“Not the Fans” Claims Shane van Gisbergen as He Comes Clean on Petty Intentions Behind the Sonoma Smoke Show

The Kiwi, Shane van Gisbergen, is reigning in the popularity charts of the NASCAR Xfinity Series at the moment. He earned his way into NASCAR via his jaw-dropping debut Cup win at Chicago last year. Not even a year has passed, and SVG made history again by becoming the first foreign driver to win back-to-back trophies.

Yet the latest win at Sonoma had all the drama and entertainment written all over it. Shane van Gisbergen went into retribution mode after his RCR rival knocked out his COTA chances, and the former rubbed it in his face post-race as well.

Shane van Gisbergen gleefully recalls post-race drama

After securing his first-ever NASCAR Xfinity win in Portland, SVG was overjoyed. But it was just the beginning, as he followed it up with a consecutive victory at Sonoma Raceway. Leading 32 laps, van Gisbergen encountered his old rival from COTA, Austin Hill. They engaged in a sideway battle on the final lap, and Shane van Gisbergen aggressively shook off Hill’s car and cruised to the win.

Although it looked controversial, drivers and fans loved van Gisbergen’s determined attitude. Even NASCAR veteran Kyle Petty sanctioned the move. The Kiwi driver attended a Stacking Pennies podcast recently, and host Corey Lajoie frankly stated his opinion. He said, “I think I speak for everybody, that we absolutely loved the drift lap.” But that was not the end of it.

After crossing the start/finish line, Shane van Gisbergen emitted thick plumes of smoke on his victory lap. His target audience changed after his rival vented his anger via a finger show. SVG explained on the podcast, “Well, anyway. So I was doing the skid at Turn 1, ’cause that’s where all the fans are on the Hill at 2. And then he goes past pulling the finger…I’m like this is for you now, not the fans. I just followed him the whole lap.”

This marked a dramatic response to what Austin Hill did to van Gisbergen at the Circuit of the Americas. Hill pushed him off balance initially, axing SVG’s early-race glory. But the Kiwi roared back and locked horns with Hill in the final laps before Kyle Larson outsmarted both. Shane van Gisbergen admitted as much that the Sonoma burnout was a response to that. “But you know, he knows what COTA was.”

As van Gisbergen paves a glittering path in his NASCAR career, he is gaining massive popularity for his actions. Besides the retributive burnout, SVG’s signature victory move is also set to become a tradition.

SVG now has a NASCAR trademark

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The Australian V8 Supercars champion knows the sweet taste of victory. With a total of 80 race wins in the Supercars championship, Shane van Gisbergen also holds three Bathurst victories. Hence, the veteran motorsports athlete is smoothly adapting to the NASCAR landscape. And SVG’s team, Trackhouse Racing, wants it to look grand. In a post-race conference, Shane van Gisbergen said, “They said, at the start of the year, I’ve got to come up with something for a win.”

Van Gisbergen came up with something incredibly cool. Like he did in Portland, Shane van Gisbergen kicked a signed rugby ball into the crowd. He further explained why he chose this signature move. “I grew up with rugby, I love the sport, love the All Blacks, I always support my country, so to have a rugby ball with New Zealand on it, that means a lot to me.” He added, “I don’t know how often I’m going to kick them into the crowd, but hopefully we need to keep getting some rugby balls. It’s pretty cool.”

Evidently, our Kiwi star driver is on the way to a successful NASCAR Xfinity career, which may transition to Cup very soon.