Between NASCAR Cup Series races, van Gisbergen has begun dabbling in the Cook Out Summer Shootout.
It’s a series of races at Charlotte Motor Speedway on a 400-metre oval that takes in part of the front stretch and the pit lane.
After watching NASCAR star Bubba Wallace in action a year ago, van Gisbergen and Kiwi compatriot Scott McLaughlin joined in on the action.
“We went last year and watched Bubba in a couple of races and it looked fun,” van Gisbergen said on NASCAR’s Stacking Pennies podcast.
“Bubba said it was fun and we’ve done two races now. It’s been epic. The cars are awesome, the team is awesome, we just turn up and have some fun.”
It has its benefits too, which van Gisbergen said can translate to the Cup Series despite the unique nature of the pint-sized ‘Legends’ cars.
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“It’s still good learning I guess. Short track, being in close combat, bit of left foot braking and balance for me,” he said.
“I think it’s been pretty good. Getting beaten by 12-year-olds and bump-and-run by 12-year-olds is pretty humbling.
“Keelan Harvick is not scared of using the bumper. I watched him take out Scotty last night.”
Part of that transition from Supercars to stock car racing has been that van Gisbergen has had to change one of his well-known driving skills — left-foot braking.
Van Gisbergen still right-foot brakes on road courses and street circuits but has transitioned on ovals.
“I’ve committed to fully doing it on all the ovals now,” he said of left-foot braking.
“It’s just learning about the crossover, how to balance from one to the other, not too much overlap.
“Those [Legends] cars are very sensitive to the brake pedal input. It’s a lot of fun but it’s going to be beneficial to me as well.
“That’s what you guys did when you were 12 – stuff I haven’t done. I’m 20 years behind learning.”
As far as van Gisbergen’s development goes, the Trackhouse Racing driver said his results relative to his teammates is the best form guide of all.
Through the first seven oval races, van Gisbergen scored just one top 20. In the most recent seven before Pocono, he cracked the top 20 on three occasions with a season-best 14th.
“There are weeks… like Texas or Homestead, when the car is average I take the blame obviously because I know on ovals I’m not quite there yet,” van Gisbergen explained.
“I was battling Ross [Chastain] for 30th, so I know our cars aren’t that good. I just try and compare as much as I can to Daniel and Ross.
“Most of those races when we’re in the 20s or 30s, they weren’t too far ahead, which was pretty cool.
“Ross has this amazing ability to get the restarts, get huge spots, and just get a result – a top five or a top 10 out of a 20-something-place car. He is exceptional.
“I’m just trying to get close to my teammates. Certainly, our overall car performance has really improved the last month or so.”
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