“Feel Like You’re a Lamb to the Slaughter”: Shane van Gisbergen’s Honest Assessment of Superspeedway Racing Ahead of Maiden Daytona 500

Superspeedway races in NASCAR carry a real risk to them despite all the advancements in safety technology. Cars race at speeds around the 200 miles-per-hour mark and do so continually for hundreds of laps. Shane van Gisbergen, set to make his full-time debut in the Cup Series in the upcoming Daytona 500, finds the strength of his nerves tested ahead of the challenge.

He spoke to the Daytona Beach News-Journal in a recent interview about what he thinks about this form of racing. He said, “I feel like you’re a lamb to the slaughter, getting lined up, ready to be in a big crash. It’s fun at times, you know, when it’s four-wide. But you know it can go wrong in an instant and it won’t be fun.”

Gisbergen was caught in a couple of superspeedway wrecks last season in Daytona and Talladega while racing in the Xfinity Series for Kaulig Racing. Fortunately, he escaped them unscathed. But the experience appears to have left him rattled. He continued revealing his expectations for the upcoming Great American Race on February 16.

“I remember watching it last year,” he recalled. “Even though it was on a Monday, the atmosphere was epic. I try to not get overhyped, but it’ll be a pretty cool experience, I imagine.” Winning the event will be quite a big trick to pull off, but he has already shown the world that he is quite capable of producing a surprise.

Van Gisbergen impresses in the Clash at the Bowman Gray Stadium

The Clash at the Bowman Gray Stadium ended up being a huge success for NASCAR. There were four lead changes in the race despite the Next Gen car’s issues with making passes on short tracks, and Chase Elliott ended up as the winner. Gisbergen did not move around a lot. He started in 10th place and finished ninth.

The race required intricate driving, which is what makes his result admirable. He is bound to have a steeper learning curve about superspeedways going forward, but he has shown that the short tracks won’t be that much of a hindrance. Former Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick expressed a similar take on his podcast.

He said, “I think as we go to some of these other styles of racetrack I think that there will be some learning curve there, but it seems like the Martinsville, Bowman Gray style racetracks are not going to be that issue for SVG.” The looming question is if the Supercars champion can eventually find the final piece of the puzzle, excel on superspeedways, and become a well-rounded driver.