As the NASCAR schedule has diversified, it has put extra pressure on drivers across the three national series to become more well-rounded. But this is easier said than done in an era when drivers have a limited amount of time behind the wheel before each race.
Videos by FanBuzz
So how do they become better at road courses, superspeedways, or other types of tracks they will face each season when they only have 25 minutes to practice most weeks?
"Well, that is a very tough question to answer," Chase Briscoe said. "I think the biggest thing is just repetitions. I mean, that's the hard part when you don't get practice, is going to the racetrack and running the laps. I think we've seen all year long (Shane van Gisbergen) has continued to get better and better as he goes oval racing and I think it's the same for myself, in particular.
"I look at the road course stuff, and it took me a couple years and getting experience on road courses until I was even capable of running in the top five at times. So, I think that's the hardest thing is it just takes so many laps and repetitions and especially at the Cup level."
A big topic this season has been van Gisbergen's progression as an oval racer. The three-time Supercars champion came to NASCAR with no shortage of success on road and street courses, which has directly translated into numerous wins in Xfinity and Cup. However, he did not start running inside of the top 10 on ovals until recently.
Van Gisbergen has openly acknowledged the steep learning curve he faced moving to the United States. In fact, he told FanBuzz after his Charlotte Roval that he is still working to understand the Cup Series car's dynamics on oval tracks.
Barreling toward the wall at full speed, in particular, was a relatively foreign concept, something he reiterated after last weekend's race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Van Gisbergen continues to work on his comfort level in the limited opportunities he gets behind the wheel. It just takes time, which he doesn't always have in the fast-paced NASCAR world.
Still one of the craziest parts of oval racing to me. Send it in at 310kph/190mph, missing apex on purpose, heading to the wall hoping an imaginary grip strip/air pocket is going to save you from hitting it, then hearing the exhaust echo on the wall as it holds you off it. Wild🤯 https://t.co/CYDdXBfiL9
— Shane van Gisbergen (@shanevg97) October 15, 2025
"SVG is an unbelievable race car driver, but he's at a deficit when it comes to just repetitions on an oval. And as he continues to get more and more repetitions, he's just going to become one of the guys that's kind of always around the top 10," Briscoe said.
"Eventually, I think he'll be battling for wins on the ovals because you're not that good of a race car driver and then not able to figure out the oval side, and I think we've seen him already running in the top 10. So, that just tells you that it's coming. It just it takes time and that's the hard part about what we do, is a lot of the time, you don't get a lot of time."
Van Gisbergen is far from the only driver who has faced some hurdles while trying to become a driver who is skilled at every track type. Even the veterans who grew up on short tracks and dirt tracks across the United States have been forced to adapt as their careers have progressed.
It doesn't matter if it's Brad Keselowski at road courses, Kyle Larson at superspeedways, or Chris Buescher at Phoenix Raceway; every driver has an area where they have fallen short of the results they set out to achieve. Sometimes, they fall victim to circumstances. Other times, they don't fully figure out the track until they have visited it dozens of times.
Practice time certainly will help every driver progress at track styles where they have previously struggled. Yet that is only one part of the equation. Other factors go into making a driver more well-rounded.
Having speed in the car each week can help cover up some of the deficiencies. Hitting the right strategy can help turn a mediocre day into one that ends with a top-10 finish.
Sometimes, however, drivers just need to work with someone more experienced than them at a particular track layout. They need to lean on others behind the scenes to make up for this lack of practice time.
This work with others is how Buescher, in particular, went from a driver with one win in his career to someone who has celebrated five more times since 2022.
"We've been good (at) road racing for a long time," Buescher said. "I've had some really good road racers help fine-tune what I was able to pick up on as a kid. Brad Keselowski is an extraordinary speedway racer among other things, so I've been able to pick up on a lot of that now just from having him as a teammate. I think that our race cars are more competitive now than they've ever been, so that helps you when you go short track racing or intermediate racing.
"Ryan (Preece) is a short track racer and we've been able to lean into that side of things, so I think a lot of it comes from who you're surrounded by and what you can pick up on and learn, and I'm certainly not gonna sit here and say I've got it all figured out at any given style of racetrack. We're always figuring out how to be better."
