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Van Gisbergen told media this morning (AEDT) that “the programme sort of escalated from 10 races to now a full season” and was still planning on “maybe 20 races” when he opened up on his NASCAR ambitions to Speedcafe in October, after Trackhouse had indicated in September that he would jump around between the top three national series as well as Late Models.
However, competing in every Xfinity race means that the New Zealander will experience almost every track which the Cup Series visits, and means he has the opportunity to vie for a championship under the ball sport-inspired Playoff system.
“Experience,” he replied when asked by Speedcafe as to how and why his particular programme came to be.
“How it worked out with Kaulig is great.
“They ended up having a full-time seat there and I think that’s just the best way; getting to go to every circuit and then hopefully getting to experience the pressure of the Playoffs as well.
“That’s what my goal is, to make the Playoffs and understand that pressure, be involved in it.
“But, the second half of the year is where I hope to really get better at the ovals, when we go back to tracks that we’ve been to and I understand the flow of the race, how the track drives, and hopefully up to speed with my car then.
“I think it’s the perfect way to do it; jump in, full season straight away, and then the way the Cup Series worked, with the schedule we’ve got, it’s a race every month-and-a-half.
“So, it’s a load spread out for the Trackhouse guys to prepare the cars, and take part in a variety of races.
“I get to do some Talladega, some road courses, and then some intermediate stuff as well.
“Charlotte weekend is going to be pretty tough, doing 300 miles on Saturday, 600 On Sunday.
“But it’s all about experience; trying to do as many laps as I can to get the miles up.”
The driver who sensationally won on his NASCAR debut in this year’s Cup Series race at Chicago will be on double duty on the streets of the Windy City next July.
The same applies for his other six Cup races, which not only two more road courses, but also both Talladega races, Charlotte, and Las Vegas, a schedule which he says was carefully crafted by Trackhouse.
“It’s more of what Trackhouse sort of thought would prepare me best; all the types of racing that NASCAR goes to,” explained van Gisbergen.
“So, obviously the road courses, the Talladega superspeedways, and then the intermediate type tracks.
“It’s just getting that experience and understanding how that the cars race on all types of tracks, and then, as I said, the gaps between the races are evenly spread out for the build of the car.”
The Xfinity Series season opens at Daytona on the weekend of Saturday, February 17.
