Ever since Shane van Gisbergen’s NASCAR debut during the inaugural Chicago Street Race saw the V8 Supercars champion from Australia win on his first attempt in the Cup Series, the Kiwi national has been on a roll in American stock car racing.
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He went on to relocate his racing journey to America in search of a full-time stock car racing opportunity. Ever since then, the 35-year-old driver has been racing in the Xfinity Series on a full-time basis in 2024.
Meanwhile, former Xfinity Series champion and currently driving for 23XI, Tyler Reddick, recently reacted to how some die-hard fans of the sport did not appreciate ‘an outsider’ coming in and acing what has been one of North America’s premier motorsport genres.
Shane van Gisbergen in his first try! 😱
Who saw this coming?
What did you think of the inaugural Chicago Street Race? 🏙️
☎️ Call into DBC and tell us yourself: (704) 802-9572
pic.twitter.com/KkI1cw4fR9— Dirty Mo Media (@DirtyMoMedia) July 3, 2023
In an interview with Rubbin is Racing previewing the 2024 Chicago Street Race, Reddick elaborated on how he would react if he had the opportunity to bump or wreck van Gisbergen out of the way for a win. The #45 Toyota Camry driver touched on how he would not necessarily go down that road owing to the racing etiquette the Kiwi has shown since his time in NASCAR.
“I can’t. I really think his mindset coming over here is in a great place. It’s the way that he’s raced guys like Austin Hill or some of these others. The way he went about winning the race here (Chicago) a year ago. I already had a huge amount of respect for what he did. He races very respectfully but if someone’s gonna dish it out he’s not afraid to give it back.”
Reddick also touched on the Shane van Gisbergen-Austin Hill rivalry which started back during the 2023 Xfinity Series race at the Circut of the Americas. Hill and Gisbergen were seen trading blows which cost the Kiwi driver a potential win last year. The Kaulig Racing driver made sure to repay the favor this season at Sonoma after moving Hill out of his way to win at another premier NASCAR road course event.
ANOTHER 𝙀𝑷𝙄𝑪 SVG BURNOUT!
(Austin Hill had a great view of it) https://t.co/AQIkQjxJt4 pic.twitter.com/aGIIPxGeFo
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) June 9, 2024
Despite his few run-ins with Hill, a general opinion surrounding SVG has been that of his immaculate race craft, which often includes setting up overtakes two, sometimes three turns in advance to not touch the driver in front. It also highlights one of the skills he has brought with him from down under, and top drivers such as Kyle Larson have taken notes of that as well.
All in all, it seems evident that Tyler Reddick will not be the one pushing SVG aside anytime soon, even if a win is on the line. However, you never know if either driver ends up instigated by the other’s aggressive move, we might see morals being thrown out the window!
