Last Sunday’s Xfinity Series race at Circuit of the Americas was a big test for Kaulig Racing’s No. 97, Shane van Gisbergen. The Kiwi speedster is known for his road course prowess from his time competing in the Supercar championships, and he was among the top contenders to win the race. However, before making the big leap into signing up for a full-time schedule, he wasn’t aware of the fierce nature of NASCAR racing and how aggressive one has to be to win a race, and the COTA race did take him by surprise.

Engaged in a battle with Austin Hill, SVG was looking to get back in the lead in the final lap, but Hill wasn’t budging. This is when he had to resort to a more aggressive style of racing, which he wasn’t used to despite all his years of racing back in New Zealand. However, he did need to push himself to get Hill out of contention, and thanks to his crew chief and team, he managed to take out RCR’s No. 21 car.

Shane van Gisbergen is still adapting to racing in NASCAR

SVG was hard at work during the Focused Health 250 race at COTA. With double overtime at play, he had to retake his lead from Austin Hill, and in his desperate attempts, he had to bump Hill’s car out of the way in the final lap. He had doubts about wrecks or bumping Hill out of the way, but thanks to his team at Kaulig Racing, he finally overcame the hesitation and did the right thing.

Explaining the entire event in detail, Shane van Gisbergen during a NASCAR show on YouTube said, “So it’s a weird mentality here it’s something I’ve never been used to, like we’re not allowed to do this stuff in any other racing I’ve ever done. Just hit somebody out of the way with no care. At Turn 1, what normally he would have done would have been a penalty and pretty much. I’ve done that, and the next few laps, my spotter and my crew chief are like, get his a**, push him off, and I’m like, what?”

Unfortunately, despite pushing Austin Hill out of his way, Kyle Larson managed to sneak his way and held onto the lead coming into Turns 19 and 20, running home with a win. For all his efforts and hard work, van Gisbergen had to be content with a second-place finish. However, rubbing salt to his wounds, NASCAR announced that he had been penalized 30 seconds for exceeding track limits, and this resulted in him finishing 27th in the final standings instead of 2nd.

Despite now being able to clinch a win at COTA, looking back since the start of the season, SVG has managed some good results, which could put him in contention later in the season.

SVG is still trying to learn the tricks of the trade in the NASCAR Xfinity Series

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Kickstarting his first full-time Xfinity season, SVG fared well in his first challenge at Daytona, finishing 12th. He continued his good run in Atlanta, bagging a top-five finish. A #6 finish was another strong finish for him, but Vegas and COTA were unfortunate ones that saw him lose out on points. Despite a decent start, he still believes he is in the learning stage and is yet to reach a 100% confidence level.

“I don’t know if I’m too conservative at the start or learning, which is good. I take my time, but to you give up so much. When I finished Phoenix, I would have loved to start again at Stage 1… Like, I’m still not 100% confident where the right front rear is just from sitting on the other side. I’ve hit the wall a couple of times so that scares me.”

SVG is doing well for his first full season and currently sits at 14th in the driver’s standings. While it may look like he isn’t a threat to the top drivers, he can very well land a surprise blow with a win anytime soon.

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