"What the f***", "Footlong sub or hot dog"- Fans react to Shane van Gisbergen's unusual confusion during the Talladega Cup race 

The NASCAR fanbase was left divided after witnessing Kaulig Racing driver Shane van Gisbergen's bizarre turmoil amid his 188-lap run at the Talladega Superspeedway.

The GEICO 500 marked the tenth Cup Series weekend and the 110th race hosted by the 2.66-mile Alabama-based oval. 23XI Racing driver Tyler Reddick swept the win after benefitting from the final lap spin by the then-pack leader, Michael McDowell, whereas, his teammate, Bubba Wallace succumbed to a Lap 157 crash, which saw Denny Hamlin and Erik Jones' day end with a DNF as well.

Shane van Gisbergen stood the 17th fastest in the qualifying run, with the best lap time of 53.226 seconds, and was shy of 0.617 seconds against the polesitter, McDowell. However, while taming his #97 Chevy on the high-banking circuit, the New Zealander got confused with the imperial system of measurements as his spotter alerted of the charging Ryan Blaney in his #12 Ford.

Van Gisbergen expressed his dilemma, saying (via NASCAR on X):

"Keep talking in car lengths and how far off. I got no idea what a foot is."

Van Gisbergen's unexpected confusion quickly gained traction in the community and fans let loose their opinions on the incident. One sim racing buff took a jibe at the Kaulig Racing driver and welcomed him to his world, writing:

"Welcome to my world when I'm trying to buy bolts for my sim rig, SVG. What the f*** is a millimeter? 🤣"

One fan underlined a hysterical method of measuring "foot," commenting:

"Amazing. @shanevg97 haven't ordered a footlong sub or hot dog yet? It's the best way to learn the measurement."

Another fan posted a hilarious GIF, taunting van Gisbergen's dilemma:

One fan couldn't control their laughter but seldom lauded the driver's honesty, adding:

"I love his honesty 😂"

A fan brought 7x Cup Series champ Jimmie Johnson into the hilarious exchange and expressed:

"Jimmie be like what’s a kilometre? For SVG, it’s the other way around."

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Shane van Gisbergen uncovers the "screwed up top lane" before the final lap crash at Talladega

The 500-mile race was going Front Row Motorsports driver Michael McDowell's way, but to defend against Brad Keselowski, the former cut the track from the top corner to the bottom, and a miscalculated motion veered his #34 Ford off the contention.

The white flag crash collected several cars, but Tyler Reddick benefitted as he snuck his #45 Toyota into the minuscule gap between McDowell and Keselowki's ride, registering his first race win on the 2024 calendar.

Shortly after the turnaround of events at Talladega, Van Gisbergen, among several other drivers talked to Frontstretch reporters and shared his thought process on the final lap incident. He said:

"I didn't really understand how to keep Chase [Elliott] right on me to keep the speed up and then someone jumps in front of us and screwed the top lane."