Shane van Gisbergen preparing for 'daunting' first round of NASCAR playoffs

There are still nine races left in the NASCAR Cup Series regular season, but Shane van Gisbergen doesn't have to worry about whether or not he'll be a part of the 2025 playoff field. 

Van Gisbergen's victory in Mexico City on June 15 clinched a playoff spot for the Cup Series rookie, giving him extra time to prepare for his first playoff run in the Cup Series. 

In a news conference at Pocono Raceway on June 21, van Gisbergen said he and the No. 88 team have already taken a look at the first round of the playoffs and what they need to do in order to advance. 

"I had a look at what tracks (the first round) is, it's pretty daunting," van Gisbergen said with a laugh. "Bristol is a tough track. Gateway, I've never been there, but it's two left-handers. Darlington, I'm OK at. But certainly, it's going to be a really, really tough tough first round. We got 10 weeks to build up. (I'm) looking forward to getting there, having a crack and trying to get through." 

With three road course races — Chicago, Sonoma and Watkins Glen — remaining in the regular season, van Gisbergen also has three golden opportunities to snag more wins and build up his arsenal of playoff points. The Auckland, New Zealand, native says his team's strategy may change depending on whether or not there's an opportunity to stack playoff points. 

"That's what happened last year in the Xfinity Series," van Gisbergen said. "We started sacrificing a little bit of track position to try and accumulate points because they're pretty important in that first round. It may change (our strategy), but winning races is pretty cool, too. We'll probably try to put ourselves in the best position to win those ones."

All quotations obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.