At the end of 2024, Shane Van Gisbergen said he was “getting thrown to the sharks in the Cup series.” The Kiwi speedster started his full-time NASCAR ride on a good note, fetching three Xfinity Series wins. But indeed, as his apprehensions told him, the Cup Series held in story difficult times. Across 15 Cup Series races, SVG could not score better than 14th (clinched at Charlotte Motor Speedway) on oval racetracks.
Shane Van Gisbergen’s moment to shine arrived on NASCAR’s international venture into Mexico City. After picking up his first victory, he extended his season’s win streak to two at Chicago. Despite dazzling people with his road racing skills, SVG is cautious about his oval skills as well.
Shane Van Gisbergen talks about being reborn
Well, that was the scenario when the three-time Supercars champion moved to the US. Shane Van Gisbergen grew up getting accustomed to road-course racing in New Zealand. It involved hard-charging precision as the field gets spread out, which can feel more like racing against the track than the other drivers. NASCAR drivers’ oval racing skillset is different. It involves putting a car right on the edge of spinning out while floating it through the corner and competing close to other drivers. That is why the learning curve for SVG has been steep on ovals. His 22.947 average finish and 27th place in the championship standings through 19 races reflect the rookie’s consistent struggles.
That is what Shane Van Gisbergen pointed out in a recent media briefing. After clinching his second Xfinity Series pole in a row for Sonoma Raceway, he pointed out the differences: “Yeah, like I’m night and day different…But yeah, …when you watch some of these guys drive, there’s people on an oval that are unbelievable, so fast. They come here, and they’re 2 seconds off, you know? It’s just like a completely different sport, almost, the road courses vs. ovals.” Yet SVG is not one to give up easily. He continued, “But yeah, I feel like I’m getting better and better…Every week, I’m developing learning something new, learning what feelings and what I need from the car. Yeah, these races are fun for me.”
Shane Van Gisbergen is the defending winner at Sonoma Raceway, another road course. Despite his prior experience on the racetrack, SVG still confessed to its difficulty. He compared Sonoma with his New Zealand tracks: “It’s pretty its own track here, really. It’s tough. Like, there’s a little bit of runoff, like Turn 10 having a wall right outside the track. That’s a huge risk vs reward. It’s a pretty cool corner there. If you get it wrong, it’s a big penalty, but the speed you carry through there in time, you can make up pretty high. Coming down the esses is really cool. But yeah, we don’t really have tracks with much elevation in New Zealand.”
Nevertheless, Shane Van Gisbergen is riding high on people’s expectations. He will probably sweep yet another weekend after Chicago’s doubleheader. And his rivals are left gaping in awe.
Heaps of praise for the road god
Shane Van Gisbergen deserves no less praise. Across 16 starts in NASCAR’s road courses, the Kiwi speedster has pocketed 7 trophies. According to NASCAR Insights, his average running position on road and street courses this season is 3.34. The next closest is 10.09, belonging to Christopher Bell. In Mexico City, SVG won with a staggering 16.567-second margin over his competitors. Then last week’s pole position in Chicago came at a gap of 0.47 seconds, larger than the margin from second to eighth on the starting grid. These mind-blowing stats led Denny Hamlin to say, “Has there been someone with this big of an advantage on road courses …? I don’t think so…You certainly would think SVG, relative to the field, has got a bigger gap than anybody in history.”
What is more, SVG’s unique braking technique is something special. According to Max Verstappen, SVG is “a crazy right-foot braker,” a reference to the so-called “heel-toe” footwork technique. In it, a driver uses the same foot to both hit the gas (on the far right, as in a street car) and the brake. It helps the car slow and turn more efficiently on a road course. 2023 Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney yielded to SVG’s amazing skill: “Everybody is just like, ‘Well, just learn what he does. Do what he does. I’m like, ‘It would take me 10 years to get halfway to what Shane can do with right-foot (braking). I might be done racing by the time I figure that out halfway of how good he is.”
Clearly, the motorsports world’s attention is now on Shane Van Gisbergen. It will probably ramp up if the Kiwi can overcome his hurdles on NASCAR’s beloved ovals.
The post “A Completely Different Sport”: Shane Van Gisbergen Traces Sky-High Gap Between Him and Seasoned NASCAR Drivers appeared first on EssentiallySports.
