?A Big Shock to Me? ? Dale Earnhardt Jr Concerned for Australian Supercar Icon’s Lack of Experience

Just a month ago, a Supercars champion had shown a record-breaking performance in Chicago, that nobody witnessed in the last 60 years. Naturally, there will be team owners gathering in front of his porch. The long-awaited answer to the big question has finally arrived, bringing excitement to all. Shane Van Gisbergen has confirmed that 2024 will mark his inception as a full-time driver in NASCAR.

While this is good for the New Zealand driver and his fans in Australia, some NASCAR vets believe that he will struggle. Others think he will do quite well considering his experience with handling fast cars. Few others, including Dale Earnhardt Jr, believe that he has the potential to achieve great success in NASCAR. However, his limited experience may pose a challenge.

Dale Earnhardt Jr is concerned about the risk-to-reward ratio

In the latest episode of his podcast, Dale Jr explained how different it is to race on the ovals and to race on a road course. Although the latter needs excellent skills and superb reflexes, the former needs more control and refined judgment. And this is where the problem lies.

“I think this is a big shock to me,” said the NASCAR Hall of Famer, while talking about SVG’s decision. He had discussions with other Motorsports experts and found out what they thought about him joining NASCAR. It seems the preconceived notion was that the Supercar sensation had surprised everyone on his debut run and putting him behind the wheels of a good car and in a strong team would only add on to his road course victory. However, Dale Junior highlighted the catch to this.

He said, “But, he’s got little to no experience on ovals, right? He’ll struggle at every other racetrack we go to. So in my mind… there’s no way that a team would hire him into the highest level to run a full season of NASCAR and take that gamble at all of the ovals for the reward that would be waiting at all of the road courses.”

But that being said, Junior is not pessimistic about the future of Shane Van Gisbergen in NASCAR. He seemed to have a crystal clear idea of what Gisbergen would do after his upcoming race at Indianapolis on August 13. The former NASCAR driver explained how SVG could make his hands more adept at handling the steering wheel of a stock car.

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Difficult but definitely not impossible, says Junior

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There is an age-old saying that goes, “Practice makes a man perfect”. Dale Junior thinks it is no different for the Kiwi car pilot. While talking to co-host Mike Davis, Junior admitted that the speedster is no novice and understands his game very well.

He said “I also think that he spends time racing Xfinity. Maybe even a truck.”

NASCAR Xfinity Series features an array of new faces like Sam Mayer and Matt Mills, who are comparatively fresh to the game and are polishing their skills as a driver to compete in the top-tier races. Junior thinks SVG would do the same to get the experience that is needed to hone his control over an oval track.

“Wouldn’t be surprised to see him in an Xfinity ride multiple times throughout the year and not at road courses… To get that oval track experience,” he added.

What are the chances of SVG dominating NASCAR’s oval tracks? One would ask. The former Chevy star explained how close NASCAR stock cars are to Australian V8 Supercars. He said, “NASCAR and Steven O’Donnell will tell you they built the NASCAR next-gen cars based off of the V8 supercar.”?

He gave the example of Marcos Ambrose, who came over to NASCAR in 2006 from driving Australian Supercars to win 6 trophies at Watkins Glen International. “His adaptation to the ovals will be easier due to that,” he said with immense confidence.

Do you think that Shane Van Gisbergen’s performance at the Chicago Street Circuit was just a fluke? Or do you think that with a little practice, he can make it big in NASCAR’s oval race courses? We would love to hear your thoughts.

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