The return of Shane Van Gisbergen to NASCAR on the Indianapolis Speedway has set some tongues wagging of late. A shift from his victorious Chicago road course race to an oval track—a terrain where Van Gisbergen is yet to cut his teeth—has been fodder for a slew of conjectures. The grandstand and old hands are agog, ruminating about his final standing and the hurdles he might encounter.

Amidst this clamor, the voice of Dale Earnhardt Jr. rings out the clearest, broadcasting his take on Van Gisbergen’s Indianapolis resurgence and the flurry of team offers coming his way, something that seems to have caught Earnhardt Jr. off guard. Yet, of more interest at the moment, though, is Dale Jr.’s veiled jab at Richard Petty in the form of a connection between SVG’s entry and that of a previous player from V8 Supercars who has left his mark on NASCAR.

“Mid-class at best”: Dale Earnhardt Jr. talks about Richard Petty Motorsports

In addition to the headline-grabbing circumstances surrounding SVG’s return to NASCAR for another race, NASCAR fans and veterans have been curious about his ability to perform well on oval racetracks, with which he may or may not get along well.

The topic found itself at the forefront of a recent discussion on Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s podcast, where the possibility of Shane Van Gisbergen coming into NASCAR and mastering oval tracks was debated, mirroring the path blazed by Marcus Ambrose back in 2008.

Earnhardt Jr. reminisced about Ambrose’s meteoric rise from V8 Supercars. He carved a niche for himself by reigning supreme at Watkins Glen while racing for Richard Petty Motorsports, facing stiff competition from seasoned NASCAR drivers on the road course circuit. He went on to highlight that Ambrose was able to outfox everyone despite racing “with mid-class equipment”.

In Dale Jr.’s words, “I think that’s the only reason this is happening is with the idea that yes, he is going to go to the road courses and be damn hard to beat, much like every time we showed up at a road course, Marcus Ambrose was one of the top dogs, in really mid-class equipment. I mean, really mid-class at best. He would go to Watkins Glen, a track we all know very well, and running balls out with that 9 and 47 car. And they worked top teams.”

In a thinly veiled swipe at Richard Petty’s team, Earnhardt Jr. implied that in spite of their failure to equip their drivers with capable cars, Marcus Ambrose, against all odds, rose to the occasion. In the same breath, Earnhardt Jr. expressed high hopes for Van Gisbergen’s prospects of making a splash in NASCAR as a full-time driver.

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Dale Jr.’s formula for SVG’s success in NASCAR

Several old hands and observers attribute SVG’s Chicago triumph to favorable weather conditions and the track being a road course. In discussing SVG’s full-fledged NASCAR debut, Dale Jr. pointed out that SVG might need to put in the work to acclimatize to the oval race tracks. However, he also posited that SVG’s transition might be smoother than it was for Marcus Ambrose, given that the current NASCAR stock cars bear a striking resemblance to the V8 supercar.

“The V8 supercar was the closest thing to NASCAR stock cars around the globe, and that got even closer when the next-gen car was built. NASCAR and Steve O’Donnell will tell you they built the NASCAR Next-Gen based off the V8 supercar. That’s why Shane’s adaptation to ovals will be easier due to that than it was for Marcus. But I believe he has to race in the truck series if not in the Xfinity series. He needs to run as much as he can on ovals.”

As SVG is now gearing up to take on the Indianapolis road track, all eyes will be on his performance on an oval circuit. Moreover, given the buzz around his anticipated guest spot on Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s podcast, it will be captivating to hear his perspective on NASCAR races and his estimation of his fellow competitors.

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