Shane van Gisbergen is one of just four drivers with multiple wins in the NASCAR Cup Series this year. He’s also just one more victory away from matching Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell for the most wins this year (three).
Well, SVG is off to a good start, earning pole position for the Cup race at Sonoma in his fourth consecutive pole across the Cup and Xfinity Series. Larson, who is considered to be one of the best drivers in the sport, praised SVG in a Saturday media availability before the qualifying session.
“You know, he’s so good, and it’s rare that you see somebody stand out and distance himself from the competition as much as he is,” said Larson. “He’s way, way, way better than us at the road course stuff. And he’s got his own technique, you can call it. Not his own because the rest of the world does it — right-foot braking, clutching and all that stuff.
“You can’t teach an old dog new tricks. Like, there’s zero chance I can learn how to do that. And even if I did, like there’s zero chance that I can have it be better than what I’m probably doing with left-foot braking. So yeah, he’s just so good.”
Figuring out ovals
Shane van Gisbergen, Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
Photo by: Krista Jasso / Getty Images
Larson went on to note how van Gisbergen is showing steady improvement on ovals, adding, “He’s still new to the oval stuff, so he’s going to continue to get better at that. And, yeah, I mean, if he can figure out the ovals, he’s going to be dominant.”
Sonoma is one of the ‘legacy’ road courses on the schedule, which (along with Watkins Glen) have been part of the Cup Series calendar for decades. The field hopes to be closer to SVG than they were on the streets of Chicago or the inaugural event in Mexico City, but Larson believes “he’s still going to be the fastest” of all drivers at Sonoma.
“I would say the competition’s a little closer to him as we come to more normal road courses, like COTA and hopefully Sonoma,” said Larson. “Watkins Glen — he was still the fastest there last year, but it’s a race. In Mexico, he was super good. And then, yeah, Chicago, I think he’s just really, really, really familiar with the size of his car and what it takes to push the limits and not be over the limit. So, yeah, I don’t know. We’ll see. I hope that we’re much closer to him this week, but as good as he is, I expect him to be fastest in qualifying and execute in a good race again.”
While SVG starts from pole position for Sunday’s race, a full 0.250s clear of Chase Briscoe on the front row, Kyle Larson qualified 11th on the grid.
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