Last July, van Gisbergen became the first driver in more than 60 years to win a Cup race in his debut when he took victory in the inaugural Chicago Street Race driving for Trackhouse Racing.
The victory served as the instigator for the three-time Supercars champion to move to NASCAR competition this season, where he will compete full-time in the Xfinity Series and run at least seven Cup races.
But his 40-race 2024 NASCAR journey started early with his participation in this weekend’s ARCA Menards Series test at Daytona International Speedway, a track on which van Gisbergen has plenty of experience but none on the 2.5-mile oval layout.
Ven Gisbergen is running the season-opening ARCA race at Daytona with Pinnacle Racing Group as part of his preparation for the kickoff to his NASCAR schedule. He spent most of the last day-and-half testing, doing single-car runs and a handful of laps running single-file with other cars.
He has previously admitted ovals – and particularly superspeedway racing – was his big “question mark” entering his NASCAR transition and that opinion hasn’t changed.
“I still don’t have a good answer. I hope I’ll know more in a few weeks. I’ve really only done some single-file stuff (in the test), not two or three-wide. I’ve just been at the back of the train,” van Gisbergen said Saturday after PRG ended its test.
“So, I haven’t really had too much of a feel, but it was still cool to get out there and feel what the car is like and how it moves around and how they are so sensitive to small changes. It’s pretty interesting like when they are tuning a roof flap, or the fenders and it picks up a tenth (of a second) or something like that.
“The driver doesn’t have a lot of input, but you can still feel the changes. I’ve never done anything like this before. I’m a full rookie.”
Van Gisbergen said he found preparation for his first Daytona oval laps to be very technical and focused a good deal on safety.
“I just made sure I was comfortable in the car, switched up from a HANS device from Simpson, which is what I had been running. Just little things to get comfortable to know what I’m in for. Like using a headrest – that’s not something we normally do,” he said.
“Just lots of little things that I’ve never really thought about. Just being safe, being belted in fully. There’s not much movement in the car but also being relaxed while you’re in the corner.
“That’s one thing that took me by surprise and what you don’t feel in the sim, is when you’re in the corner, the G (forces) pushing you onto the track. It’s a cool feeling. Obviously, a sim can’t prepare you for that.”
Van Gisbergen is no rookie when it comes to success in other forms of motorsport.
Since 2007, the 34-year-old Kiwi has made over 500 starts in Supercars and amassed 81 wins, including series titles in 2016, 2021 and 2022. He's also won three of the last four Bathurst 100s, and was the 2015 GTD class runner-up in the Rolex 24 at Daytona. And that's only scratching the surface of his racing resume.
Van Gisbergen has five previous starts in the Daytona 24 Hours but his experience on track in a stock car the last two days provided a fresh look at the iconic track.
“I’ve never entered the oval at speed – normally we’re accelerating into it. Once you’re into the corner, it’s pretty similar but coming into the corner, the first couple times I felt like I had no idea what’s going to happen,” he said.
“It’s kind of a cool feeling but once you’re in the banking, it’s pretty solid. Then when you’re behind cars and going 15 to 20 mph, it’s cool, too.”
Van Gisbergen said his experience at the Chicago Street Race – on the track and off – helped convince him a move to NASCAR and the United States was the right call.
The “enjoyment factor” as he called it proved quite tempting.
“Just the way the Americans go racing is just really relaxed and fun. In Australia, it’s kind of changed a lot in the last couple years. I came here and had a ball,” he said. “I love driving the car. I loved being outside the car and interacting with people.
“It’s just completely different here, which they’ve kind of lost in Australia. Change is sometimes good. I’ve done Supercars now for 16, 17 years of my life, ever since I was 18, so change is good and challenging myself.
“I’m starting to get outside my comfort zone.”
Not thinking about expectations
And even with a Cup win already in hand, van Gisbergen has no illusions about the difficulty that lies ahead in his NASCAR career.
“I never race with expectations. I just prepare well, get better every week and keep learning,” he said. “It’s all in the preparation and being ready for the races and the results will come. There will be sure be growing pains and accidents but as long as I learn and keep getting better then naturally I’ll progress.
“I think the road courses I’ll be fine and more comfortable. There’s obviously some really good drivers in Xfinity. But it’s the oval stuff where I just have no idea where I’ll be. I just have an open mind.
“But you just don’t know until you get out on the track and feel it.”
