Trackhouse believes van Gisbergen can win an oval
With Shane van Gisbergen fresh from another road course triumph and contract extension, Trackhouse believes its Kiwi star can win on an oval soon.
Van Gisbergen is on a high after getting a record fourth win of his rookie NASCAR Cup Series win at Watkins Glen.
Before the Go Bowling at The Glen, SVG and Trackhouse announced a multi-year extension to ensure the Kiwi keeps on racing in the NASCAR Cup Series.
As they look at the future, they now turn to how the three-time Supercars champion can crack ovals, having broken records on road courses.
The signs are promising, given at his last oval start in Indianapolis, he recorded his best qualifying of 11th, whilst he has scored four top 20s in his last nine starts.
A year and a half since going all in and gaining exposure through both the Cup and Xfinity Series, SVG feels he is slowly, but surely starting to come to grips with the unique style of oval and superspeedway racing.
“It’s obviously something to dream about winning on an oval, and superspeedways I’ve had some pretty good moments there,” he said.
“I found like the Atlanta racing, you need a bit more driving skill, whereas Talladega or Daytona its just bravery and putting your car in the right place, knowing the proximity of your car.
“That’s where — like if I watch someone like Ryan Blaney or even Ricky Stenhouse is amazing. He normally qualifies where we do, and just how he finds himself in all those holes to get him up near the front.
“It’s amazing how they can see where the momentum is and then all of a sudden the race slows down and you’re driving around a 30 percent throttle but he’s got all that track position and you wonder how he got there.
“I love the technicality of them, but we’re also like lambs to slaughter at times just getting ready for the field to grenade. It’s fun but it’s also not.
“My confidence in being aggressive and — not aggressive but confident in my moves and car placement, I feel like I’ve come a long way.”
Trackhouse founder Justin Marks has seen enough, believing a breakthrough oval win is just a matter of time.
“We think he’s got an oval win in him in the Cup Series. Things are just coming together and really starting to gel,” Marks said.
“I think in this day and age in the Cup Series, it takes a huge commitment because the series is so competitive and it’s the accumulation or the aggregate of so many small things that end up in success in the Cup Series — that’s data, simulation, really understanding the cars, understanding the development of the cars and how things change week to week, all of that.
“Shane’s just proven very, very quickly that he likes to live in that area, that bubble, of just really understanding all the technical details; understanding how the cars are built and just what it takes to go fast.
“He’s a student and he watches tape. He watches the races and looks at the data and really asks the questions of ‘why’.
“I think that, at this day and age and at this level, that level of commitment, that level of focus and that level of intelligence are real factors in being successful.”
This weekend the safe van Gisbergen will take on Richmond for the first time as others scramble to secure a ticket to the Playoffs.
The Kiwi has only made one Xfinity start at the 0.75mile tri-oval and in just his sixth round he qualified 12th and finished 15th.
“We only went there once in Xfinity, so it’s still a really fresh track for me,” he said.
“I had a fun race there and it was early in the season. I enjoyed it, how you can move around and try and make the car work. It was very line sensitive.
“You could change the line and see what worked best for you.
“The track allows you to have a bit more driver input on what works to get the best result out of the car. I’m looking forward to seeing what we can accomplish there this weekend.”
The Cook Out 400 will be at a fan-friendly time down under, starting at 9.30 AEST Sunday morning.
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