In this week’s Pirtek Poll, Speedcafe asked you to rate Shane van Gisbergen’s Indianapolis NASCAR weekend.
The three-time Supercars champion made his oval debut as part of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at 0.686-mile (1.104-km) Indianapolis Raceway Park in the Trucks Series.
Driving for Niece Motorsports, he ran as high as 15th on merit, and finished 19th at the chequered flag.
“It’s tough,” van Gisbergen said. “It’s just all instinctive and reacting to it.”
“First lap, I didn’t get the most out of it and expected a bit much. I had a big slide out of Turn 2 onto the back straight — just getting used to it.
“Then, the second lap, I didn’t know what to expect. Had an awesome time getting better.
Attention then turned to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway where van Gisbergen made his second NASCAR Cup Series start.
After qualifying eighth, the Kiwi was unable to repeat his winning performance from Chicago, but still finished a highly credible 10th in a what was an uneventful Cup Series race.
“Although top 10 is awesome, your expectations are high because of the last race, so I just have to realise that a top 10 still pretty good,” van Gisbergen said.
The Red Bull Ampol Racing Supercars driver also admitted that he was “a little gutted” not to finish on the lead lap in the Trucks.
Your Pirtek Poll responses are far more positive.
More than 70 percent of respondents rated van Gisbergen’s weekend highly, with 42.96 percent of the vote choosing ‘Very Good’ and 30.2 percent of the vote viewing SVG’s drive as ‘Excellent’.
Since his Indianapolis drive, it has been confirmed that van Gisbergen will leave Triple Eight Race Engineering at the end of this season, with Erebus Motorsport’s Will Brown replacing in 2024.
As for van Gisbergen’s 2024 plans, the New Zealander is yet to announce details of his move after confirming his desire to race in NASCAR.
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