Schlicker has been van Gisbergen’s right-hand man since the start of the season but has had to leave the team due to family reasons.

It means there has been a reshuffle inside Kaulig Racing with Kevin Walter pulled across to the #97 garage.

Walter, who was Josh Williams’ crew chief on the #11 entry, has been replaced by Eddie Pardue.

It comes at an awkward time for van Gisbergen as the playoffs draw closer. Just six races remain in the regular season before the elimination series begins.

“It’s huge,” van Gisbergen told Speedcafe.

“You never want to lose your main guy. And Bruce was awesome, awesome with being patient with me and teaching me about the cars and what I should be feeling.

“He was a huge asset, not only to our #97 car but also to the whole team. It’s a shame, but we understand family comes first with this stuff and he’s had to step away from the scene.

“Now I’ve got Kevin Walter, who’s a rookie crew chief,” he added.

“The way Kaulig operates is kind of like a Supercars team where everything’s open and the engineers all work together, unlike a few of the NASCAR (Cup Series) teams.

“It’s been good so far, and we’ll find out this weekend when we go racing,” he chuckled.

“It’s obviously not ideal but we’ve got tracks we’ve been to and we’ve got drafting tracks coming up, which should be an easier transition for a crew chief than a normal race.”

As it stands, van Gisbergen is locked into the first round of the playoffs thanks to his win at Portland.

Despite this year being his first in the series, the Kiwi has the most wins of any driver having also won at Sonoma and Chicago.

However, van Gisbergen is yet to break his oval duck. His best finish to date was third in a wild fuel-saving race at Atlanta. He was fourth at the most recent Indianapolis outing.

It stands to reason that van Gisbergen could make it to the round of eight with high hopes for the Charlotte roval.

“People have started talking big about that stuff,” said van Gisbergen of the playoffs.

“I’ve never really been into that. I’ve just got to keep getting better and anything can happen.

“We’ve got the ingredients there, I feel like our cars have got better on the ovals too. I’m getting better on the ovals.

“Then, of course, there’s a road course in the playoffs. Who knows what can happen?

“If we can put some good races together, there’s no reason why we can’t get to that final four at Phoenix.

“We’ve got to get better, we’ve got to get a bit of luck, and we’ve got to get it all right.

“This kind of racing, nothing is for certain. There’s been a few times in the playoffs where the guy who’s won the regular season championships out in the first round.

“Nothing’s for certain in the sport.”

Van Gisbergen will race at Michigan Speedway on Sunday at 5:30am AEST.

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