in all but one of them. 

As van Gisbergen continues to grow on ovals and whip the field on road courses, the sky is the limit as to how he can build his NASCAR legacy. He may not be a true championship threat this year, but consistent visits to victory lane and the playoff implications they carry make him a perfect modern-day driver.