Van Gisbergen preparing for ‘tough’ last chance

Shane van Gisbergen must perform at Bristol this weekend to keep his NASCAR Cup Series rookie “Playoffs” campaign alive, but knows it will be “tough.”

Having finished 32nd and 25th in the first two races at Darlington and Gateway, van Gisbergen finds himself 15 points below the cut line.

Only 12 of the 16 Playoff contenders will survive into the next round, which concludes after this weekend’s Bristol Night Race.

As a result, the Kiwi needs a strong performance at the famous short-track collisium and he knows it.

“I just wish, obviously, that we could’ve gotten better results the last two weekends, van Gisbergen said. 

“It’s going to be tough this weekend to get through, but the reality is we aren’t there yet on ovals. It’s coming, but we are just forcing it too quickly at the moment.” 

Van Gisbergen has battled at Bristol by finishing 38th in his only Cup Series start, but did get as high as 18th in the Xfinity Series.

The Trackhouse Racing Kiwi admits he has struggled to come to grips with the track that encourages extremely aggressive racing.

His main aim this weekend is to avoid the usual Bristol bashing and collect enough points to cling onto a ticket to the Round of 12.

“Well, it’s a cool track,” Van Gisbergen said. 

“I really struggled there in the spring, it’s a tough track for someone like me. 

“It will be important to have a clean, well-executed race, try and get stage points and be up there all night. It’s going to be a battle.”

The race takes place on Sunday, September 14 at 9.00 AEST.

Image: Trackhouse

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