“He’s helping us”: Kyle Larson and Ty Gibbs rule out desire to shut off the ongoing SVG narrative in NASCAR

Shane van Gisbergen won his third consecutive road course race on Saturday, leading Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson and Joe Gibbs Racing speedster Ty Gibbs to acknowledge Shane van Gisbergen's road racing prowess. Furthermore, Kyle Larson opined that Shane van Gisbergen's dominance helped the Cup Series regulars to get better at running on street circuits.

The Australian Supercar icon kicked off his NASCAR journey last year with a win, which was again on a road course. Moreover, last month, Gisbergen won back-to-back road course races at Sonoma and Portland. Therefore, there are reasons to argue that SVG might be NASCAR's new road course king.

During a post-race media availability, a reporter asked Larson if he saw the urgency to shun the ongoing narrative about Gisbergen's driving prowess. The #5 speedster replied,

"I don't view it that way at all. I look at it as a great opportunity. We all recognize that he is the best on a road course. I appreciate the opportunity to learn in-race with him. Whether he is winning or not, I feel like he's helping us all get better which is pretty cool."

On the other hand, Ty Gibbs conceded that although he rarely watches what's going on in the news, Shane van Gisbergen is indeed fast on road courses and therefore deserves to be applauded.

"I don't really look at the news a whole lot. I don't really get to see it. He's (Shane van Gisbergen) very fast and deserves a lot of credit," the JGR star stated.

The NASCAR Cup Series duo will face Shane van Gisbergen again tomorrow in the Grant Park 165. The 75-lap race will air on NBC Sports and Peacock with live radio updates on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

"Just playing with me"- Kyle Larson reflects on racing alongside Shane van Gisbergen

The races that take place on NASCAR's ovals need the drivers to take left turns only. However, running on road courses is a bit tricky as the drivers need to make both left and right turns. Having an extensive background in running road course races, Shane van Gisbergen is a master of the craft, and Kyle Larson knows that.

Which is why, even though he knew that Gisbergen's car was faster than his and the latter was probably toying with him, Larson chose to stay patient and focus on learning from the three-time Bathurst 1000 winner.

Speaking of which, the 2021 Cup Series champion told NBC Sports,

"He (Shane van Gisbergen) was obviously way faster than me and I think he was having fun just playing with me. I wanted to use this race to learn and I wanted to take the first opportunity I got to battle him."

"That was big on my agenda and I feel like I learned quite a bit, battling him and creating different angles and all that," he added.

The Loop 110 was Kyle Larson's second and last Xfinity Series race of the season. His teammates William Byron and Chase Elliott will run the remainder of the races that the number 17 HendricksCar.com car is slated to run this season.