Shane van Gisbergen celebrates with the trophy after his Nascar win. Photo / Getty
Shane van Gisbergen celebrates with the trophy after his Nascar win. Photo / Getty
OPINION:
When Shane van Gisbergen gate-crashed the first street race in Nascar’s 75-year history and beat the field, he confirmed himself as one of the world’s top drivers.
Nascar Cup champion Chase Elliot summed it up when he said: “He made me look bad, and I kind ofthink the rest of us, too. He’s going to go home and tell all of his friends how bad we are.”
The Chicago race could not have better suited van Gisbergen’s first foray into Nascar — on a street circuit in wet and then damp conditions.
The three-time Supercars champion is famed for his mastery in the wet and the way he manages street circuits with their bumps, off-camber corners, narrow concrete chutes and differing road surfaces.
His fellow Nascar drivers really didn’t stand a chance, evidenced by van Gisbergen hauling himself up from 18th after his last pit stop to be challenging for the lead with 10 laps to go. At times, he was lapping more than a second faster than the rest of the field.
Just to make it worse for the good ol’ boy North American V8 series, van Gisbergen is the first driver in 60 years to win on debut, and he did so with very little practice.
Shane van Gisbergen celebrates with the trophy after his Nascar win. Photo / Getty
While this remarkable victory is not quite on a par with Scott Dixon becoming the first Kiwi to win the Indianapolis 500, it is extraordinarily special. New Zealanders have never previously done well in Nascar.
A few have tried, most recently Earl Bamber, but none have come close to achieving what van Gisbergen did yesterday - winning a full-blown, official Nascar Cup Series race.
Van Gisbergen is not unknown in US racing circles, having competed at the Daytona 24 Hour, Le Mans 24 Hour, IMSA and 12 Hours of Sebring. Two-time Nascar Cup champion Kyle Busch knows van Gisbergen is fast, having raced with him at Daytona, where the Kiwi was the fastest in the team.
By ending up in victory lane, the 34-year-old has not only further cemented himself as a legend of New Zealand motorsport but also as a great on the world scene.
Any doubt that he is among the world’s most consummate and complete drivers was surely shattered by his Nascar victory yesterday.
Van Gisbergen has now won in Supercars, GT sports cars, single seaters, rally cars, quarter midgets, quad bikes and even radio-controlled cars.
As the gloss of Supercars rubs off for van Gisbergen, a stint in Nascar surely beckons. And how good would it be for Kiwi fans to see one of our own vying for the championship in the most American of American motorsports.
