Shane van Gisbergen 1-on-1: ‘I like being out of my comfort zone at the moment’

Shane van Gisbergen figured his NASCAR career might consist of an occasional race.

But after winning in his Cup debut in the inaugural Chicago street race and then running on the 0.625-mile Indianapolis Raceway Park oval in a truck as well as another Cup race on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, a new reality set in for the three-time Supercars champion.

The New Zealand native realized he wanted to compete in NASCAR full time, and Trackhouse Racing owner Justin Marks could make that a reality. Marks signed van Gisbergen after the 34-year-old driver secured his release from his Supercars team.

The plan for 2024 is simple — learn as much as he can driving a full Xfinity Series season and select Cup races for Kaulig Racing. The first Cup race comes this weekend at Circuit of the Americas.

A couple of weeks ago, prior to the Xfinity race at Phoenix Raceway, van Gisbergen chatted with FOX Sports about the transition and also the movie, “Talladega Nights.”

When I talked to you in January and I asked, “Could you ever believe this?” you said you can’t be surprised by much. But I’m curious is any of it surreal?

Yes and no. It’s just cool to be a part of a show and the process. Now we’re a few weeks into the routine of it and racing every week, seeing the scale of the teams and the show. I’ve stayed for a few Cup races, and it’s pretty impressive how it all works.

What has been the difference between racing a Cup race and standing there and watching a Cup race?

You just see how much goes on. I find it good and bad — the fans don’t get to see the technology that’s in the background of these races. The cars keep simple [looks]. The races look simple from the outside. But when you see the strategy, the data or the programs they’ve got, and then all of the sim stuff back at home. It’s very impressive the level that teams operate. That’s probably been the biggest surprise is how much technology is in the background. It’s very, very impressive.

How much sim have you been doing? Some drivers find it very relatable, and other drivers don’t love it too much?

The Cup side, I found Chicago actually was spot on, and then we went to Indy, and it completely threw us away with our car setup. So it was pretty difficult. I learned pretty early on not to trust it fully. But it is a very good tool, especially with not much practice. When I went to Vegas and stuff like that, and Atlanta, where I’d never been before and had to qualify on my first lap — just getting a visual learning the lines, that was very important. Some parts are pretty good.

How have the Xfinity drivers been racing you? Are they racing like they’re trying to prove something?

There’s a lot of young kids and they’re desperate to show their worth and try and prove themselves. But that’s all part of it. That’s kind of what I expected, and I haven’t had any real run-ins with anyone. I’ve just had some good racing. It’s been pretty good. It’s what I expected racing-wise.

Do you feel like you have to prove yourself or do you feel like with your championships, that that should speak enough?

You always want to get results and I’m not in the Cup Series yet, so I’ve got to get some results and show some improvement. I don’t feel any pressure yet. Maybe in the second half of the year, but at the moment, I know I’m here just to learn and get better and better and understand what it’s about.

Over the first month, what have you learned that you need to learn more?

Just the oval side — the one-and-a-half mile stuff is crazy. The speed things happen. The way the air works. Superspeedway stuff is obviously not easy, but you can roll with the guys pretty well, but in the one-and-a-half mile? I’ve only done that one race and I didn’t get much to feel out, but it was pretty intense.

How have pit stops been? There’s so much technology when it comes to getting on and off and maximizing your speed. Has that been an easy or difficult transition?

I haven’t been too bad with pit stops. The pit speed has been OK. It is difficult to drive and look at the rev counter all the time. The Cup car wasn’t too bad with the lights, but looking at a proper gauge  [in Xfinity] is pretty tough. The pit crews are amazing what they do here — how much of the athletes those guys are and how impressive they are with the stops. It’s really, really cool to see.

Did you realize the ones going over the wall aren’t the ones who work on the car?

In Supercars, my mechanic is the guy who changes the wheels. Speaking of over the wall, normally when I pull up into the box, all the guys are waiting [with tires] laid out and it’s perfect knowing where to stop. As you’re pulling in [here], the guys are jumping over — that’s so hard to get used to.

Going to COTA and being in the Cup car, what are you looking forward to being back in a Cup car?

It’s just going to be good racing there. It’s a double weekend, so a lot of driving. The race at COTA looks insane. On the sim, normally I’m always trying to keep two wheels on the track was our rule [in Supercars] and COTA, it looks just like a free-for-all. It’s crazy. Learning to get mid-corner and just open the wheel and drive off the track, basically, it’s been an adjustment.

They’ve changed the restart zone so there isn’t too much calamity?

I watched some of last year’s race and it’s just mayhem with that Turn 1, everyone’s five-wide, five or six deep. It should be better. 

How do you balance I’m still a new guy, but how much can I rub somebody?

It’s just how tough these cars are. I had some hits at Daytona and I thought the race was over. And we kept going at the speeds we’re doing and then got out after, and the car still looks pretty good. It’s pretty surprising how strong these cars are. But the drivers are just so aggressive and if they see any weakness — which I sort of showed at Indy at some points trying to be too conservative — you just get used up. I don’t want to be pushing people off and pushing back too hard, but I want to show I belong.

What’s it been like not racing Supercars and seeing them race without you there?

It was a bit weird the first practice. It’s been 16-17 years, so watching someone else drive out in my car basically was a bit of a weird feeling. But not much happened in the race, so I didn’t miss being there. 

Are you having fun here? Are you enjoying it? Any second thoughts of this wasn’t the right deal?

No. It’s been awesome — every moment and all the people have been nice. The racing’s been good and the feeling of putting my helmet on every week being nervous and not having anticipation [for results] and just not knowing what’s happening is a cool feeling. I like being out of my comfort zone at the moment.

Was Supercars a been there, done that and this is a new challenge? It’s kind of revitalized you?

It has, but I still loved Supercars, the big events and stuff, but some of it would be pretty repetitive and the same after you’re doing it so long. Coming here, everything’s new, every track’s new, all the competitors, the cars. Sometimes change is good.

Going week to week almost like parachuting in and out of cities. How has that been for you? And just seeing new tracks for virtually every week? 

It’s been awesome. I’ve had three races or four races; they’re going to their second in a month. So that’s been the cool thing. Racing every week, being in a car all the time. And having a one-off week and then it’s pretty solid for another couple of months. It’s good.

You’ve seen a really decent part of America. You’ve been to Daytona, North Carolina, Vegas, Phoenix. What’s it been like on just seeing the different areas of the country?

Big differences between all the parts, but just the short weekends are probably the biggest thing. I would normally leave on a Tuesday or Wednesday and get back on a Monday. Atlanta? I landed Saturday night and I got home at 10 o’clock and I’d only left the morning before. How short the weekends are and how fast-paced I guess it is once you’re doing things is pretty cool. 

We all heard you saying “Talladega Nights” is real. So I’m curious, do you feel like you need to get a bigger house already?

No, I’m happy with what I got. I’ve got a pretty good setup. But you see all the houses people have and all the families — it is like the movie in some ways.

When the movie came out, half the people I think were happy with it and half the people weren’t because they were like this is a few too many stereotypes?

Kevin [Harvick] bought Ricky Bobby’s house.

When did you first see that movie? Like 10 years ago or 15 years ago?

I think I saw it when it first came out.

Did you think this can’t be real?

You think that’s just a joke. Obviously, it’s a fake. But there’s so many small similarities and everything — even the fans how wild they are. It’s pretty cool.

Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.

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