The Xfinity rookie spent two days at Sonoma driving the Chevrolet ‘Wheel Force’ car, before he returns to the circuit to steer the #97 Kaulig Racing entry on the weekend of Saturday, June 8.

Wheel Force cars are so named because they are test mules which do indeed measure wheel forces in real time, through sensors on each corner.

They are a means of providing manufacturers/teams more data in the development of their package, and were used for development of the Next Gen car which debuted in the Cup Series in 2022.

“Thanks to @teamchevy for having me out in Sonoma the last couple of days to drive the wheel force car for them,” wrote van Gisbergen on social media.

“Learnt a lot and what an awesome track!”

With testing severely limited, the laps are likely to be handy for van Gisbergen, who is new to every circuit at which he has raced so far this year, except for his pre-season ARCA test at Daytona.

That includes the Circuit of The Americas given Supercars used a shorter layout in 2013, although that did not stop the three-time Supercars champion from vying for victory at the Texas venue.

He led into Overtime and took the chequered flag in second place after run-ins with Austin Hill, before a track limits penalty dumped him to 27th in the official classification.

After a week off, the Xfinity Series resumes this weekend at Darlington, followed by Charlotte and two road courses in a row, namely Portland and Sonoma.

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