SPEEDWAY, Ind.— Shane Van Gisbergen entered Indianapolis Raceway Park with the right attitude—just have fun.
The 34-year-old V8 Supercars champ from Auckland, New Zealand, did just that Friday night at his coming out party on not only the 0.686 mile paved oval—but any oval in a stock car.
Van Gisbergen, who surprised NASCAR fans with a victory on the Chicago Road Course in July, enjoyed the 200-lap tutorial behind the wheel of the No. 41 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet before finishing 19th, one lap down.
“I knew I was going to like it, but yeah, the whole time I was laughing,” Van Gisbergen said. “Seeing people sliding and moving around. At first, I took off pretty slow. At the end, I was catching people, and watching them struggle was pretty fun, but then it was the opposite and the last thing.
“But yeah, I really enjoyed it. It was so different. Some were fast, some were slow. And a couple kept mucking up the gears. I haven’t raced an H-pattern for a long time, but yes, it’s just another part of it I have to learn. Probably gave the wrong adjustment at the end from my feedback, but every stint I learned something.”
Van Gisbergen had plenty of people to lean on for advice. Justin Marks was there throughout the process and had a lengthy debrief with his driver on pit wall after the event. His Niece teammate Carson Hocevar accompanied Van Gisbergen on the track walk prior to the race.
But his secret weapon was veteran spotter Stevie Reeves, who grew up across the street from IRP and started racing a midget on the track when he was 7 prior to graduating to the NASCAR Xfinity and IndyCar ranks. Reeves’ experience around IRP proved invaluable.
“It’s a lot more than (executing) two corners for me,” Van Gisbergen said. “Just constantly learning, but Stevie’s experience was huge. He could see what other people were doing, where they were fast and telling me what was happening, how people were catching me. Yeah, it’s so cool to have someone with that experience in my corner.”
Before the race, Reeves said Van Gisbergen’s greatest challenge was having to relearn everything in making the transition from running a V8 Supercar in Australia to driving in circles with a truck or stock car. Setting up passes is vastly different on an oval compared with road course competition.
After a 15-minute practice, then qualifying 28th, Reeves was impressed by “SVG” and the methodical way he negotiated traffic prior to finishing 19th.
“For his first time on an oval, he did a great job,” Reeves said. “IRP isn’t easy! You could see him progress every lap and was like a sponge with everything he was learning.
“I really enjoyed working with him. He’s an incredible talent, for sure.”
Reeves had to help Van Gisbergen navigate through the nuances of NASCAR, such as when the No. 41 truck earned the “free pass” and was able to return to the lead lap during the third caution. Reeves also guided the driver through multiple wrecks and helped keep the truck in one piece.
“I just stood on the brakes and went to where I couldn’t see smoke,” Van Gisbergen said. “Stevie was awesome telling me where to go.
“I’ve never had a spotter before until before Chicago. So, yeah, hearing that and so many cars around me and then two-wide in front, I didn’t really know what to do, and there was probably three laps where we were three-wide and I was up the top just trying to be skinny. So it was a lot of fun.”
Van Gisbergen watched last year’s truck race at IRP to get a sense of what to anticipate from the competition. The experience was much different from what he experienced.
“It was more respectful than I thought. I watched last year’s race and thought, ‘What have I got myself into?’ But everyone I raced was good,” Van Gisbergen said. “When it was three-wide for a couple of laps, it was crazy, but I was laughing a fair bit. Had some mates on the infield. I was waving at them and, yeah, it was a blast.”
The biggest difference from his day job?
“Normally I’m like shortest way around every corner and always on the apex,” Van Gisbergen said. “So running up by a wall and moving around…I learned in Turn 3 and 4 was the inside, then that went away.
“It’s just so different to what I’ve done. But stoked, a little gutted. We went down the lap with 10 to go or something. It would have been awesome to finish on the lead lap.”
This weekend, Van Gisbergen returns with Trackhouse Racing to the NASCAR Cup Series at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Grand Prix Course—another new experience for the affable driver.
What are his expectations?
“I have no idea,” Van Gisbergen said. “Just go and have fun. I’ve got an awesome car and awesome team around me. I haven’t seen the track yet. I haven’t been there yet. So we’ll find out.”
Follow Lee Spencer on Twitter @CandiceSpencer or email her at: [email protected].
