Dale Earnhardt Jr. hints that Shane van Gisbergen must fight for the win at Indy to prove he is good enough for a full-time NASCAR seat
Dale Jr. expects Shane van Gisbergen to face a strong challenge in Ovals.
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Shane van Gisbergen Credits: @THproject91/Twitter) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Credits: IMAGO)
Three times Australian supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen has been the talk of the NASCAR garage since he made history by winning the inaugural street race in the sports’ history at Chicago. The Kiwi driver made full use of his superior street course experience from the V8 Supercars series and was able to dominate the event at Chicago with Trackhouse Racing’s Project 91 car.
When van Gisbergen came to the US to drive for Justin Marks’ team, a full-time NASCAR ride was just a dream for him. But as he is set to drive the No:91 Chevy for the second time at the Indy Road Course race, the full-time ride dream is close to becoming a reality. NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr., while talking about the Kiwi driver’s return, pointed out that Indy will be the track where he has to prove himself.
In the recent episode of Dale Jr. Download, the two times Xfinity Series Champion pointed out that since confirming his interest in a full-time seat, van Gisbergen has put pressure on himself and needs to prove his worth on the track. Junior said, “If he’s confirming he has plans to pursue NASCAR full-time ride, I think he’s already got an idea of who this is with. The pressure’s on. He needs to go to Indy and back it up.”
Dale Earnhardt Jr pointed out that a top-five finish won’t cut it for the driver at Indy, and he needs to be in the fight for the win to justify the effort that will take to make him a full-time driver. The JRM co-owner added, “He needs to go to Indy, lead laps, and challenge for the win – if he runs fifth, that ain’t good enough to warrant all the effort that will have to take place to get him over here in that full-time deal.”
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Dale Earnhardt Jr. talks about the oval challenge that’s ahead of him
The biggest challenge the New Zealander will face in NASCAR is the ovals. He has mastered street and road courses in the Supercars series, and driving heavy stock cars also comes naturally to him. But Oval, the roots of NASCAR, remains a big struggle, especially considering he will fight US drivers who grew up racing on such tracks.
While talking about the same, Dale Jr. pointed out that Oval races will challenge the Chicago race winner, and it won’t come naturally to him. He said, “He will… I don’t want to use the word struggle, but he will be challenged at the ovals for a while. I doubt it comes naturally.”
Gisbergen will get his chance to experience Oval for the first time in the Indy race weekend as he is set to driver for Spire Motorsports in the Truck series. If he can pull out at least a top 15 or top 10 finish there, he can afford to finish outside the top 5 in Indy and still be a contender for a Cup or Xfinity seat in 2024.
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Justin P Joy
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