Latest news with #vanGisbergen
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
NASCAR Cup race at COTA comes at right time for Shane van Gisbergen
NASCAR's first road course race of the Cup season comes at the right time for Shane van Gisbergen. After a ninth-place finish in the Clash exhibition race at Bowman Gray Stadium to begin February, the rest of the month was miserable for the Trackhouse Racing driver. At Daytona, van Gisbergen went to a backup car for the 500 after his car was damaged in his qualifying race. He finished 33rd in the 500 after damage from an early incident. Last weekend at Atlanta, van Gisbergen was in position for a top-15 finish before he was collected in a last-lap crash and placed 23rd. The result is that van Gisbergen enters Sunday's Cup race at Circuit of the Americas (3:30 p.m. ET on Fox) 34th in the points. COTA Austin weekend schedule, TV info for NASCAR Cup and Xfinity series The top two national series will race a new layout for the first road course of the season. Nate Ryan, Nate Ryan, This weekend is the first of five road courses in the Cup regular season that could pave the way for him to make the playoffs. The three-time Australian Supercars champion has excelled on NASCAR's road courses since winning in his Cup debut in 2023 at the Chicago Street Race. 'I just had, I guess, a jump on them at Chicago,' van Gisbergen said of Cup drivers. 'I had, obviously, a great car, great team, but I was used to the street circuits.' Good news, bad news for NASCAR Cup teams heading into COTA weekend Ross Chastain has the best average finish at COTA among active drivers but could face a challenge from teammate Shane van Gisbergen. Dustin Long, Dustin Long, Van Gisbergen has made 11 road course starts between Cup and Xfinity, winning four times — one Cup race and three Xfinity races last year. He nearly won at Watkins Glen last year, finishing second to Chris Buescher after a dramatic final lap. Van Gisbergen described the racing as 'epic.' 'The guys here are just so talented,' van Gisbergen said of the Cup drivers. 'When you race every week, you're going to to get so good at it. I just see the prep and the level here, it's just so high.' How Austin Cindric got Kyle Larson's number after Atlanta crash and how he moved on from disappointment The Team Penske driver tends to avoid fraternizing with his Cup Series peers. Nate Ryan, Nate Ryan, NASCAR will race on a different COTA course this weekend. Cup and Xfinity no longer will run the 3.41-mile course. Instead, both series will run on the track's National course, which is 1 mile shorter. The change, along with the increase in laps from 68 to 95 for the Cup race, is meant to give fans in the stadium area more laps to see the action. 'We don't lose any passing spots,' van Gisbergen said of the change to the track. 'I think it's probably a good thing, a shorter track.' For all the attention on van Gisbergen's success on road courses, his focus throughout the season is elsewhere. 'I just want to be someone who you think of an oval like that,' he said. 'I really want to get better at ovals and every week be a contender, not just five times a year.'
NBC Sports
27-02-2025
- Automotive
- NBC Sports
NASCAR Cup race at COTA comes at right time for Shane van Gisbergen
NASCAR's first road course race of the Cup season comes at the right time for Shane van Gisbergen. After a ninth-place finish in the Clash exhibition race at Bowman Gray Stadium to begin February, the rest of the month was miserable for the Trackhouse Racing driver. At Daytona, van Gisbergen went to a backup car for the 500 after his car was damaged in his qualifying race. He finished 33rd in the 500 after damage from an early incident. Last weekend at Atlanta, van Gisbergen was in position for a top-15 finish before he was collected in a last-lap crash and placed 23rd. The result is that van Gisbergen enters Sunday's Cup race at Circuit of the Americas (3:30 p.m. ET on Fox) 34th in the points. Nate Ryan, This weekend is the first of five road courses in the Cup regular season that could pave the way for him to make the playoffs. The three-time Australian Supercars champion has excelled on NASCAR's road courses since winning in his Cup debut in 2023 at the Chicago Street Race. 'I just had, I guess, a jump on them at Chicago,' van Gisbergen said of Cup drivers. 'I had, obviously, a great car, great team, but I was used to the street circuits.' Dustin Long, Van Gisbergen has made 11 road course starts between Cup and Xfinity, winning four times — one Cup race and three Xfinity races last year. He nearly won at Watkins Glen last year, finishing second to Chris Buescher after a dramatic final lap. Van Gisbergen described the racing as 'epic.' 'The guys here are just so talented,' van Gisbergen said of the Cup drivers. 'When you race every week, you're going to to get so good at it. I just see the prep and the level here, it's just so high.' NASCAR will race on a different COTA course this weekend. Cup and Xfinity no longer will run the 3.41-mile course. Instead, both series will run on the track's National course, which is 1 mile shorter. The change, along with the increase in laps from 68 to 95 for the Cup race, is meant to give fans in the stadium area more laps to see the action. 'We don't lose any passing spots,' van Gisbergen said of the change to the track. 'I think it's probably a good thing, a shorter track.' For all the attention on van Gisbergen's success on road courses, his focus throughout the season is elsewhere. 'I just want to be someone who you think of an oval like that,' he said. 'I really want to get better at ovals and every week be a contender, not just five times a year.'
