Oval tracks is where van Gisbergen has the most adjustment to make and he’s already logged three races on superspeedway tracks – an ARCA Menards race at Daytona and Xfinity starts at both Daytona and Atlanta.
Last weekend’s Atlanta race produced van Gisbergen’s first top five finish, as he ended up third in just his second series start as smarting stopping late for gas while many others ran out in overtime.
“It’s a really good feeling,” van Gisbergen said Friday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. “Now, we’ve got some quite different tracks coming in and it’s going to be a challenge, I think. It looks crazy.
“We went for a walk (on the track) before and just the wind is how that’s going to affect (Saturday’s race). You know, like I’ve felt wind and race cars before, but not at these speeds. I’m not sure what it’s going to be like.”
The three-time Supercars champion became the first driver in more than 60 years to win a Cup race in his debut when he took victory in the inaugural Chicago Street Race last July driving for Trackhouse Racing.
The victory served as the instigator for the 34-year-old Kiwi to move to NASCAR competition this season, where he is running a full Xfinity schedule and partial Cup schedule, both with Kaulig Racing.
The biggest challenge van Gisbergen said he’s faced is to “understand how things work” and he’s taken to watching some of the series’ top talent for pointers.
“Everyone’s – I don’t think aggressive is the right word – but sharp and committed, you know,” he said. “Watching Austin Hill in particular at Daytona, he passed me a couple of times and was just so committed where he was placing his car, and he was so aware of his surroundings.
“It was really impressive to watch and I’m not at that level of confidence yet to do that. Then, when we’re in the line at Atlanta, you’re riding but you’re still having to push pretty hard.
“I’m just watching people trying to make moves and analyzing how they were doing things.”
Van Gisbergen will face another test this weekend with his start on an intermediate oval track, the kind which dominates the schedule. Saturday’s weather forecast also features possible wind gusts of more than 50 mph.
Early setbacks at Vegas
However, he and his No. 97 Chevrolet team are off to a tough start.
Van Gisbergen’s car had difficulty getting through pre-qualifying inspection and failed twice, delaying his time on the track to practice (he ended up 33rd-quick).
Because of the inspection failures, his team had a crew member ejected and he will lose pit selection in next weekend’s race at Phoenix.
In qualifying, van Gisbergen fared somewhat better and will start 25th in Saturday’s race.
“This would be the first time I’ve felt the car with full power, and you know they look like they drive completely different at that superspeedway type of tracks with how it looks like they’re sliding on edge the whole time,” he said.
“So that’s something I’ve got to try and feel. Get all four tires feeling the same and sliding the same. And that’s going to take some time. I don’t think I'll be able to run straight up front at tracks like this, I think.
“This is the style of track where it’s going to take time to get better and adapt to. Pretty much starting over again.”
