Sportsman of the Week Ending 7/13/2025

Summer is a wide world of sports indeed with warm, outdoor temperatures drawing a variety of sports, fans, and winners.  Two times in eight days, NASCAR road king and rookie Shane Van Gispergen dominated the field to go to easy wins.  This week at Sonoma, the New Zealand wheelman Gispergen (commonly called SVG) took the Toyota/Save Mart 350.  Coming from Australian Supercar Series, SVG started NASCAR last year in the Xfinity (lower) circuit while running some road courses to full time Cup Series and won his first race in Chicago's street course in 2024.  This year he took a race in Mexico City, repeated in Chicago, and now in Sonoma.  All cars being equal, he and his 88 hot rod can't be beat on road courses.  Only in his first full season Gisbergen won for the fourth time in 34 starts, becoming the quickest to four wins since Parnelli Jones won at Riverside in 1967 in his 31st Cup start.  This win thrusts him to 3rd overall in the playoff standings despite being essentially non-competitive on ovals.  One of the playoff courses is a road course, can SVG parlay that into a shot at the Cup?  Depends on his oval skills, but he's a great drive and learning.  Shane Van Gispergen is the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!