Australian V8 Supercars champion-turned-NASCAR driver Shane van Gisbergen has been having one of the most impressive full-time seasons in the sport this year. The Kiwi driver burst onto the American stock car racing scene after his historical debut Cup Series victory during the inaugural Chicago City Street Race last year.
Advertisement
After his fairytale victory on the streets of Windy City, van Gisbergen committed full-time to NASCAR, cutting his teeth in the Xfinity Series this season. While the 35-year-old has managed to bag two wins to his name, both of those victories came at road course events.
He has not been able to replicate the same success in the sport’s bread-and-butter tracks. Having somewhat struggled with the phenomenon of oval racing and to an extent the Xfinity Series car, SVG elaborated on how challenging oval racing is.
“The ovals are very, very, very difficult. But I feel like I’m getting better and better, finishing the races with straight cars and starting to get more and more competitive. Road courses are (my) strength, but I don’t know if ovals are a weakness.”
Back to back Xfinity wins! Awesome to get one in the @WeatherTech Camaro, had some hard racing and great fun 😀👍 pic.twitter.com/NOlf96NDLU
— Shane van Gisbergen (@shanevg97) June 9, 2024
SVG will be seen participating in this year’s upcoming Chicago Street Race event once again, following that up by a proposed full-time drive in the Cup Series for 2025. It will be fascinating to see how he adapts to oval racing over his tenure in the sport.
Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series could be easier for Shane van Gisbergen and here’s why
The Kaulig Racing driver could be better off racing in the premier stock car racing series next year as the Next Gen Car holds similarities to the concept used by van Gisbergen’s previous full-time racing series, Australian Supercars.
Developed with the Australian series as a reference point and inspiration for the concept, the seventh-generation Cup Series cars are vastly different from Xfinity or Truck Series machines.
Key differentiators come in the form of 18-inch single-lug nut wheels with independent suspension and a rear transaxle as compared to the solid rear ends of Xfinity Series cars. This makes the Next Gen car substantially modern in the realm of global motorsports whereas the junior series focuses on the heritage and roots of stock car racing.
It remains to be seen how Shane van Gisbergen can adapt to what is a completely different style of racing heading into the big leagues next year.
