DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.: Shane van Gisbergen and his girlfriend moved in December to Mooresville, North Carolina, and to date, he’s skilled solely small moments of tradition shock after coming from his previous residence in Brisbane, Australia, the place he lived since 2007.
“It’s cold, I’ll you that,” he mentioned, laughing. “I’ve never lived anywhere this cold before. It’s pretty cool. I’ve had a good time so far. We’ve settled in pretty well.”
Little issues are totally different within the States, too.
“You drive on the wrong side of the road,” van Gisbergen mentioned.
Van Gisbergen ought to be a fast examine on the American guidelines of the highway.
There is, in spite of everything, a trophy that sits inside the primary entrance of Trackhouse Racing that proved van Gisbergen can acclimate himself to any type of automobile, on all types of streets. After all, van Gisbergen floored NASCAR when the New Zealand native gained his debut race on the Chicago avenue course race final July.
Buoyed by the success at Chicago, the three-time Supercars champion is primed to make a full run at a NASCAR profession. He packed his baggage and landed a improvement program deal driving in all three nationwide collection for Trackhouse Racing. He’s pulling double-obligation this week with races within the ARCA and Xfinity Series at Daytona International Speedway. He has seven Cup races on his schedule, beginning in March.
Van Gisbergen turns 35 in May, a bit on the older facet for a NASCAR rookie. But he mentioned his Supercars profession had develop into “stale” and he was up for a brand new problem driving inventory vehicles.
“I moved halfway across the world to have a proper crack,” he mentioned. “I know it’s going to be a massive learning curve. But I’ve been put in an awesome situation by Trackhouse.”
Van Gisbergen’s NASCAR curiosity was piqued in 2022 when he noticed Formula One champion Kimi Raikkonen drive for Trackhouse’s Project 91 program. The purpose for the Project 91 program was to provide worldwide drivers a shot at NASCAR. Van Gisbergen reached out by way of buddies to workforce proprietor Justin Marks about pursuing a NASCAR journey. With van Gisbergen’s historical past — he completed with 80 wins in Supercars — he appeared an ideal match to drive for the fledgling program.
All he did was develop into the primary driver to win his Cup Series debut since Johnny Rutherford within the second qualifying race at Daytona in 1963.
“Initially, it was going to be the one race,” van Gisbergen mentioned. “But obviously that went pretty well. It just kind of snowballed from there. It’s just exciting to come from another discipline and whole other part of the world. Hopefully, I can bring a lot to the table, too, with the way I race and provide a good bunch of entertainment and put on a good show for everyone.”
He additionally completed tenth on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway highway course and nineteenth operating within the Truck Series race at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park. It was van Gisbergen’s first race on an oval.
Van Gisbergen made mastering NASCAR look simple in his first begin.
NASCAR, although, is plagued by drivers who tried to make the bounce into inventory vehicles after success in different racing collection and flopped. Dario Franchitti gained the Indianapolis 500 thrice however his Cup profession flamed out after two in poor health-fated seasons. Juan Pablo Montoya and Sam Hornish Jr. by no means reached the heights in NASCAR they achieved in open-wheel racing. Australian Marcos Ambrose gained a pair of Supercars championships earlier than he gained simply two instances in 227 profession Cup races.
Van Gisbergen leaned on Ambrose for recommendation on making the transition to NASCAR.
“I wouldn’t say he struggled or failed at it,” van Gisbergen mentioned. “He had some really good results and moments of brilliance. But yeah, for sure, maybe he wanted his results to be better. It’s almost like this is a completely different sport, NASCAR. It’s definitely a big challenge changing sports like this.”
A problem he intends to satisfy.
“As a driver, I feel like I’m in my prime now,” he mentioned.
Marks tailor-made van Gisbergen’s 2024 racing schedule to supply him with quite a lot of NASCAR expertise. He’ll make this season’s Cup debut at Circuit of the Americas, race twice at Talladega Superspeedway and has races at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the Chicago avenue race, Watkins Glen and Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
“Shane is one of the best talents I’ve ever seen.” Marks mentioned.
Trackhouse additionally partnered with Kaulig Racing to area a full-time NASCAR Xfinity Series journey for van Gisbergen this season.
“I’m going to be in some good equipment, with good people and good teams,” he mentioned. “I’ve got every opportunity to make good of it. It’s like 40-something races now. As long I’m learning something every week, and getting better every week, it’s going to be really good.”
Van Gisbergen additionally has three victories within the Bathurst 1000, the premier race in Australia. He insisted that — whereas he has some bucket races on his listing, resembling Nuerburgring 24 Hours — he’s a NASCAR driver solely now and optimistic of operating the complete Cup schedule in 2025.
“I’ve moved halfway across the world,” he mentioned, “so I’m committed to it.”
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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
(This story has not been edited by News18 workers and is revealed from a syndicated information company feed – Associated Press)
