There’s a major difference coming through for Shane van Gisbergen after last weekend’s second appearance in the NASCAR Cup Series in the USA and his first time on an oval driving in the NASCAR Truck Series. It appears that the fun-factor is now back in SVG’s life, it’s the description that he keeps giving after his three appearances in NASCAR.
“I’m living the dream,” said van Gisbergen after his NASCAR oval debut.
“We had fun all weekend,” said SVG after competing in the NASCAR Cup road course event at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. “Hopefully I can come back and do it all again. It’s hard here because everyone’s on it. Everyone knows the track and there’s a lot more room for error. Everyone’s racing aggressively. It was so much fun to be back and hopefully I can do more….”
Compare this with the 2023 season competing in the Repco Supercars Championship. It makes interesting reading going back through his team media releases over the seven rounds held so far this year.
Townsville – “The biggest credit for this weekend goes to our mechanics. They busted their asses all weekend to try and make the car go better, but we keep finding so many problems. It’s a shame that they’re parts that we can’t go back to the workshop and make better – we have to deal with these things, it’s tough. I had a lot of car troubles in today’s race…..”
Darwin – “In the races, it doesn’t feel like we’re competitive but in reality, we’re fast, so I don’t really understand why that is because it’s a bit of a battle. The racing was particularly tough this weekend, especially when you get stuck behind others because the cars get so hot. The team has done an awesome job to stick behind me and keep trying stuff with the car……”
Tasmania – “For how my car looked after today’s first race – watching the guys put it back together to get me out on the grid, and noticing how much of the car still wasn’t right – it wasn’t straight and was obviously pretty bent, but to get it mechanically sound and safe and to be able to go out on track and get a decent haul of points is unreal, so a huge thanks to the guys there….”
Perth – “I thought going into today’s race that finishing in the top 15 after qualifying 21st would be a good result as it’s quite hard to pass and move through the field and a few people got spun out, but looking at the positives we had limited damage from that race from where we were. We’re still third in the championship points but we’ve slipped back a bit, and we lost a bit of a gap in the teams’ championship which is a shame from my end, so overall we need to be better……”
No mention of fun but plenty of comment on the struggle with the new Gen3 Supercar which is no secret as the three-time Supercars champion has been pretty vocal throughout the season.
It’s not official although we now know that van Gisbergen will be on a plane to the USA for a full-time NASCAR gig in 2024. Why not. You have to have fun and adventure in your life.
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