Shane van Gisbergen’s Daytona Dreams Could Be Shattered in This Scenario

NASCAR finding themselves in a conundrum due to weird decisions they make with their scheduling isn’t something new for fans. But their plans to host both the ARCA and the Xfinity race at the Daytona International Speedway on the same day could bring in problems for the Chicago street race winner, Shane van Gisbergen.

The Kiwi is scheduled to race a full Xfinity Series season starting in 2024. But with the scheduling nightmare and NASCAR’s requirement that he must race in the ARCA series first to be eligible for the Xfinity Series race things could get grim for SVG and his Daytona dreams.

The instance even caught journalist Bob Pockrass off guard, who mentioned, “I am a little surprised considering races are same day but NASCAR will require Shane van Gisbergen to do the ARCA race at Daytona in order to do Xfinity race. Gives him another practice (and also could do the testing for ARCA) and a race.”

this brings up the conundrum that could happen which I’ve been yapping about since they’ve decided to put both these races on the same day

if the ARCA race is rained out past its broadcast window, they will run Xfinity first and ARCA after

so does this mean SVG cant race it? https://t.co/3yLteS6PtK

— bread perez (@bradxperez) December 15, 2023

However, another Xfinity Series driver, Brad Perez, pointed out, “This brings up the conundrum that could happen which I’ve been yapping about since they’ve decided to put both these races on the same day.”

“If the ARCA race is rained out past its broadcast window, they will run Xfinity first and ARCA after so does this mean SVG can’t race it?” At this point, SVG’s hope to start his Xfinity career at Daytona is completely left at the mercy of the weather conditions on that day.

Shane van Gisbergen adds another race to his already vast 40-race calendar in 2024

The addition of the ARCA race was made mandatory for SVG to participate in owing to how intense and dangerous superspeedway racing can be. This is despite him already having a Cup Series race and having a start in the oval format with a Truck race at IRC under his belt.

Nonetheless, the extra race should not be a problem for the Kiwi, unless an unforeseen weather-related delay forces its hand. The ARCA race should also be a fairly easy one for the three-time V8 Supercars champion.

Throughout his career, van Gisbergen has won countless events across series’. He even started in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 24 Hours of Daytona. Hence taking all of this into account his entry into the ARCA series could even yield a win for the New Zealand native.