Shane van Gisbergen shares latest update on injured Trackhouse crew who broke his ribs in a pit accident

Shane van Gisbergen shared a positive update on his pit crew, JP Kealey, who was hit by a tire at Pocono Raceway last week. The Kiwi driver said Kealey is back home and recovering from broken ribs and a partially collapsed lung.

The incident happened under caution on lap 16 of the Great American Getaway 400. AJ Allmendinger hit one of the wheels being carried by his tire changer, which flew to JP Kealey as SVG came to the pits. Despite the heavy hit, Kealey, the #88 Trackhouse Racing's rear tire changer, completed the pit stop.

In an interview at EchoPark Speedway (formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway), Shane van Gisbergen told the media about the health progress of his injured pit crew member.

“He had a fractured rib, I think, and a partially punctured lung... so he has a couple weeks off. Back home now. I've done ribs myself, it's not real fun. So he got to take it easy for as long as he needs and come back when he's good to go,” SVG said (via Steven Taranto on X).

In the meantime, Noel “Bud” Merrill Jr. is taking over the pit crew role as Kealey spends time away from the track.

“We have Bud. When the guys had the penalty a couple of months ago, Bud was on our car then. He's really capable, too, so it should be good,” he added.

After the 160-lap Pocono race, Shane van Gisbergen finished 31st, a far cry from his dominant performance in Mexico City, where he secured his first win of the year. He joins teammate Ross Chastain as a playoff-bound driver with nine races left in the regular season.

Next on the schedule is the Quaker State 400 at EchoPark Speedway. It is hosting the inaugural In-Season Challenge, a 32-driver, single-tournament spanning five races. The champion will earn the bragging rights and the $1,000,000 prize money.

Unfortunately, SVG didn't qualify for the tournament. The seeding was determined by the drivers' finishes in the last three races. His chances to qualify were spoiled by his 18th and 31st finishes from Michigan and Pocono. Other full-time drivers who didn't make the 32-car list were Cole Custer, Riley Herbst, and Cody Ware.

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“We can enjoy the road courses a bit more”: Shane van Gisbergen on feeling less pressure after win in Mexico

Shane van Gisbergen shared his thoughts on his season following his win in Mexico City. The 36-year-old feels less pressure to try different strategies on road courses, considering he already secured one of the 16 playoff spots.

The three-time Supercars champion said (via Peter Stratta on YouTube):

“It was always our goal to win. There's probably less pressure on road courses now, and we can play with our strategy if we want to try and get playoff points now and stuff like that, but probably less pressure, we can enjoy the road courses a bit more.” [2:03 onwards]

However, Shane van Gisbergen acknowledged he still needs to improve on oval races, adding:

“But the ovals, we just need to keep doing what we've been doing and keep our head down, keep improving every week.”

The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series schedule still has four more road course races, starting from the Chicago street race in July. The succeeding road course races include Sonoma, Watkins Glen, and Charlotte Roval.

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Edited by Riddhiman Sarkar