"His feedback was dead on" - Shane van Gisbergen's crew chief on the Kiwi's performance during NASCAR Truck debut

Shane van Gisbergen has long been a subject of attention for NASCAR fans. The Kiwi driver made a name for himself in the highest echelons of stock car racing by winning the inaugural Chicago City Street Race. He has followed that up with a career switch to America's most popular motorsport.

Shifting to USA from Australia, the V8 Supercars champion will be getting his taste of NASCAR this year with a part-time Cup Series schedule, along with his full-time appearance in the Xfinity Series. Van Gisbergen will also be running an ARCA Menards Series race before this year's Xfinity season opener at Daytona International Speedway.

Van Gisbergen ran a lone Truck Series race at Indianapolis Raceway Park last year. Mike Hillman Jr., who served as Van Gisbergen's crew chief, recently commented on how the Kiwi has been warming up to American racing. Hillman Jr. told racer.com:

“The biggest goal was to get him to run every lap, and IRP is probably one of the hardest short tracks that we go to with multiple lines, a lot of tire fall off, a lot of different things going on. He asked a lot of questions; he was a big sponge. His feedback was dead on."

Elaborating on Shane van Gisbergen's performance as compared to Truck Series regular Carson Hocevar, Hillman Jr. said:

"We went identical to Carson (Hocevar) and the things he said in practice and the things he said in the race, they corresponded to what the #42’s comments were. That went really well.”

It remains to be seen how well Van Gisbergen adapts to superspeedway-style racing before making his eventual full-time Cup Series debut.

Shane van Gisbergen on wanting to emulate Marcos Ambrose

Marcos Ambrose was another V8 Supercars driver to have cut his teeth in NASCAR. The iconic battle between Ambrose and Brad Keselowski at Watkins Glen International is the stuff of NASCAR legend.

Hoping to emulate Marcus Ambrose's achievements in the sport, Shane van Gisbergen recently told motorsports.com:

"I want to emulate what he's done. Get into the Cup Series and be successful. I think his career was really awesome. He had a great time here, and loved his experience, so I'd like to be like that."

The NASCAR Cup Series season kicks off with the Daytona 500 next month on February 18, 2024 at 2:30 pm ET.