The extra step van Gisbergen must take before Daytona

For Shane van Gisbergen to be able to make his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut in Daytona, he must contest an extra race beforehand.

In order to gain the necessary approval to take part in the second tier opener at the famous Florida oval, the superspeedway virgin must contest in the ARCA Menards Series.

The effective fourth division race will be held on February 17, the same day as the Xfinity Series opener, United Rentals 300.

It is unclear which team van Gisbergen will race for in the ARCA Menards Series, having been signed to race for Kaulig and Trackhouse Racing in the Xfinity and Cup Series respectively.

Ty Gibbs and Shane van Gisbergen racing hard at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Photo by LAT Images

Trackhouse Racing boss Ty Norris confirmed the plans to SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

“We’re in the process of getting (SVG) in the ARCA race for Daytona,” said Norris.

“There is a (pre-race practice) in January and the Xfinity Series has a pretty lengthy practice, so there’s a lot of opportunities to be observed.

The ARCA Menards Series in action.

“That’ll lead to an approval for Daytona and once he’s approved at Daytona, we’ll be able to go to any track on the circuit.”

Despite taking the NASCAR world by storm by winning on debut in the Chicago Street Race and announcing a full-time Xfinity campaign for 2024, van Gisbergen is heading to the second tier very raw.

The Kiwi only has one oval start under his belt in the third-tier Craftsman Truck Series on the short 1.1km Indianapolis Raceway Park, where he finished 19th.

Shane van Gisbergen making his oval debut in the NASCAR Truck Series.

This race was held on the same weekend as his second NASCAR Cup Series start on the Indianapolis Road Course where he backed up his special win with another top 10 finish.

Van Gisbergen has raced at Daytona before, albeit on the road course in the 24 hour endurance race.

Superspeedways such as Daytona and Talladega are wild and fast tracks characterised by the fierce banking. 

These tracks produce a unique style of racing with the cars drafting and pushing each other along in two and at times three wide trains side by side. When it goes wrong, massive and dramatic “big one” crashes unfold ruling out multiple cars on the spot.

Considering the speeds and the danger, winning these races is the ultimate reward with the Daytona 500 NASCAR’s Bathurst 1000.

Shane van Gisbergen during his final Supercars round at Adelaide. Image: Peter Norton

With two of van Gisbergen’s six NASCAR Cup Series races including trips to Talladega, he knows taking on the superspeedways will be the biggest challenge of his first year in America.

“Superspeedway is what I am most anxious or unsure about,” he said.

“It will be a tough first race. I don’t really know how to approach it or what to expect.

“We will get a little bit of practice to get a feel for the car and the cars around me at speed, but that style of racing is so far removed from anything I have ever done.

“Normally you watch them and it just looks like cars going around flat-out, but now I am trying to study them as much as I can.

“I was watching a Denny Hamlin on board from last year’s Talladega race where he had to come back through the field just to see how it all works.

Austin Cindric and Bubba Wallace lead the field at the 2022 Daytona 500.Photo by Rusty Jarrett / NKP / LAT Images

“I will be able to see more of the driver inputs on the data but watching it is like a high speed chess match but it can also be a lottery.

“I have been doing as much as I can on the sim and iRacing and have crashed a lot! Once the season starts I will be watching as much I can to gain as much experience as possible.”

The ARCA Menards Series is similar to Super3 where young drivers are seen racing Supercars that raced almost a decade ago, having been created in the Car of the Future era.

Composite car bodies that appear the same as the Generation 6 NASCAR Cup Series cars are seen across the grid, mirroring what the top level was like in 2013 when Jimmie Johnson was champion and the likes of Marcos Ambrose and Jeff Gordon were racing hard.

Mian image by Nigel Kinrade / NKP / LAT Images

2024 Xfinity schedule 

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