Van Gisbergen and Larson bounced off each other in battle

Leading the way in both the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series were Shane van Gisbergen and Kyle Larson, who learnt lessons from each other as they fought on the streets of Chicago.

Especially in the second tier where they diced multiple times for the lead in a thrilling fight across the first two stages.

Although van Gisbergen drove clear of Larson with a storming performance in the final stage to take a third win of the year, many were talking about the clash between the Kiwi and the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion.

So was SVG himself, who despite being renowned as the road course NASCAR specialist due to his Supercars career, revealed he learnt a lot from racing a similarly versatile Hendrick Motorsports driver.

“That was a pretty awesome race. I had a blast racing with him and went side by side through places I never thought you could get two big American V8s through,” van Gisbergen said.

“In the first stage my car was really weak and I could not get going at the restarts so he (Larson) would always pass me and then when my car would come on I would attack him.

“It was just awesome fun. We were constantly feeding off each other. I would give him the thumbs up and he would wave me back.

“His car was a little better over the bumps and under braking and he was driving very well too.

“It was amazing how he got his car to rotate so I thought my car does not have enough grip and when I adapted to what he was doing my car was fixed.

“I was learning off him too. Some of his techniques, lines and car placement was very different to mine and I adapted a bit to him, especially in turn 6 with how he would brake and turn.

“He is just sharp and calculated, taking risks, places the car in good spots and everywhere you go he is fast which is a pretty cool thing to aspire to match.”

Having also fought side by side in the Xfinity race at COTA, fans will be looking forward to the next instalment of the SVG and Larson rivalry.

Photo by Rusty Jarrett / NKP / LAT Images

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