It took him a while but Shane van Gisbergen has well and truly announced his arrival in NASCAR in the last couple of weeks. He won back-to-back races at Portland and Sonoma, putting his road course skills to full use to book his spot in the playoffs. However, it was not just his driving that won him those races, it was his understanding of the Xfinity Series car as well.
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SVG has raced in a lot of different cars but the Xfinity Series cars are unlike anything he has driven before. It’s no surprise that it took him a bit of time to get up to speed. However, his idea to adjust the car to his needs came at the first road course race at COTA. Turns out the solid rear axle made the rear quite heavy, setting this car apart from anything else he had driven.
“I don’t understand this car’s rear end, it’s so different to anything I have ever driven but in any other race car I could tell you what I needed so I just described the changes the best I could and Bruce and the Kaulig guys tried some things as soon as we drove out at Sonoma, it was pretty decent,” the three-time Supercars champion said.
The car had to be suited to the Kiwi’s driving style which was different from what NASCAR drivers because of his racing background.
How Shane van Gisbergen adjusted the car to his driving style
One of the issues he saw with the car was the front wheels locking quite a bit under braking on road courses. This is not as much of a problem on ovals since there are fewer braking zones and drivers usually carry a lot of speed through the turns. The lack of weight at the front was an issue but the veteran race car driver had a solution that involved balance and precision.
“I think I make my speed from braking and then setting my attitude in the corner on a road course and this car, we just have no front weight turning in like we’re always locking fronts. So you want bias to the rear to help that but then you get wheel hop real bad in these things so there’s a fine line,” he added.
There aren’t any road course races for now in the Xfinity Series anymore but with a playoff spot in the bag, the Kiwi will be racing in a lot more relaxed manner.
