Shane van Gisbergen has adjusted pretty well to NASCAR racing. After dominating the Supercars Series in Australia, he bagged a historic win in his debut race at Chicago. And this year, he is running as a rookie in the Xfinity Series. So, of all drivers, he does have a fair idea of how different the two race cars are.

We have seen Cup Series drivers being critical of the Next-Gen race car. Most of them aren’t too pleased with the changes NASCAR has brought in. However, Shane van Gisbergen feels that his experience in the Cup car was similar to that of the stock car being run in the Supercars series. As far as the Xfinity Series car is concerned, his experience so far has been completely different.

SVG highlights key differences between the Cup and the Xfinity Series race cars

Those who have been tuning in to the FOX coverage of the Xfinity Series race might have heard the Cup drivers go ga-ga about the Xfinity Series car. Given that the Gen-7 car has brought parity to the field, witnessing a race car sliding across the race track and reacting differently to aero blocks, it’s clear that they are envious of drivers competing in the Xfinity Series.

However, Shane van Gisbergen doesn’t feel that way; rather, he feels like he is more comfortable pushing himself in the Cup car compared to the Xfinity car. “So the Xfinity car, I’ve never driven anything like that. I’ve never driven a car that drives like a forklift, where the rear end is doing the steering. Every other car feels solid, locked-in, makes downforce in a straight line, rather than yawed out. The Cup car is relative to pretty much every other race car in the world.” He said this in an interview with Athletics’ Jeff Gluck.

He also shared how Cup drivers like Kyle Busch and Chase Elliott miss the action that Xfinity cars still produce. “Xfinity car, it slides. I don’t know if it’s the (differential) moving or the air doing its thing, or the car is actually sliding. Like there are just so many features and feelings I’ve never felt before. And whenever I’ve spoken to people like Kyle Busch or Chase Elliott, they’re like, “Man, it’s the opposite for us. We love that feeling where it feels like the car is sitting and yawing.”

During the interview, SVG also shared the next milestone that he would like to achieve in NASCAR in the upcoming races.

The Kiwi speedster is planning a win on the ovals

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SVG’s exploits as a road course specialist are known among the NASCAR community. Having won the inaugural edition of the Chicago Street Race, he went on to add to his tally of road course wins this season at Portland and Sonoma in the Xfinity Series. While there are plenty of road course events scheduled on the NASCAR calendar where he can dominate the proceedings, he just doesn’t want to restrict himself to road course racing.

Rather, he wants to improve his oval racing and has set it as the No. 1 thing on his bucket list. “Probably to win on an oval. I just know it’s gonna take time and I’m not there yet, but it’s a pretty big thing to work toward,” the Kiwi Speedster added. Going by his track record, it won’t be a surprise if he does get a win on the ovals. He does have some standout results at ovals this season, P3 at Atlanta and P6 at Phoenix. And for the most part, he’s finished inside the P20 and remained consistent.

It has to be noted that Shane van Gisbergen is among the six Xfinity Series drivers who have secured their spot in the playoffs with a win. So we can expect a lot of fireworks and perhaps more of his popular post-race celebrations in upcoming races.