Mexico City win shows Trackhouse Racing made right choice promoting Shane van Gisbergen to Cup Series

Following Shane van Gisbergen's victory in Sunday's Viva Mexico 250, discourse will inevitably arise regarding the fact that van Gisbergen, who entered the race 33rd in the NASCAR Cup Series standings, will race for a championship by way of NASCAR's "win and you're in" playoff format. 

A similar conversation was had by fans following Harrison Burton's Daytona win in 2024, but regardless of any opinion, one statement sums up the conversation: Don't hate the player, hate the game. 

The scenario of van Gisbergen winning his way into the postseason at a road course is not surprising, given how talented of a road racer he is. Van Gisbergen pummeled the Cup Series field, winning by over 16.5 seconds in a race that became a contest for second over the final 25 laps. 

It's this scenario that proves Trackhouse Racing made the right choice by moving the 36-year-old from Auckland, New Zealand, up to the Cup Series less than two years removed from his NASCAR debut. After van Gisbergen spent only one season in the Xfinity Series, many wondered if he was being moved up to NASCAR's top division too quickly. 

While van Gisbergen struggled to find his footing over the first three months of the season, he's improved greatly at ovals over the last month. 

But it was the road courses that everyone had circled for the driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet. A sixth-place finish at Circuit of the Americas on March 2 was van Gisbergen's best finish of the season prior to his win on Sunday, and it was on Sunday that van Gisbergen's value as a Cup Series driver truly shone through. 

While van Gisbergen obviously wants to improve on ovals, his road-course acumen will keep him in a Cup Series seat as long as he wants to be in one. In a series where winning one race can take your season from the doldrums to the postseason, van Gisbergen's ability to be in contention at nearly every road course make him an invaluable asset. 

With three more road courses — Chicago, Sonoma and Watkins Glen — on the schedule before the playoffs begin, it wouldn't be all that surprising if van Gisbergen has four wins going into the postseason. 

This model of going about a season wouldn't have flown 20 or 30 years ago, but in modern-day NASCAR, it's a perfect example of a team playing the system to perfection and reaping the rewards.