Yahoo
13-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
NASCAR Cup Rookie Shane van Gisbergen Needs to Make Friends at Daytona 500
The driver simply called SVG—that's so much easier than spelling it out – is entering his first full season in NASCAR's Cup Series. His 2023 debut in a one-off deal was a stunner: he won the Chicago Street Race. Despite his two Cup starts and full Xfinity season, the 35-year-old from Auckland feel very much like rookie. Shane van Gisbergen occasionally watched NASCAR telecasts back home in New Zealand, where he was a well-regarded racing star. His impression of stock car racing: 'I thought, 'this a bit boring',' he said Wednesday at Daytona International Speedway, scene of Sunday afternoon's Daytona 500. 'It was just flat-out the whole way. But when you're in the race, there's so much going on. 'You're jockeying for position, fuel saving, trying to place yourself in the right spots. There's so much more to it. It's fascinating as a driver learning these different skills, placing yourself right for the green-flag starts. Pretty cool learning.' He'll soon face a 36-race, February-to-November season of 'pretty cool learning' and 'so much going on.' He can't wait to get started. The driver simply called SVG—that's so much easier than spelling it out – is entering his first full season in NASCAR's Cup Series. His 2023 debut in a one-off deal was a stunner: he won the Chicago Street Race. That victory and his got-to-love-him' accent and personality immediately marked him as exactly what NASCAR needed as it attempted to broaden its international footprint. He's one of four Daytona 500 entries within Trackhouse Racing's potent Chevrolet stable. Owner Justin Marks has assembled a lineup worthy of a United Nations seat: van Gisbergen from New Zealand, Helio Castroneves from Brazil, Daniel Suarez from Mexico, and Ross Chastain, the homeboy from Florida. SVG, Suarez, and Chastain will run every race for the first time as teammates. Castroneves will make his Cup Series debut in the organization's most important race; his NASCAR plans after that are unclear. What is very clear is SVG's positive outlook on his rookie season. As an absolute stock car unknown in 2023 he made two Cup starts, winning at Chicago and finishing 10th on the Indy road course. He won three poles, three races, and had seven other top-10 finishes during the 2024 Xfinity schedule. Van Gisbergen and Riley Herbst are this year's only official Rookie of the Year candidates. In the Xfinity Series last year van Gisbergen learned that the physical aspect of long-distance racing isn't nearly as important as the mental and emotional aspects. 'It's more mental,' he said of races upwards of 300 miles. 'Some tracks are physical, but most aren't. It's normally just the heat. I try to mentally treat (the Daytona 500) and prepare for it like any other race. 'I try not to get too hyped, and just focus on doing my thing. I try to be excited for every race, try and approach them with all the same amount of prep and focus. Oh, I'm excited for Daytona; oh, we're going to Dover? Something like that. '(The challenge) is focus on something and find consistency. We're in the car for a long period of time, but you don't have to be particularly fit or strong to do it.' Despite his two Cup starts and full Xfinity season, the 35-year-old from Auckland feel very much like rookie. His Cup starts were on a made-for-racing street course in Chicago and the Indy road circuit. … right in his comfort zone. His three Xfinity victories came on road courses: back-to-back at Portland and Sonoma, then again at Chicago. This year's Cup schedule includes the Chicago street circuit again and a new road circuit in Mexico City, plus traditional road courses at Watkins Glen, Sonoma, COTA, and the Roval at Charlotte. All but Chicago will be new to him in a Cup car. 'I feel like a rookie,' he said. 'I feel like everything is new. I feel like I have a lot to learn and improve on and prove myself there. But it's all in preparation? You have to have that clear mind so when you're racing, things become instinctive. Obviously, there's a lot of teamwork with the spotter. He's going to be guiding me. 'Spotters are probably the most important thing of the superspeedway racing. I trust his guidance, or my crew chief will be telling me when we don't need to save fuel. It's very different, this kind of racing.' As for his feelings about his first Daytona 500: 'The race is obviously still massive, but it's not massive where I'm from,' he acknowledged. 'I guess it's like the Bathurst or the Le Mans 24. Watching the pre-race stuff last year, being here to watch the race was awesome. You see the scale of it. 'In the race you have to make sure you have friends; make sure you got the right kind of cars behind you. I never really had to do that before in any other series. You have to make sure it's a teammate or a Chevy. If you go three-wide, a Toyota is not going to push you. I'm still figuring out who's in what brand. I don't know that yet.' The guess here is that he'll know that before Sunday.
