Van Gisbergen hopes to build momentum
INDIANAPOLIS – Shane van Gisbergen has spent six weeks getting acclimated to his new celebrity racing status.
He has been revising his schedule, changing travel plans, linking up with new and old acquaintances and, yes, still clarifying the pronunciation of his last name.
These are busy days for the threetime Supercars champion, busier than anticipated when he started pondering a move to NASCAR.
Everything changed for one of New Zealand’s most popular drivers when he posted an impressive victory on the streets of Chicago.
“A few other guys in the field dropped me a message after the race, which is cool, and just the reach that race had,” the 34-year-old van Gisbergen said. “People I hadn’t heard from for years, racing royalty and stuff. The amount of messages (I had) – winning a Supercars championship – I’ve never had such a response from so many people.”
He has become so popular that Trackhouse Racing opted to bring back van Gisbergen for Sunday’s Brickyard 200 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The Cup Series race is on the road course, instead of the track’s historic 2.5-mile oval, and van Gisbergen is looking to become the first driver to win his first two NASCAR Cup Series races. He qualified eighth for his second race, posting a fast lap of 1 minute, 28.335 seconds.
It’s already been a stressful week. Since arriving at team headquarters Monday, van Gisbergen has joined IndyCar driver and longtime friend Scott McLaughlin to plot strategy for the speedway’s 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course. He has worked on the simulator and crammed for his first oval experience Friday night in the NASCAR Truck Series.
Fans have followed his every move, with some New Zealanders even making their second trek to America since early July just to watch van Gisbergen. The Indianapolis Raceway Park bleachers were nearly three-quarters full Friday, with most roaring during van Gisbergen’s introduction.
While he finished 19th in Ross Chastain’s No. 41, van Gisbergen still raved about the experience.
“I had a ball, it’s awesome racing with these people, a lot of fun,” he said. “I’m living the dream. It was really cool.”