Shane van Gisbergen Insist Austin Cindric’s Poor Supercars Debut Might “Scare Off” NASCAR Racers
Trackhouse Racing’s Shane van Gisbergen shared his thoughts on the consequences of Austin Cindric’s poor Supercars debut.
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Shane van Gisbergen and Austin Cindric (Via IMAGO)
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Team Penske Racing youngster Austin Cindric’s 2025 season didn’t end with the Cup season finale at Phoenix Raceway. He flew to Australia, to make his Supercars debut with Tickford Racing, in the final race of the series. The Ford driver had a weekend to forget at Adelaide, failing to score strong finishes in all three series.
Three times Supercars champion and Trackhouse Racing Cup driver Shane van Gisbergen shared his thoughts on Austin Cindric’s debut. He asserted the Penske drivers’ poor run shows how high the level in Supercars is and pointed out that even the back markers are decent enough to give any NASCAR drivers a run for their money.
Well, he was last. Our guys are so good over there, that’s the thing. People realise the level of Supercars is really high. Even the back markers are pretty decent drivers all through the junior categories. You don’t end up in Supercars because you’re average.
Shane van Gisbergen said Speedcafe.com.
SVG was asked about the potential of Kyle Larson racing in the event and considering the diverse background of the veteran, he seems to be good choice. He then shifted his focus to Cindric’s performance and asserted that it might scare other driver off from the series, as the Adelaide Grand Final showed how difficult the series is.
He’s got a pretty diverse racing background…It probably will scare people off. As I said, it’s a tough, tough category. Every time you see an outsider come in, it’s pretty difficult for them to do well. I think we should be proud of the level that that series is at.
Shane van Gisbergen added.
Shane van Gisbergen explained why the Supercars debut was tough for Austin Cindric
In the same conversation, further analyzing the performance of Cindric, the Kiwi racer pointed out that the debut was going to be difficult for the racer anyway considering the circumstances. He was making his maiden start in the time where every regular in the series had their best set up and is on the best form. But still he proved his worth with some good moments.
It was going to be very difficult for him, and especially at the end of the year when everyone’s tuned up. They’ve just done a few street circuits and a lot of time in the cars…I think it’d be very difficult for him to jump in there, and I think he did a solid job.
Shane van Gisbergen said.
Further talking about the point, the Supercars champion driver the difference in category and the race condition was a massive challenge for Cindric. SVG also admitted that almost all of the Supercars driver will experience the faith of the Penske driver if they were given an opportunity to race in a NASCAR oval race.
The conditions look pretty difficult on Saturday. He did solid, but yeah, it’s always going to be tough jumping in a category like that and going hard. You put any one of the Supercar drivers in an oval, and they’ll be at the back as well. They’re two completely different disciplines, I think.
Shane van Gisbergen asserted.
Though it was a tough outing and not a good moment for NASCAR racers, it might not stop other Cup driver from trying to race in Supercars. There will be many that might see it as an opportunity to prove themselves, and it would be interesting to see how everything is going to playout for them.
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