Can NASCAR Drivers Catch up to Shane Van Gisbergen in Chicago? William Byron on SVG’s Advantage

Rahul Ahluwalia | 18/06/2024
Can NASCAR Drivers Catch up to Shane Van Gisbergen in Chicago? William Byron on SVG’s Advantage

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.

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”

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.

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.

Post Edited By: Srijan Mandal
NASCAR Cup Series Shane Van Gisbergen William Byron

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Rahul Ahluwalia

Rahul Ahluwalia is a NASCAR Content Strategist and Journalist at The SportsRush. Hailing from a Journalism and Mass Communication background, Rahul's love for automobiles transformed into his passion for all things racing. With over 1200+ articles under his belt covering a mixture of NASCAR and F1, he has realized his calling in the world of motorsports with actual first hand experience behind the wheel to back it up. He has competed in several autocross events as well as rallycross-style competitions to hone his skills behind the wheel and better understand the mindset of a racecar driver, allowing him to further improve his writing as well. He also has an editorial background with respect to racing and has eye for stories which otherwise go unnoticed. Rahul is also an avid sim racer indulging in various disciplines such as rallying and oval racing during his free time. Having begun his motorsports journey at the start of 2020, he turned his passion into his work allowing him to delve deeper into the ever evolving and world of cars and motorsports. Apart from racing, Rahul also has sound technical knowledge of the automotive industry and automobiles in general. Having grown up playing video games such as Need for Speed, Forza Motorsport and Gran Turismo, it is easy to see where the love for racing and machines inculcated in the first place.

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