Dale Earnhardt Jr. Backs Shane van Gisbergen to “Smoke A** at San Diego”

One of the prominent talking points after the NASCAR Cup Series race last Sunday at Nashville was the impressive performance from Shane van Gisbergen, who secured his maiden top-5 finish on an oval. After the strong run, many in the community feels SVG will soon be locked in for the playoffs, despite the fact that he is sitting P16 on the table.

NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the latest episode of his podcast talked about the Kiwi’s chances of finishing inside the top-16 after the regular season. He highlighted how the three times Supercars champion is on a strong spot, considering he is 30 points ahead Ryan Preece at P17, and has multiple road course for him to finish P1 and widen the gap.

Not a lock, but he’s going, he’s going to, I mean, he’s sitting there. No, he’s not a lock. He’s got about almost 30-some points between him. He’s got almost a race between him and Ryan Preece in 17th.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. said on his podcast.

Further talking about the point, Dale Earnhardt Jr. asserted that Shane van Gisbergen can afford to have some bad outing at ovals unlike the handful of drivers that he is fighting for the spot, considering he can easily win a couple of road course races and offset the disappointing runs. That’s why Junior feels SVG will absolutely dominate the inaugural San Diego Road Course race.

It’s tight. He could have a couple of bad days and be in a bad spot, but he’s also got the road courses. If he gets another win or two at a road course, that’s going to put him about 50 points up. So, I think if he gets another win at a road course, yes, that’s what’s probably gonna lock him in. And he should smoke a** at San Diego.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. added via Dale Jr. Download.

Kevin Harvick doesn’t buy into Shane van Gisbergen hype

Talking about SVG’s impressive run in the Nashville, Kevin Harvick revealed a factor that was overlooked. He highlighted on his podcast that the top finish of the Kiwi at Nashville was more artificial owing to the fact that he got a top starting position after the qualifying was rained out.

But it’s artificial. It’s somewhat artificial. They race well, but you can’t do that unless you qualify… I think a lot of this stems from the fact that qualifying has been rained out, and it’s given them track position to start up in front of the race.

Kevin Harvick said on his podcast.

This revealed a major issue with the No:97 team. They have a major weakness when it comes to qualifying that needs to fixed soon, if the three times supercars champion wants to really compete for front row finishes in the Ovals.

To me, it exposed a problem that they have with qualifying… If they can get the 97 car to qualify well, he can race up there. I mean, they have the ability to run in the top five/top ten on the ovals just like they did the last couple of weeks.

Kevin Harvick added.

The comments from the Hall of Famer are on point and Trackhouse Racing needs to take notes. It would be interesting to see how long it would take the team to find a solution and perform on the level they should be performing.

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