Shane van Gisbergen on going through Ryan Preece in NASCAR In-Season Problem

Shane van Gisbergen (SVG) is wanting ahead to renewing his pleasant rivalry with Ryan Preece at Sonoma Raceway this weekend. The Trackhouse Racing driver will line up towards Ryan Preece within the opening spherical of NASCAR’s 2026 In-Season Problem.

SVG claimed the pole place on Friday after setting the quickest lap in qualifying, which supplies him the perfect beginning spot for Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350. Sonoma has been considered one of his strongest tracks. Final yr, the New Zealander dominated the race after ranging from pole, main 97 of the 110 laps on his method to victory.

“I see he is been getting fairly lippy, in order that’s a little bit of enjoyable. We have been giving one another sh*t from Pocono, the place he was throwing indicators at me and stuff, however he is a superb dude. We had a bit little bit of a tussle final week. He type of put a shitty transfer on me, and half spun me, so I obtained him again,” Shane van Gisbergen stated (4:15 onwards).

“I look ahead to it. It is cool to have one thing else to give attention to, and he is been going rather well on his street programs this yr, so I am positive I will see him on Sunday. It’s going to be a troublesome however honest battle, and we’ll see who will get to the subsequent spherical. I look ahead to it.”

Sonoma will open the five-race NASCAR In-Season Problem on June 28. The upper finisher in every pairing will advance to the subsequent spherical over the subsequent few races till solely two drivers stay. The winner of the ultimate matchup takes residence the match prize of $1 million.

SVG additionally counseled Preece’s current street course type and stated he expects a clear, aggressive race.

“San Diego gave me a brand new mentality” – Ryan Preece after beating Shane van Gisbergen on the Coronado avenue course

Shane van Gisbergen and Ryan Preece traded elbows at Pocono Raceway after a collection of shut moments. SVG additionally joked about Preece utilizing his “Italian palms” out the window on his radio as each completed exterior the highest 30 after a tough race.

Racing’s Preece, who completed forward of SVG at San Diego, shared a lightweight hearted publish about beating him earlier than their In-Season Problem matchup. He captioned the video:

“San Diego gave me a brand new mentality. 🧠”

In the meantime, SVG’s current street course outing led to disappointment. He began from pole on the Coronado Naval Road Course and seemed set to battle for one more victory. However his race ended on Lap 32 after a restart crash collected a number of vehicles. The incident left him with a Thirty eighth-place end, his worst results of the season.

“Have to get some momentum going once more and hopefully this weekend begins it and yeah, places us in a superb place for the previous couple of races,” Shane van Gisbergen stated (1:22).

The Cup Sequence has 9 races remaining within the common season, which can finish at Daytona Worldwide Speedway on August 29.