The Trackhouse Racing driver will start Monday’s Brickyard 400 from 11th after a standout performance in qualifying.
Van Gisbergen has raced twice before at Indianapolis — once on its road course configuration in 2023 in the Cup Series and again in 2024 on the oval in the Xfinity Series.
This weekend marks his first Cup Series race on the famous yard of bricks in its oval configuration.
The Brickyard 400 pales in comparison to the Indianapolis 500, but even then van Gisbergen said he believes the two races don’t carry as much grandeur in his home of New Zealand.
Speaking with media after qualifying, van Gisbergen gave a blunt and somewhat amusing assessment of the famous venue.
“Obviously I’ve watched the [Indianapolis] 500 with Scott Dixon every year, but it’s not a huge thing in our part of the world,” he said.
“I don’t get caught up in that shit,” van Gisbergen said when asked for his thoughts on the circuit’s history.
“Obviously I respect it and how big of a race it is, but it’s not a big race in my part of the world to me. It’s obviously really cool, it’s Indianapolis, but… it’s four left-handers.”
Van Gisbergen finished fourth in the Xfinity Series a year ago but said there’s little form that will translate from that race to the Cup Series come Monday.
“It was like a full drafting race last year with the restrictors and how slow the cars were, but the racing was awesome,” van Gisbergen explained.
“Tomorrow’s race will be very difficult to pass with the one line, but I think it will be a very different dynamic. Hopefully it’s a good race.”
Van Gisbergen offered another positive response to his recent form.
He hailed his team’s upward trajectory in recent weeks, which included back-to-back wins on the streets of Chicago and the hillside Sonoma circuit.
“The last month or two we’ve really ramped up,” said the 36-year-old.
“It’s been an amazing couple of wins, three wins now, and our oval side is getting better too.
“We’re just building confidence, getting better every week, and I feel like we’re learning something every week and enjoying ourselves too.”
The NASCAR Cup Series Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway gets underway at 4am AEST on Monday, July 28 with coverage live on Fox Sports and Kayo Sports.
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