During the GEICO 500 at Talladega, Shane van Gisbergen kept hearing his spotter tell him how many feet away other NASCAR drivers were from him. The only problem is, the New Zealander doesn’t have any idea how long a foot is, having grown up with the metric system.
Instead, SVG had his spotter explain things in terms of the car. A half-car, car length, two cars away, etc. However, some radio chatter of Van Gisbergen telling his team he had no clue what a foot was, made for some funny memes online.
Shane van Gisbergen came to NASCAR to learn. Good thing his Kaulig Racing teammate Josh Williams is happy to help. Williams purchased some conversion rulers for the three-time Supercars champion. Just a classic wooden ruler with centimeters and inches on opposing sides.
Imagine how good the Kiwi will be on the track now that he knows how much a foot is.
SVG had some good runs at Talladega. Superspeedway racing can be really difficult. For one reason or another, call it car control or whatever, road course racers make for solid superspeedway races more times than not.
Michael McDowell, AJ Allmendinger, Austin Cindric, and others are skilled on both types of tracks. After running out of fuel in the Xfinity Series race, SVG was P22. However, he ran up front and had a chance at a top-5 prior to running out of gas.
In the Cup Series race, SVG was P28. Had that third lane not been put to a stop, he would have had a shot at a top-10 finish, but Ty Gibbs put a stop to that. Still, he’s been impressive early in the year.
Shane van Gisbergen learning every week
This season, Shane van Gisbergen is focused on learning as much as possible and trying to make the jump in 2025 to the Cup Series. He has raced at Daytona and Talladega now. He’s really good at keeping a clean car, knowing when to back off in the draft and when to push for position.
Of course, we know that the Kiwi is great on road courses. He will be a threat to win those races every time he gets on the course. Right now, in the Xfinity Series, SVG has a top-10 and top-5 finish. He has led 21 laps total and only has one DNF.
Van Gisbergen is fighting for the Rookie of the Year award. However, Jesse Love is going to be a tough one to beat. Love just won his first race of the season and he has a little more experience on ovals. But it’s all about learning for SVG and Love, ultimately.
Right now, Shane van Gisbergen is 14th in points in the Xfinity Series. He will have a lot more time to get wins. The series goes to Portland, Sonoma, Chicago, Watkins Glen, and the Charlotte Roval later this season.
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