Shane van Gisbergen makes NASCAR history

He won the Go Bowling at the Glen, his fourth win of the season after Mexico City, Chicago and Sonoma.

This does several things for him.

First, the record for most wins by a rookie, which was three, stood since 2002. Two drivers shared it: Tony Stewart (1999) and Jimmie Johnson (2002). It's currently four, and it belongs to SVG.

Second, there's another road course on the schedule, the Charlotte Roval. If he wins that, which he probably will, he notches five wins by a rookie and moves into the "holder of an unbreakable record" category with athletes like Cal Ripken Jr., Tom Brady and Pele.

Third: When SVG woke up this morning he was tied for 11th on the all-time road course victories list with four, sharing his place with legendary Cup drivers Mark Martin and Kyle Busch. This race moved him to a tie for 8th alongside Martin Truex Jr., Tim Richmond, and Darrell Waltrip.

Fourth: If he wins Charlotte, he moves to a tie for fourth on the all-time road course wins list beside Rusty Wallace, Kyle Larson, Ricky Rudd and Bobby Allison.

Fifth and the sickest part: There are six road courses on next year's schedule: Circuit of the Americas, San Diego (replacing Chicago), Mexico City, Sonoma, Watkins Glen and Charlotte. If he wins four after winning Charlotte this year he becomes the all-time leader in road course wins in his second year on the circuit.

Sixth, which is his championship position. Right now he's the number-two seed in the NASCAR Cup championship. This gets him basically a bye into the second round - where there's a road course. Winning that moves him to the third round. He could conceivably figure out in the simulator how to win Vegas or Talladega and make the final four. No rookie has ever run for the championship since NASCAR created the playoffs, but no rookie has done what he has either.

This guy may be the most modest person in sports. Somewhere on NASCAR's site is an interview with him where he was asked to talk about his first NASCAR race - you know, the one he won by about an eighth of a mile. "I came over here for a one-off race and I did pretty well." Once he learns how to win on an oval he'll be terrifying.