Shane van Gisbergen’s capabilities on the road course are well known. After all, he had announced himself in NASCAR with a victory in his debut Cup Series race in Chicago in 2023. Last year, on his full-time Xfinity debut, he won three road course races at Portland International Speedway, Sonoma Raceway, and the Chicago Street Race. The New Zealander is now committed to mastering the ovals as he races full-time in the NASCAR top tier this year.
Advertisement
Despite his initial trepidations about superspeedways, Van Gisbergen’s stint in the Xfinity Series has boosted his confidence. Yet, navigating short tracks, with the added variable of option tires, presents a fresh challenge for him. Especially since he has only tackled the option tire once, when Goodyear first introduced it at the Martinsville Speedway last year.
During a podcast episode on Apex Hunters United, Van Gisbergen compared the intensity of short-track racing to a fierce scuffle typical at the start of Supercars races. Just that the chaos and hard racing continue throughout the event in NASCAR.
“Mentally it’s like being in a supercars battle at the start of a race from 15th to the back, you know everyone’s just scrapping and fighting, but it’s like that the whole race, it never settles down on a short track. It’s crazy,” said Van Gisbergen.
The conversation then swerved to NASCAR’s stage breaks. SVG noted their strategic significance both for the competition and the spectacle it presents. He acknowledged that without these pauses, races that run caution-free could lose their appeal.
“If it went 500 laps nonstop, you know there’s a few races where they don’t have cautions it gets pretty boring you know so as a fan it’s uh it’s good action and as a driver, if you’re struggling with your car it gives you a chance to work on it because you know a yellow’s coming,” explained SVG.
The Trackhouse Racing driver appreciated the value of stage breaks on oval tracks. It enables teams to seamlessly blend strategy as the action develops on the track. However, he also added that on road courses, the stage breaks feel more like a contrivance and are slightly out of sync with the natural rhythm of racing.
With the upcoming races mostly on ovals, SVG won’t be in his comfort zone. But it would also offer him a great opportunity to hone his craft further.
SVG is looking for consistency on traditional NASCAR tracks
This season, Van Gisbergen has set his sights on mastering the ovals, which dominate the NASCAR schedule. Speaking to the press ahead of the race at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday, SVG shared his optimism about the progress his team is making on the longer tracks.
“I feel like we are making strides on the bigger tracks. I was competitive at Martinsville last year in both Xfinity and Cup, so we should be good there this weekend. I enjoyed racing at Darlington in Xfinity, but I struggled a bit in the Cup car. So, hopefully, we can get better there,” said Van Gisbergen.
With the six-week run of traditional oval races coming up in the season, Van Gisbergen realizes the importance of these events for building momentum.
“I would like to just have some consistent weeks now and keep building and keep doing more and more laps,” said SVG.
The #88 driver intends to focus on accumulating as many laps as possible, pushing himself up the order, and gaining experience. He believes it would provide the cornerstone for his team’s success.
