It’s not easy breaking into NASCAR, especially at the highest level. The stock car racing series features some of the best drivers in the world, who go wheel-to-wheel every week and battle for supremacy around a variety of different track types. For racers switching from another motorsports discipline, such as IndyCar or Formula 1, the transition is not as smooth as it once was. Tony Stewart won championships in NASCAR and IndyCar, but this was decades before the Next-Gen car shook up the sport. The Next-Gen car takes time to get used to, and along with that, adapting to racing in an oval is something that requires practice.

It’s a process Shane van Gisbergen knows all too well. The Kiwi, who made a name for himself in the Supercars Championship, debuted in stock car racing in 2023 as a road course ringer. Despite making the best possible start in the Cup Series, the veteran driver isn’t a fan of NASCAR’s approval process, claiming it’s “difficult” for drivers to hit the ground running.

Shane van Gisbergen wouldn’t want to be in Katherine Legge’s shoes

Shane van Gisbergen knows what it takes. The Kiwi secured a win on his debut at the Chicago Street Course, marking himself as one of the greatest road course ringers of all time. However, the Auckland native is the exception, not the norm, for drivers from other disciplines attempting to break into the stock car racing series. Recently, Helio Castroneves and Katherine Legge participated in one-off races as well, but neither driver enjoyed much luck, despite their vast experience in IndyCar and other motorsports formats. The crux of their issue? A lack of practice in a stock car and on oval tracks.

Speaking about Legge’s and Castroneves’ experiences, Shane van Gisbergen reflected on his debut and how he did 40 laps around the Charlotte Roval to prove he can drive a racecar. The 3x Supercars champion told Frontstretch’s Bryan Nolen, “For a street circuit or road course, I think it’s different. But yeah, for an oval, I would never have wanted to do what Katherine or other people have done and jump straight in. It’s so difficult and you have no practice.”

Despite having a full-time Cup Series seat, SVG feels that even he needs more practice to tackle the rigors of oval racing in the Next-Gen car. He also pointed out how much Helio Castroneves struggled at the Daytona 500 during his debut. Castroneves didn’t even finish the race, as he got wrecked out on a Lap 71 restart. SVG added, “Like, even now, I wish I had more practice so I feel for her [Legge] in that situation because it’s always going to be difficult. So yeah, it probably needs to be at least some testing for rookies or something to help people come in and have a crack. It’s hard, like you saw what Helio [Castroneves] went through at Daytona. He did ARCA and everything, but man, it’s so difficult.”

It seems like NASCAR’s approval process has received plenty of flak recently. The idea of having a ‘celebrity driver’ competing against regular Cup Series competitors came about to add more entertainment to the races. However, from a pure racing standpoint, acclimatizing to the highest level is easier said than done, a lesson Katherine Legge learned the hard way after she was forced to retire early at Phoenix Raceway and was under the spotlight for raining misery onto another driver’s promising race.

Daniel Suarez collided with her at ‘The Desert Oddball,’ and this ended his race. He criticized the sanctioning body afterward, saying, “They cannot allow somebody with no experience to run in the Cup Series, plain and simple.” The Trackhouse Racing star wasn’t the only one to think this way, either. Two-time Cup Series champion Kyle Busch criticized NASCAR’s approval process as well, going on to say, “It shouldn’t be suit and ties making the decisions always.”

The ongoing debate is bigger than just a power struggle between racers and the hierarchy, as on-track incidents by inexperienced races can have disastrous consequences, which is why ‘Rowdy’ wants drivers to have a say in who can compete against them. While NASCAR has gone above and beyond to prioritize drivers’ safety in recent years, it remains to be seen if it will listen to the ongoing criticism being levied against it and make changes to the rulebook.

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SVG is back in familiar colors at Vegas

History is repeating itself in Las Vegas. Kiwi sensation Shane van Gisbergen will don colors from his Supercar Championship days when NASCAR makes its way to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the upcoming Pennzoil 400. It will only be the second time the 35-year-old will compete in the 1.5-mile quad oval, having finished 29th at the South Point 400 in last year’s race. After being reunited with Red Bull after a 14-year-gap, SVG will hope Lady Luck remains on his side at, ‘the Diamond in the Desert.’

Sharing his thoughts ahead of the reunion, Van Gisbergen said, “It means a lot to have Red Bull on my Chevrolet. They were great supporters of mine back home in Supercars, so it’s pretty cool to have their backing in my NASCAR career. I have enjoyed a lot of new experiences and met a lot of new people since coming to America and I’m excited for Red Bull to join me on this journey. Hoping for many great results in my No. 88 Red Bull Chevrolet.”

Shane van Gisbergen has enjoyed tremendous success with Red Bull as his sponsor. The Kiwi won three Supercars Championship titles, along with several Bathurst 1000 wins in the iconic colors, and he will hope to rediscover that form once again to get his first Cup Series win as a full-time Trackhouse Racing driver. While the Kiwi isn’t known for his prowess on oval tracks, winning in Vegas would be quite a statement to the rest of the NASCAR community about just how much he has evolved as a driver since 2023. What are your expectations from SVG at Las Vegas? Let us know in the comments!