It’s not always that you see foreign faces in NASCAR, that too one with so much promise.​​ Shane van Gisbergen, a New Zealand native and a three-time Supercars champion is making a place for himself in NASCAR. His debut etched itself in history books. He captured the victory in the inaugural Chicago Street race and became the first driver in more than 60 years to win a cup race in his debut—talk about making an entrance!

That win marked a milestone in his NASCAR journey, and he is now running a full Xfinity schedule and partial cup schedule. However, this rookie has a long way to go, but thankfully he has a previous champion as a mentor!

Shane van Gisbergen’s struggles, surprises and support

The 34-year-old Kiwi’s debut season has had some stellar moments. First, he had a third-place finish at Atlanta and sixth at Phoenix and right now he currently remains in the playoff hunt sitting 15th in the Xfinity series standings. While this is stellar for a rookie, he expects more, but there are certain struggles he needs to overcome first.

In a recent interview, reporters asked him about his preparation. SVG was extremely open and admitted that he has been facing challenges. However, being a rookie, that is perfectly normal. He emphasized that he struggled with the skew of the cars. He said, “That’s 30 years of racing for me telling me that the car’s spinning out, my bum’s telling me that I’m about to crash and I’m facing the infield but the side force of the car holds it in so I’m still learning that the car’s not sliding and the hand of God, as Ross is telling me, is stopping me from spinning out, it’s one of the craziest things to just ignore.

He also mentioned that he is pretty conservative when it comes to racing and it takes him a while to run well. So he hopes to work on that and get quick from the get-go. For any racer, knowing their weakness is crucial and denial has never worked, so knowing what he needs to work on is remarkable. 

Moreover, he has a strong support system, and backing him is another Supercars champion himself, Marcus Ambrose. In fact, according to SVG, he is not just a mentor to him but a friend. He very casually mentioned how he speaks to Ambrose most Thursdays and how he guides him.

Right now, Shane van Gisbergen is looking forward to the Darlington race, where he is doing something very special for his friend and mentor. But in the long run, he has etched a far-fetched goal, one he hopes to fulfill.

SVG has one goal—to make it to the Cup series in 2025

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Ahead of the Darlington race, he opened up about his season and what his plans are moving forward. He said, “I haven’t really looked at the points too much but yeah, obviously you want to make the playoffs, and road courses are my best shot with that but being able to point my way in would be amazing as well but yeah, I think my position in 15th is probably better than my pace at the moment, that’s just from, as I said, being consistent and finishing all the laps 

He mentioned that his number one priority is to do the right thing and get into the cup series next year. As he is still getting the hang of ovals, he is putting his full efforts there. He said, “The ovals, that’s the learning curve for me so that’s definitely what I’m putting the most effort into. To get better at the ovals, that’s the goal for me.”

Over his 12 starts this season, combining both the cup and Xfinity series, he has one top-five finish and one top-ten finish. Moreover, an exciting time for him lies ahead at Darlington, as he is all set to honor none other than his mentor and friend Marcus Ambrose. 

So what do you think? Will he be able to get a top-five or top-ten finish at the upcoming race? Let us know your thoughts about this Kiwi driver.