They know his name, but now comes learning how to pronounce ‘Shane van Gisbergen.’
Shane van Gizenbergen
Shane von Gizenberg
Shane van Hamburger
It’s kind of become a running joke over the past month over just how badly the NASCAR community has butchered the three-time Australian Supercars champion’s name since arriving on the scene to compete in the Chicago Street Race.
Then ‘SVG’ made it a more pressing issue by winning the whole thing on July 2 in dominating fashion, providing incentive for everyone to learn it in a hurry with the expectation that he would pursue a full-time NASCAR opportunity in the months to come.
It’s an education for everyone, from a driver who will soon begin learning how to race on ovals this weekend in the Truck Series race at Indianapolis Raceway Park prior to running the Cup race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, to the media corps who needed to hear first-hand from the man himself how to pronounce his name.
“Shane van Giz-ber-gin”
But really, at this point, the 34-year-old is just pleased to have made a positive first impression with a shock victory that came in his Cup Series debut with Trackhouse Racing.
“I just think it’s cool they all know my name now because they didn’t the last time I was here,” van Gisbergen said during a Wednesday media teleconference.
Since then, van Gisbergen has notified his Supercars team that he would seek a full-time switch to NASCAR in 2024. He has begun fielding offers, including one from Trackhouse, who he will make his second start for on Sunday at Indianapolis.
Shane van Gisbergen ready for this weekend’s challenges
Racing NASCAR means learning ovals, thus his Truck Series debut on Friday at the Brownsburg, Indiana short track, a combination of things that make this weekend way more challenging than running the familiar territory of a street course in the rain with single-file restarts.
This is where he’s getting the education.
“It’s a lot of unknowns,” van Gisbergen said. “It’s going to be difficult. You can do as much simulator time as you want but there’s only 20 minutes of practice this time to where last time I had the feeler at the (Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL) and 35 minutes of practice.
“It’s going to be difficult, one set of practice and a track that everyone has raced on before but hopefully I can get a decent qualifying spot and stay out of trouble for the start and be there at the end of the race.
“Pace wise, I don’t know where I’ll stack up, because I watched last year’s race and it looks like there were some guys who were on it. I honestly don’t know where I’ll fit in.”
To prepare him for the Truck Series race, former Supercars champion turned NASCAR veteran Marcos Ambrose sent van Gisbergen a list of notes about what to expect when following the same path he forged over a decade ago.
“He doesn’t have experience at that track, but he’s gone through exactly what I’m about to go through transitioning to ovals,” van Gisbergen said. “He told me it’s going to be a lot to digest and take in, but hopefully his advance helps.
“His biggest thing was the track at 3 o’clock on Friday is going to be way different than 9 o’clock on Friday night. He said to be adaptable and not get frustrated with how hot and slick it will be during practice and to not give up and keep learning.
“We’re going to be in a pack, and it seems like it’s going to be close racing for me to learn under, so expectations, I don’t know that I have any beyond wanting to get to the end of the race and learning as much as I can.”
As if that wasn’t enough for ‘SVG’ to manage, there will also be the initial conversations with Trackhouse co-owner Justin Marks over what his future in NASCAR could look like, should it continue with the same organization.
“Shane has basically done everything he has wanted to do in Australia, three-time Supercars champion and he is right in the prime of his career,” Marks said. “If he’s going to make a move, it’s going to be now, and he’s fallen in love with this race car.
“So, he’s made up his mind that he’s going to come over here and do this. It’s very difficult as a team to make it happen, and there are multiple ways to get there, but we’re committed to be as creative as possible to make it happen.
“I think we’re going to have some pretty big conversations this weekend with him about what next year looks like and what we can offer him.”
For his part, van Gisbergen said his mind was made up after practice at Chicago and it’s just a matter of figuring out how to structure his schedule between Cup, Xfinity and the Truck Series.
“I don’t have a firm idea yet, but I think it makes more sense to do more Cup races because of the large gap between the cars between Cup and Xfinity,” van Gisbergen said. “I think you have to pay your dues too with the oval stuff, especially on superspeedways which looks like nothing I have never done before.
“It’s going to take me a lot of time to learn and I have to do as much racing as I can and work back up through the classes to make sure I’m comfortable and understand the oval racing world.”
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.