Shane van Gisbergen’s Cup Series season has not gone to plan so far. The Australian Supercars champion has completed the first nine races of his full-time debut in the premier tier and has secured just a single top-10 finish. His next race will be at the Talladega Superspeedway this Sunday.
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Despite the rut that he is in, optimism isn’t bottoming out in his heart. He expressed strong enthusiasm about racing at the 2.66-mile drafting-style track, speaking to the press this week.
Van Gisbergen said, “Oh, Talladega is epic! There is nothing else like it. The drafting tracks have been a challenge for me because it’s just a different type of racing. I remember my first start at Talladega, people would put me four wide just to leave me out to dry.
“Because, I guess, they didn’t want me there. Now I feel like I can flow with the guys, have the right momentum, and judge the runs a bit better.” He will draw confidence from his last showing at Talladega. He finished in 15th place driving the No. 16 Chevrolet Camaro for Kaulig Racing. This was a significant improvement from P28 during his first race there.
Shane van Gisbergen will also breathe easier now that his car doesn’t have the yellow stripes that identify rookies. The reason for that is the harsh lesson that veteran drivers often choose to intentionally impart on rookies on such tracks. Technically, he is still a rookie, but NASCAR chose to abolish the tradition of mandating the stripes. So, he might be under a little less fire than if he had them.
Van Gisbergen heads to battle at Dega relying on his spotter
Superspeedway racing is a different kind of animal, and Shane van Gisbergen knows it. It is through awareness of his shortcomings that he has been able to prepare for the upcoming challenge. He stressed the importance of teamwork and added, “Spotters are probably the most important thing when superspeedway racing. I just trust Josh’s (Williams) guidance.”
But that won’t be all. He will need to be mindful of who is racing behind and in front of him. Considering the unpredictable nature of Dega, he would do well to align himself with Ross Chastain, Daniel Suarez, or other Chevrolet drivers from different teams.
Except for a sixth-place finish at COTA and a 20th-place finish at Darlington, all his results have been outside the top-20. Talladega might be just the opportunity to turn this around.
