SVG Singles Out Richard Childress’ Troublemaker as He Acquits NASCAR Stars of Ill Treatment

Australian Supercars veteran Shane van Gisbergen has been embroiled in a rivalry with Austin Hill. At the Circuit of The Americas, Hill took out SVG, which allowed Kyle Larson to pick up the win. Then at Sonoma, SVG returned the favor sidelining the RCR driver for a visit to victory lane. As such, it was no surprise when SVG picked Hill as the only driver he has had a “problem with.”

While the Australian Supercars champion may have his fair share of differences from his other Xfinity counterparts, the Kiwi also revealed that not every rivalry is as troublesome.

Shane van Gisbergen is optimistic about his relations in the paddock despite the feud with Austin Hill

With nearly half a full-time season in the Xfinity Series under his belt, Shane van Gisbergen has gotten familiar with nearly every driver on the grid. From intense battles with Kyle Larson to beating Justin Allgaier at Portland to secure his first Xfinity win, the Kiwi now has a good idea of how heated on-track action can get. That being said, no driver seems to have gotten on SVG’s nerves as much as Hill.

Appearing on Rusty’s Garage podcast, the SVG shared insight into his relations with the Xfinity paddock. SVG stated, “Most have been very good, I’ve only had a problem with one guy (Austin Hill), he took me out at COTA and then I got him back at Sonoma, but everyone else is awesome. We’ve had some hard battles, I’ve spun a guy, he’s got me back, and we spoke about it after and we’re sweet, you just shake hands and get on with it.” 

SVG and Hill had an end-to-end battle at COTA in March. Hill took out the Kiwi, who had led 20 of the 50 laps, but neither of them took the checkered flag home, as Kyle Larson swept in to lead the final lap in the race and come out victorious. After the race, SVG expressed his frustration saying, “That last restart, he just drove through me at (Turn) 1. I guess that’s how it is here.”

Then in June, SVG got back at Hill at Sonoma Raceway. At the restart, with 11 laps to go, SVG and Hill stood side by side. While Hill went ahead, van Gisbergen charged hard into the corner and the two collided. This sent the RCR driver sliding toward the grass, ruining his momentum, while SVG drove away for the win.

Hill was unhappy with the ending and said, “I plead the fifth. I’m not gonna say anything about it…I’m going to leave it to the keyboard warriors on this. No matter what comment I say, it will be wrong.” SVG admitted that after the events of COTA, what happened at Sonoma was “fair” game. Following the race at Sonoma, Hill flashed a middle finger towards SVG, as the Australian did a burnout to celebrate his win. While SVG did level the score, he was not keen on crashing into other cars.

Continuing on the podcast, Gisbergen stated, “It’s pretty hard to want to crash into someone because you gotta see them the next week, and you always tend to be racing the same guys every week. Especially on the Ovals, you kind of find where your level is at and you’re racing those guys every week. But yeah, most guys are pretty nice.”

Compared to his feuds with Austin Hill, other drivers seemed to have kept SVG in their good books regardless of any run-ins. Fortunately, the Kiwi seems to have built good relations with all around him in the Xfinity and Cup series.

Apart from the competition, the Kiwi also highlighted how close-knit his relationship with Trackhouse Racing teammates Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez has become over the season. The 35-year-old concluded, “Ross, Daniel, and I, we get along well, talk about the cars a lot and you know, Ross and I go around most weeks together so it’s pretty cool here, how it all works.” 

While the Australian Supercars champion is still getting to grips with NASCAR’s cutthroat nature, there’s one aspect of the sport that has truly impressed the newcomer.

The Kiwi has nothing but praise for the American media

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It’s no secret that Shane van Gisbergen hasn’t had the best relationship with the Australian media. Just last year, the Kiwi had a standoff with insider Chad Neylon during a press conference. SVG was coming off a miserable outing at the 2023 Supercars season opener, which made him dismiss Neylon’s questions during the conference. This then led to many motorsport veterans calling out the Kiwi, creating a rather unwarranted controversy.

Explaining the stark contrast between how the Australian motorsport media approached coverage for the Americans, SVG shared, “It’s hard; as you know, I’ve always kind of struggled with the media side of things, but you know, I feel Australian media are always looking for the slip-up, always looking for the headline.”

According to SVG, NASCAR media wasn’t as aggressive with their assumptions and questions as their Australian Supercar counterparts. At the same time, the key focus also seemed to differ. He concluded, “The stories generally seem to be positive here, and it just kind of snowballs. Whereas in Australia….they’re always driving the negative to get the clicks in the short term and it just drags everything down. I feel like I can be myself here and not get away with it but people appreciate and enjoy that, which is cool.”

SvG is getting to grips with the racing culture in the US and whether it includes media duties or battling on the track a noted rival, he seems to be relishing the prospect.