Shane van Gisbergen reveals how he saved the 18-Yo driver of Dale Earnhardt JR in Sonoma ”

“I think he wanted to pass me honestly, and I don’t think that’s the way he wanted to do it, which I really respect.” Last Saturday, Connor Zilisch tipped his hat in respect for his fantastic teammate. Dale Earnhardt Jr’s 18-year-old Prodigy had to deal with none other than Road Course Racing God Shane van Gisbergen. The latter has made every effort to rattle the plans of the JRM Youngster in Sonoma Raceway, without racing him dirty. Although SVG admits that it wants to race differently.

After all, the Kiwi speed star had a furious line. Since Nascar’s visit to Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City, Shane van Gisbergen has received four stores in the road course. It could have been five if not for Sonoma Glory by Connor Zilische, and even if it is not for SVG’s Lenience.

Shane van Gisbergen prioritized teamwork

Well, Connor Zilische already received a taste of the determination of SVG. During the Xfinity Series -Race in Chicago, SVG Turn 1 entered Zilische’s left at the last restart. The kiwi walked him wide to the wall on the corner exit, forcing Zilian to lift or touch the wall. That eventually landed. At Sonoma Raceway, Shane van Gisbergen had more opportunities to become even more aggressive. While the two JR Motorsports were locked up in another wild battle, SVG rushed to Nr. 88 Bumper of Zilian. But instead of getting out of the way, the no. 9 JRM driver chose to let him go. In turn, SVG was the turn of 11 at the right at the rear of Zilian, consciously decided to take the outside instead of becoming cozy.

In a recent interview with Dale Earnhardt JR, Shane van Gisbergen said it wasn’t Just kindness. The Kiwi Speedster admitted that he saved Connor Zilisch in Sonoma ‘: “Yes, I raced him like a teammate instead of a friend, right? … Do you not want to destroy the cars of your own team, do you know? If it wasn’t a teammate, I would probably not have gone the outside of the last corner.” SVG explained the options that were on the table: “The other two options are that you follow him on the corner, or you drive in the back of him, push him wide and wins the race. Even if that were great, it would not feel good, especially that a teammate does.”

Shane van Gisbergen rode under the banner of Dale JR, the same banner that Connor Zilisch also maintains. The latter can upgrade to the Cup series as a teammate of SVG in Trackhouse Racing next year, which saved the approach from SVG to other rivals. The kiwi continued, “If someone else was in the field, you would probably consider it very much to give them a small bump. It certainly changed it … Like turn 7, I ran in the back of him when he blocked there … We couldn’t start. I pushed him wide, and I just waited for him, you know.

While the Nascar world is waving about the genius of Shane van Gisbergen, there are some of the bijters. They doubted the Road Course Racing Brilliance of Kiwi.

In reality remain grounded

Well, Connor Zilisch did offer solid resistance to the former Supercars champion. Admittedly, Shane van Gisbergen was flexible in his driving. However, Zilian was ruthless. Both led a combined 70 of the planned 79 laps in Saturday Pit Boss / Foodmaxx 250, and Zilian finished 0.438 seconds for the Kiwi. With a limited experience under the belt of Zilisch-Hij, an Xfinity series Rookie-being is the winning movements of the 18-year-old downright around breathtaking movements. That is what praise from 7-time Cup series champion Jimmie Johnson has yielded: “You know that you would see him (SVG) and Zilian yesterday to take it off. What we saw in Chicago is really impressive, but to see a young driver pass by and to record it with him at this level is also quite impressive.”

Moreover, Shane van Gisbergen is hardly the first foreign driver to dedicate a storm in Nascar. Marcos Ambrose, another Supercars star, won 7 Nascar races (5 in Xfinity and 2 in cup). Kyle Petty called him and a few other Roadcourse racing greats while she calls SVG’s sparkle in the sparkle of SVG. Petty said, “He is the biggest of the moment in Road Racing. We can say nothing else. Let’s go all the way back to the 60s. Then Gurney came into sport and showed people how to walk the roads. Then Tim Richmond comes. Call him the biggest of the moment.”

Despite the doubts about his goat status, Shane van Gisbergen is still focused. With Connor Zilian on his heels he could only get better in his profession.