The fans of NASCAR and Formula 1 are usually at loggerheads over which the better racing discipline is. The occasional crossover between the two, such as Jenson Button’s appearance as a Garage 56 driver and Kimi Raikkonen’s Cup Series cameo with Trackhouse Racing, are what have given hope about a mutually beneficial future so far. Thanks to Red Bull, another such union occurred this October.
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The globally recognized energy drink brand was the engine behind the recent venture that saw Shane Van Gisbergen (SVG) and Connor Zilisch joining forces with F1 drivers Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson to teach them the tricks behind running a stock car on a dirt track. Under their guidance, the open-wheel racing aces went head-to-head to see who could adapt the quickest and race the fastest.
The duo were impressed with the speed and the nuances of the stock cars right from the time they saw them up close. They underwent a series of skill tests such as finding the line and cornering speed at first.
Each of them passed one of two tests before the full-time stock car racers decided to pitch them up for qualifying. Tsunoda set a quicker time and chose to start from the outside line.
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The five-lap race that followed saw him end up as the victor as well. SVG put up a picture that the four drivers took together on the track on his Instagram handle and wrote, “We gave the guys some pointers on how to handle the oval and had to take a spin in these stock cars ourselves too.”
The entire video was also shared on the Red Bull Motorsports YouTube channel. And as expected, the fans went berserk.
The love that fans shared for the unexpected NASCAR-F1 crossover
The arguments about who between Kyle Larson and Max Verstappen is the better race car driver grew to record levels this past year. One fan couldn’t help but be eager to find an answer to that.
They wrote, “the verstappen vs larson challenge is getting closer”. Larson teaching Verstappen how to drive a stock car would be everything a NASCAR fan would want to see.
Others were mightily pleased with how well Tsunoda adapted to his car. A comment read, “Send yuki to bowman gray… he’s ready.” Another said, “As a dirt track racer myself, I’m seriously impressed with how well Yuki was right out of the gate. Very impressive. I’ve been curious for years to see Max try a late model though.”
One added, “I have a newfound respect for Liam Lawson for attempting a slidejob.”
The world of motorsports is growing smaller with each day. More such ventures are bound to increase fan engagement in both disciplines. Perhaps the big names on both sides of the pond will recognize how much fans want this and cross the borders more often.
