“I’m Enjoying the Challenge,” Van Gisbergen Says of Full-Time Foray into NASCAR Cup Series

By David Morgan, Associate Editor

HAMPTON, Ga. – Halfway through his first season as a full-time NASCAR Cup Series driver, Shane van Gisbergen has faced a steep learning curve, especially on ovals, but the New Zealander is taking it all in stride with each track he adds to the memory bank.

The driver of the No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet scored his lone win of the season in Mexico City two weeks ago to punch his ticket to the Playoffs, but is eager to improve on the ovals, where his best finishes stand at 14^th and 18^th, respectively at Charlotte and Michigan in recent weeks.

Despite the struggle on the ovals, van Gisbergen noted that since he’s come to the United States to chase his stock car dream, he’s been rejuvenated and enjoying everything that comes along with racing in NASCAR.

“I love my racing more than ever,” he said. “The last couple years in Australia, I struggled with it the last year in particular and it’s just like a whole new career for me. It’s really refreshed me and yeah, I’m enjoying the challenge. I’m enjoying sucking, I guess.

“So, it’s good having a goal to get better every week. I’m learning so much and I feel like I’m progressing, so yeah, I enjoy myself.”

After spending a year honing his skills in the NASCAR Xfinity Series last year, van Gisbergen was able to bank some top-five and top-10 finishes in those cars, but after making the transition to the Cup Series this season, he has had to re-learn things with the intricacies of the Next Gen car versus the Xfinity car.

“Yeah, so I feel like I’ve started again on ovals, like where you place the car and what effect it has is the complete opposite,” he said comparing his experience in the two series.

“So, you know, there’s like a big dead spot really on the outside if you get to the right of someone in a Cup car and it puts a lot of the weight on the right front and you just almost spin out instantly or you lose a lot of grip. Whereas in the Xfinity you try and get there to get turn or you could affect people in front of you. You know, the cars are chalk and cheese, really. Like I’ve started again, but I’m glad I did a year of learning in Xfinity, but I feel like I’m starting again”

With nine races remaining in the regular season, starting with Saturday night’s race at EchoPark Speedway, formerly known as Atlanta Motor Speedway, five Playoff spots remain up for grabs, so the outside chance remains that there could end up being more winners than Playoff spots, putting van Gisbergen’s postseason chances in jeopardy.

Asked whether he had put much thought into that happening, van Gisbergen just grinned as he said, “Not something I’ve really thought about, but now that you say it, I’m glad there’s more road courses coming.”

The next road course up on the docket being the Chicago Street Course, the site of his first Cup Series race win and a track that he has been strong at every year since. In addition to his win there in 2023, he was in the mix for the win again last year before getting wiped out in a crash in the rain.

With the street course on the last year of its original three-year deal with the City of Chicago, van Gisbergen noted that he’ll always have a fondness for that track, but remains optimistic about any future road or street courses that could be added to the schedule.

“I will have good memories of that place forever, but I love new places too,” van Gisbergen said. “Like this talk of, is it San Diego or something like that. And yeah, I always want to go try new places and I enjoyed Mexico for something different. So yeah, if it’s the last one is what it is, but try and go out with a bang too.”

Van Gisbergen continued, noting the likeness of the Chicago course to those he raced at back in Australia during his Supercars days.

“That’s just a track, kind of like, I’ve grown up racing, you know? Supercars, there’s a lot of street circuits. So yeah, I’m comfortable with the walls, I guess. It’s similar to a few tracks, like Gold Coast in Australia has bits that remind me of that. So yeah, somewhere I’ve been before, whereas these guys haven’t really done that until the first one.”