NBC Sports
28-01-2025
- Automotive
- NBC Sports
2025 Rookie of the Year candidates for NASCAR Cup, Xfinity, Truck Series
NASCAR has revealed the drivers who have been approved as of January 27 to run for rookie of the year honors in the Cup, Xfinity and Craftsman Truck Series in 2025. Shane van Gisbergen (No. 88 Trackhouse Racing) Riley Herbst (No. 35 23XI Racing) Dustin Long, The 35-year-old van Gisbergen won in his Cup debut in 2023 in the inaugural Chicago Street Race. He has 14 career Cup starts. Last season, van Gisbergen won three races in the Xfinity Series and finished 12th in points. Herbst, 25, has eight career Cup starts. His best Cup finish was ninth at Talladega in October 2023. He has made 175 Xfinity starts and scored three wins, including two last season. Herbst finished a career-high seventh in points in Xfinity last year. Carson Kvapil (No. 1 JR Motorsports) Connor Zilisch (No. 88 JR Motorsports) William Sawalich (No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing) Taylor Gray (No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing) Daniel Dye (No. 10 Kaulig Racing) Christian Eckes (No. 16 Kaulig Racing) Nick Sanchez (No. 48 Big Machine Racing) Dean Thompson (No. 26 Sam Hunt Racing) Kvapil, 21, is the son for 2003 Truck champion Travis Kvapil. Carson Kvapil won the zMAX Cars Tour Late Model Stock championship in 2022 and '23. He made nine Xfinity starts last year, finishing a career-best second at Dover. Zilisch, 18, is a development driver for Trackhouse Racing. He will make his Cup debut for that team March 2 at Circuit of the Americas. He won his Xfinity debut last year, taking the checkered flag at Watkins Glen. Zilisch has four Xfinity starts. The 18-year-old Sawalich won the ARCA Menards East Series championship in 2023 and '24. He has 13 wins in 27 ARCA starts since 2023, winning nine of 14 races last year for Joe Gibbs Racing. He has three Xfinity starts, winning the pole in last year's season finale at Phoenix. Gray, 19, ran 13 Xfinity races last season for Joe Gibbs Racing. He placed a career-high third at Richmond in his series debut. Dye, 21, has 12 career Xfinity starts, including 10 last year. He finished a career-high seventh at Indianapolis. Dye placed second in the ARCA Menards Series in 2022. The 24-year-old Eckes placed a career-best third in the Truck Series last year. He has nine career Truck wins. He has 114 career Truck starts. He has not made a start in the Xfinity Series. Sanchez, 23, won the 2022 ARCA Menards Series championship. He finished a career-best fifth in points in the Truck series last year, winning two races. He has eight Xfinity starts, scoring a career-best seventh at Martinsville. Thompson, 23, finished a career-best 16th in points in the Truck Series last year. He's made 70 series starts. Thompson has run two Xfinity races with a best finish of 20th at Talladega last fall for Sam Hunt Racing. Toni Breidinger (No. 5 Tricon Garage) Gio Ruggiero (No. 17 Tricon Garage) Connor Mosack (No. 81 McAnally-Hilgermann Racing) Andres Perez de Lara (No. 77 Spire Motorsports) Christian Rose (No. 44 Niece Motorsports) Frankie Muniz (No. 33 Reaume Brothers Racing) The 25-year-old Breidinger finished fourth in the ARCA Menards Series points last year. She has made four career Truck starts with a best finish of 15th. That is the highest finish for a female in their Truck Series debut. Ruggiero, 20, had seven top-five finishes in 10 ARCA Menards Series starts last year. He finished runner-up at Phoenix, Dover and Toledo. Mosack, 26, has 28 Xfinity Series starts since 2022. He has made 11 career Truck starts. His best Truck finish came at Homestead last fall when he finished third for Spire Motorsports. Perez de Lara, 19, won the ARCA Menards Series championship last season after finishing second in the points in 2023. He has two Truck starts, finishing a career-best ninth in his series debut last year at Gateway for Spire Motorsports. The 39-year star of the 'Malcolm in the Middle' show made four Truck starts last year. HIs best result was 29th at Kansas. He ran the full ARCA Menards Series schedule in 2023, placing fourth in the points but had funding only for four Truck, two Xfinity and two ARCA Menards Series races last year.
