Last June, van Gisbergen revealed his love for Supercars was starting to wane. In his mind, Gen3 hadn’t lived up to the lofty expectations touted by its architects and a 12-weekend race program did little to whet his insatiable appetite to race at every opportunity.
A win on his NASCAR Cup Series debut set the wheels in motion for him to move to the United States – and as they say, the rest is history.
So has racing every weekend lived up to the hype? Speedcafe spoke to van Gisbergen while the NASCAR Xfinity Series paused for the Olympic Games to see what life is like Stateside.
“Having this three-week break, I wondered how I was going to feel mid-year — whether I’d be burnt out or not enjoying it or sick of racing. One week we went away on holiday and then I was ready to go again, so I’ve been pretty bored the last couple of weeks,” said van Gisbergen.
“I love racing. I’ve been loving NASCAR, enjoying it every week. I feel like I belong here and I feel like it’s been an amazing career change or refresher. I guess it’s a change. It feels like a completely different sport compared to what I was doing. I think it was a good time to come and do it.”
Joined by his partner Jess and their dog Ronald, the trio moved to the United States at the start of the year. Van Gisbergen said it was easy for him to make the move initially, but the reality of living on the other side of the world hit home when his mum died.
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“Moving away from my friends and family was definitely harder. Dad loved to come to a lot of races but then unfortunately my mum got very sick as soon as I got over,” said van Gisbergen.
“That was quite difficult and then with not having many weeks off I couldn’t get back often to see her. It’s been a pretty tough year personally, for that kind of stuff before she passed. Racing-wise, that’s been racing every week. That kept me going alright with that stuff.
“Dad was able to come over to some races, Nashville and Chicago with my sister. It was awesome to have them over. That was great to spend time with them and show them what it’s like over here.
“I found the transition pretty easy racing-wise. I love racing and I love the driving side of it. As everyone knows, I don’t enjoy the media side of things, so this kind of place is perfect for me.”
Van Gisbergen admits that he’s still in something of a honeymoon phase but everything he hoped for so far has come true. In the 24 weeks since the Xfinity Series season began, van Gisbergen has raced on 21 of them.
“It’s awesome and it’s tough,” said van Gisbergen of racing almost every weekend.
“It’s a grind. There are a lot of lot of young people in the sport and there are a lot of divorced older guys. It’s a brutal sport for the travelling crew.
“It’s a real lifestyle choice. You race every week. The guys at the shop every week as well. It’s tough on teams and families here, but that’s how it is and people love it.
“It’ll be interesting to see what I’m like in 10 years. At the moment, I love it. I’m having so much fun.”
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Racing every weekend has its benefits mentally too. Opportunities for redemption are only a matter of days away not weeks as was the case in Supercars.
“It’s really important to keep the same sort of attitude every week and be level-headed,” he said.
“When I’ve had a good weekend, you’ve kind got to keep yourself grounded. And then when you have a bad one, you’ve got to do the same. You’ve got to pick yourself up and be ready and just forget about it because there’s another race the next week. Every week, you’ve got to keep that motivation, keep the same focus. It’s been really cool.
“I used to be just off it all the time if I had a bad Supercars weekend or I made a mistake because you’ve got to sit around for freaking three weeks to do a better job next time. It’s pretty cool racing every weekend, you don’t mull over anything. You just go ‘Oh well’ and get on with it.”
Van Gisbergen continues his season at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday in the Xfinity Series and the Cup Series on Sunday. Both races are scheduled to start at 9:30am AEST.
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