“Never seen anything like that before”: Shane van Gisbergen recalls watching Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kevin Harvick-owned CARS Tour race

After finishing P7 in the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200 Race at Darlington Raceway, Shane van Gisbergen shared his thoughts on competing in the CARS Tour. The New Zealand driver, who was spotted last night at the nearby Florence Speedway watching the zMAX CARS Tour, expressed his enthusiasm for racing in various series.

He mentioned his desire to race in anything and everything but also stated a challenge regarding the same.

"I'd love to race anything I can, but... At places we don't have anything about that at home. You go off and you're in the trees. It's wow! Never seen anything like that before."

In his only second race at Darlington, Shane van Gisbergen leaped from P26 up to P7, marking his fourth top-10 finish on an oval in his rookie season. The Kaulig Racing driver found himself in sixth place when a late-race caution was triggered by his teammate, AJ Allmendinger, hitting the wall through Turns 1-2, pushing the race into Overtime.

It took him just 25 laps in the final stage to break into the top 10. During his first race at Darlington Raceway in May 2024, van Gisbergen finished 15th, but he's determined to improve his performance on oval tracks.

Reflecting on his performance in a post-race interview, Shane van Gisbergen shared:

"I definitely like [returning to a track], you know, you turn up, you know where things are and get out on the track, you can just focus on the racecar straight away instead of learning the place. [I] certainly felt more comfortable second time here and especially in race, you learn how the race develops, learn where you want to be on restarts. The experience keeps growing for me."

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Shane van Gisbergen is thoroughly enjoying his switch from Supercars to NASCAR

Following an impressive NASCAR debut last year with a victory at the Chicago Street Race, Shane van Gisbergen moved to the USA with his girlfriend and became a mainstay in the NASCAR community.

The winner of three Supercars championships in 2016, 2021, and 2022, Shane van Gisbergen is currently leading the winning stat of the Xfinity Series with victories at Portland, Sonoma, and the Chicago Street Course.

During a break for the Paris Olympics, in a conversation with "Speedcafe," SVG shared his enthusiasm about his new racing chapter. He remarked:

"I love racing. I've been loving NASCAR, enjoying it every week. I feel like I belong here and I feel like it's been an amazing career change or refresher. I guess it's a change. It feels like a completely different sport compared to what I was doing. I think it was a good time to come and do it." [via Code Sports]

Currently positioned 12th in the Xfinity driver standings with 562 points, including three wins, five top-5s, and six top-10s this season, it will be intriguing to see how Van Gijsbergen handles the upcoming playoff races on oval tracks.