Van Gisbergen reacts to maiden oval laps
Shane van Gisbergen has qualified 28th on his oval debut in the NASCAR Truck Series, with the Supercars champion later labelling the “learning" experience as “tough”.
Van Gisbergen is Stateside for a double-header in Indianapolis, with the Kiwi to reunite with Trackhouse and Project91 in the Cup Series this weekend.
Prior to his Indy road course start, van Gisbergen is making a cameo aboard a Niece Motorsports Truck at Indianapolis Raceway Park.
The two-time Bathurst winner was 32nd fastest in 39-car practice, and was 28th in qualifying as title contender Christian Eckes took pole.
Van Gisbergen’s practice best, a 24.125s, was relative to Corey Heim’s 23.299s. In qualifying, van Gisbergen’s 23.527s was far closer to the benchmark, Eckes’ 22.884s.
The 34-year-old began his two-lap run with a 23.834s on his first lap — putting him 12 — before moving up to sixth with a 23.527s.
Speaking afterwards, van Gisbergen detailed his first oval running, and said he felt himself getting better along the way.
“It’s tough. It’s just all instinctive and reacting to it,” he said on the broadcast.
"First lap, I didn’t get the most out of it and expected a bit much. I had a big slide out of Turn 2 onto the back straight — just getting used to it.
“Then, the second lap, I didn’t know what to expect. Had an awesome time getting better.
"Looks like I’m going to be right in the middle of it all at the start, so it’s going to be interesting.”
"I’m having a ball. Just learning so much every lap and hopefully we’ll get some long runs in the race so I can get in a rhythm and just learn a lot tonight.”
The 200-lap Truck race will be broadcast live on Fox Sports and streamed on Kayo, with coverage beginning at 10:30am AEST.
Monday’s Cup Race — which will also feature Brodie Kostecki, and ex-Formula One duo Jenson Button and Kamui Kobayashi — will also be shown on Fox and Kayo.
