While much of the focus was justifiably on the battle between 23XI Racing's Bubba Wallace and 23XI Racing co-owner Denny Hamlin on the final lap of Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series playoff race at Kansas Speedway, and then ultimately on Hendrick Motorsports' Chase Elliott going from 10th to first to snatch the win from both of them, not much focus was given to another top 10 finisher who had a career day.
There is little doubt about the fact that Trackhouse Racing rookie Shane van Gisbergen is the sport's top road and street course driver at the moment, and maybe ever.
In 2023, he became the first driver in six decades to win on Cup debut on the streets of Chicago, and in his first year as a full-time Cup driver this season following a year of a Xfinity Series competition, he has left everyone in his wake.
Following his sixth place finish at Circuit of the Americas in March, the 36-year-old New Zealander is unbeaten, winning at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, on the streets of Chicago, and at both Sonoma Raceway and Watkins Glen International.
But while he finished the regular season tied for the series lead in wins, he also finished the regular season point standings in 25th place, prompting the usual calls from NASCAR fans that he didn't "deserve" a spot in the playoffs.
Whether he deserved it or not, he certainly earned it by winning four races in a format that rewards winning over everything. Though several drivers who placed upwards of 10 spots higher than he did in the standings didn't make it into the postseason, the reason for that was simple: they didn't win.
Still, calls for changes to the format ensued, as there was clearly something to be said about the overall performance of a driver who could win four races and still only be 25th in points.
Such a discrepancy came down to the fact that he finished no higher than 14th in any of the regular season's 21 oval races and scored only seven top 20 finishes.
So even with a playoff spot secured and a healthy lead over the opening round cutoff due to the abundance of playoff points he scored during the regular season by winning so many races, the driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet had next to no chance of advancing out of the round of 16 and into the round of 12 since the opening round consisted of only oval races.
Indeed, with finishes of 32nd, 25th, and 26th, he didn't even come close.
But at Kansas, despite having already been eliminated from playoff contention, van Gisbergen had a breakthrough performance, finishing 10th after starting 24th at a track where he finished 20th back in mid-May.
By no means would or should anybody consider van Gisbergen a true contender on ovals yet, but his first career oval top 10 result is a sign of progress that has been months in the making, even if it has flown well under the radar.
Four of his eight top 20 finishes on ovals have come since the end of July, and recording a top 10 result at a 1.5-mile track by finishing ahead of 2024 race winner and teammate Ross Chastain is a pretty significant achievement.
As long as van Gisbergen keeps winning on road and street courses, he should be able to become a playoff mainstay at the Cup level (provided there are no significant format changes). But further development on tracks with exclusively left turns would make him an even greater threat to make a deep run.
He still has a long way to go, but Kansas was his biggest step yet in the right direction.
This weekend at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval, van Gisbergen is the overwhelming favorite to find victory lane, which would mark his fifth consecutive non-oval win. Live coverage of the Bank of Americas Roval 400 is set to be provided by USA Network beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, October 5. Begin a free trial of FuboTV today and don't miss any of the action from the round of 12 finale!