One of the best race car drivers in the world right now, Kyle Larson’s fame has long crossed the borders of stock car racing. But even he has acknowledged that Shane van Gisbergen is simply better than he and other Cup Series stars when it comes to road course racing.
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SVG took the NASCAR world by storm by winning his debut Cup Series race at the Chicago Street Course in 2023. Ever since, he has firmly established himself as the top dog away from ovals. A key attribute that helps him do such a good job is his heel-toe braking technique.
Van Gisbergen uses his right foot to accelerate and brake while using his left to press the clutch and shift gears. NASCAR drivers aren’t used to this. They have been trained from a young age to use their left foot to brake, since the modern day stock cars don’t require the clutch to be pressed to change gears.
Larson told the press at Sonoma Raceway that this technique is why Van Gisbergen is a lot more dominant than his competitors on road courses. “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks… like there’s zero chance I can learn how to do that,” said Larson.
“And even if I did, like there’s zero chance that I can have it be better than what I’m probably doing with left-foot braking. So yeah, he’s just so good,” he added.
Oval racing is the area where the Kiwi falls behind at present. Larson believes that he would be a lot scarier if he filled that gap.
What do other drivers think about the heel-toe technique?
Two-time Cup Series champion Kyle Busch was also asked about Van Gisbergen’s road course expertise. He admitted with a laugh that it would be time for him to retire before he began figuring out the heel-toe technique.
Busch also said that the effort required to learn it was too confusing and, frankly, way above his pay grade. Christopher Bell had once spoken about SVG’s technique, too.
“I wouldn’t even know where to begin. It’s definitely something that would take a long time to master and probably be an easy way to make a mistake,” Bell told NBC Sports in 2023.
Limited practice times and a ban on open testing are hurdles that prevent drivers from trying to adopt the method. Trying it out in live races could prove to be too costly.
But the interest in learning it is high without question. “If I had the time, I would definitely love to do it. If I could go run a Cup car every single day, that’s all I would work on,” said Ryan Blaney.
The desire to be better and beat Van Gisbergen on the street courses runs high in every camp. So will the road at Sonoma throw any surprises?
