Van Gisbergen excited and daunted by Playoffs debut

Shane van Gisbergen has already achieved a lot in his rookie season, but his biggest challenge may be about to begin at Darlington this weekend.

Van Gisbergen secured the impressive feat of securing a coveted Playoffs place in his rookie NASCAR Cup Series campaign.

The Kiwi made it possible by scoring a record four wins in a rookie season in dominant style at Mexico, Chicago, Sonoma and Watkins Glen.

These successes give him 16 extra Playoff points ahead of the intense three-round Round of 16 where only 12 will survive the cut following races at Darlington, World Wide Technology and Bristol.

Having shown speed for Trackhouse, van Gisbergen finds himself in the mix for the championship and he knows what lies ahead may be the biggest hurdle he has to clear so far.

“The next three races aren’t going to be easy,” van Gisbergen said. 

“We are in a decent spot and have earned some nice playoff points, which is cool, but now we have to execute; no mistakes and get good results every week. 

“That will help us achieve our goal.”

The biggest thing driving van Gisbergen is to “prove people wrong.”

“It doesn’t worry us. It puts no pressure on us, right?” He said.

“If we have a good week this week, it makes the next few harder. But if we have a tough week, it puts us in a hole and it’s going to be hard to get out of it. 

“Hopefully it will be nice to prove people wrong, too.”

The Kiwi admits there will be plenty of nerves as the knockout phase begins.

“It still means everything,” he said. 

“Coming in on the race on Sunday, I’ll be nervous as anything. 

“You get all that anxiety about it and you learn. This means everything to us.

“We’ve worked all year for this, and that feeling you learn to channel it. It’s good to be nervous, it means you care about it. 

“So I kind of embrace that more nowadays and you know if you don’t feel that you’re probably in the wrong sport.”

The first race is the Southern 500 at the notorious Darlington. The 1.3-mile egg-shaped track is known as the “Lady in Black” and produces close, brutal racing.

SVG has two previous starts at the venue, producing a solid 26th in a wildcard run last year and a top 20 earlier this year.

The Kiwi has been building momentum, stringing back-to-back top 20 finishes on an oval for just the second time in the Cup Series and even led last time out at Daytona.

Van Gisbergen loves the challenge Darlington offers.

“Darlington is one of my favourite ovals,” he said.

“It’s just cool! You drive into the track and feel such a cool vibe, and everyone is happy to be there. “But the challenge of the track, how slippery it is, how you have to run the wall and the dynamic of the racing, I always enjoy it.

“I think you have to be very precise. You’ve got to be millimetre perfect every lap, comfortable to run against the wall and the proximity to the wall, and then the repetition and consistency. 

“I think that seems to suit me, and the way the cars slide around, I really enjoy that place.”

The Southern 500 begins at 8.00 AEST Monday, September 1.

Image: Daylon Barr / Red Bull Content Pool

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