NASCAR Cup Series regular at Hendrick Motorsports, William Byron still thinks Australian Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen will have the measure of the American stock car racing field come this season’s Chicago City Street Race.
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The #24 Chevrolet Camaro driver spoke about how the Kiwi has a level of finesse at a street track such as the Chicago Street Course. Gisbergen’s roots down under involved road course racing at tracks and venues very similar to that of Chicago with drivers having to come into proximity with the walls to make lap time.
“He’ll certainly still have an advantage. I think his awareness and feel for the walls and how close he can be is probably the biggest advantage I see, he’s very comfortable with that. Even watching him in the Sonoma Xfinity race he was really good there”
It all started with a call from @JustinMarksTH for @THProject91. 😏@shanevg97 | @WeatherTech pic.twitter.com/G2laMD4Xvb
— Trackhouse Racing (@TeamTrackhouse) June 9, 2024
After winning NASCAR’s first-ever foray onto the streets of a city to host a Cup Series race, Shane van Gisbergen has gone on to win two more road course events in the second-tier Xfinity Series.
The Trackhouse Racing and Spire Motorsports driver continues to improve his skill level as he gets the hang of oval racing. It remains to be seen how much of last year’s first-time disadvantage compares to this season’s upcoming Grant Park 165 as it levels the playing field to an extent for SVG as well as the likes of William Byron.
Shane van Gisbergen reflects on his weekend at Iowa Speedway
The former Australian Supercars champion’s highs in the NASCAR Xfinity Series came crashing down at Iowa Speedway as the 35-year-old driver looked like a fish out of water during the sport’s return to an oval track.
After having logged in two consecutive road course wins, the Spire Motorsports full-timer in the nationwide series was seen crashing during multiple sessions of the weekend, including the race, emphasizing the difficulty level of racing at a high level on an oval track.
Shane van Gisbergen CRASHES OUT at Iowa.
It won't be back-to-back-to-back NASCAR Xfinity Series wins for the Giz. 😦 pic.twitter.com/kobNMAPil8
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) June 15, 2024
He touched on the same highs and lows of the sport and summed up his feelings on social media.
“Well, that’s the highs & lows of racing! Super tough weekend, tried to save it but just got loose. I learnt a lot all weekend, had some speed yesterday but the car was difficult today, and made a mistake.”
It remains to be seen how well SVG goes during his next road course appearance as NASCAR prepares to return to the Chicago Street Course in July this season.
