By David Morgan, Associate Editor
SAN DIEGO – Shane van Gisbergen wants all of those who are already crowning him ahead of this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Naval Base Coronado to put some respect on his fellow competitors’ names.
The road course ace has heard from far and wide about how Sunday’s Anduril 250 will end with him in victory lane and he’s had enough.
“It pisses me off a bit, like I feel like it disrespects my competition,” said van Gisbergen, who has scored all seven of his Cup Series wins on road courses, including six of the last seven road course races that have been held.
Van Gisbergen has also won at the last two new road courses on the Cup schedule at Chicago and Mexico City, but explained that nothing is guaranteed at this level.
“I hold my competition to a really high level,” he added. “So yeah, I feel like I’ve spent the last little while talking myself down because I know that there’s 10 guys probably that can win on pure pace. In NASCAR, so much stuff can happen with strategies and stages, that there’s even more guys who can win. So, I don’t think it’s going to be easy, that’s for sure.”
As far as this weekend’s race on the 16-turn, 3.4-mile street course that takes place on Naval Base Coronado, van Gisbergen explained that it will certainly be an adventure for him and the 38 others in the Cup Series field.
“Yeah, it looks wild. Watching practice is wild. It’s amazing what they’ve done in a week. Coming out here last Tuesday, I think it was, and half the track wasn’t really even built, so it’s been pretty amazing to see how it turned out,” said van Gisbergen
“Yeah, it looks cool. The track walk was interesting. And then watching the Trucks driving now, it’s very different to how it looked. It seems to be evolving, getting faster and faster. Obviously, it’s bumpy, which everyone seems to be commenting on.
“And then the risk versus reward looks off the charts, seeing even the guy doing the pole lap there crashed across the line. And then Justin (Marks) having an issue, as well. It looks very difficult.”
As he watched the struggles of the Truck Series drivers trying to adapt to the treacherous circuit, he explained that it will be a handful for everyone this weekend, even him with his background of racing on these types of tracks all the way back in his V8 SuperCars days to now.
“I mean, watching people crash isn’t fun,” said van Gisbergen. “Yeah, like there’s a lot of good drivers. I mean, like I know those guys are good, and seeing what trouble they’re having makes me know it’s going to be very difficult. And then seeing all the different surfaces, like that concrete where they’re all crashing now, looks very grippy, but obviously it’s not.
“So yeah, it looks tough. But yeah, I guess this is my background. I’ve done a lot of tracks like this and kind of know what to expect I know how I’m going to approach practice. But I know my competition is very good, as well.”
Asked to name a particular area of the track that is liable to catch drivers out as the weekend plays out, van Gisbergen just joked that the entire track is a place to watch out for.
“I mean, the trouble spots, you start at one and count to 16,” he said. “Every corner looks like someone’s had an issue. Every single section has its own problem, and I think I’ve seen someone make an error or do something wrong at each one.
“So yeah, every corner looks difficult, and I don’t think there’s a possibility to do a perfect lap here.
“Qualifying tomorrow is amazing. The first lap of the track, the first three corners, we’re not going to have done before. You know, we’re not going to have seen them that day, and the lap starts for them. I find that always fascinating and difficult in NASCAR, and I think tomorrow’s qualifying is going to be crazy. You see it now with the red flags and people trying to get clear laps, so it’s going to be really hard to execute.”
Van Gisbergen led late into Friday’s Cup Series practice session before getting dropped back to seventh in the running order when all was said and done.
“A little difficult, yeah, but the Red Bull Chevy is not too bad,” he said after practice.
“Unfortunately, we, I guess because it’s so hard to hear around here, I was screaming to come in and I couldn’t hear anything. So, I missed a run. We missed that last set, but it’s OK. We’ll see how it is.”
He added that tire management will be a crucial element on Sunday if the falloff from practice was to be believed.
“It was surprising how much falloff there was. I felt like I was slow, but everyone else was too. Yeah, kind of feels like the ROVAL, where the tires only last two or three laps.”
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