Shane van Gisbergen, regarded as one of the finest road course drivers and a rising NASCAR sensation, came close to walking away from racing altogether some time back. Before his triumphs in NASCAR and multiple Supercars championships, a turbulent chapter in his career nearly derailed his journey.
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SVG, with three victories this season, has established himself as the undisputed king when it comes to road courses among the current crop of drivers. More importantly, he has qualified for the playoffs, too. But it was not always victories and podiums for the Kiwi.
In a recent interview with Jeff Gluck for The Athletic‘s 12 Questions segment, SVG reflected on the toughest period of his career and how he fought his way through it.
“In 2012, at the end of that year, I was out of racing. I wanted to stop, and I sort of did stop. And then dad really convinced me to keep going, and we changed teams,” revealed SVG.
The 36-year-old described the period as a storm of legal battles and public scrutiny. And, by blocking out the noise and putting his head down, he managed to win a race with his new team. That moment marked his comeback.
“Well, I love racing. It was just a bad time, and a lot of s**t [was] going wrong. The team [Australian racing team Stone Brothers Racing] had sort of gone bad; they changed ownership, and … I didn’t want to drive there,” said SVG, elaborating on why he chose not to quit.
“They were changing manufacturers [from Ford to Mercedes], doing it a completely different way that you knew wasn’t going to work, which I was right. They ran terribly,” he added.
Frustrated by the team’s direction, SVG felt he would rather step away than continue driving for them. However, his reserved nature kept him from publicly explaining his stance, which allowed others to control the narrative.
They spun things in such a way that rumors floated that SVG had depression and that he was backstabbing the team. Van Gisbergen wishes now that he had been more candid with fans and the media and had set the record straight.
At the time, Van Gisbergen was adamant about taking a year off, racing only on his own terms. He even planned to live in his parents’ pool apartment and chill out for a while.
In the end, Stone Brothers Racing (SBR) agreed to release him from his contract for 2013, 2014, and 2015, signing a brief termination document. However, less than two months later, SVG announced through the media that he planned to race a V8 Supercar with another team in 2013, violating the terms of the termination agreement.
His move was based on dissatisfaction with SBR’s future direction, though he had not expressed these concerns during the termination process. SBR, displeased and feeling misled, pursued legal action against the Kiwi driver.
Eventually, the conflict became a defining test of SVG’s resolve. He weathered it to emerge stronger, en route to becoming the NASCAR racer fans now see dominating on road courses.
