SUPERCARS superstar Shane van Gisbergen has elaborated on how he plans to handle the lack of rules in combat at NASCAR level.
Van Gisbergen will make his Cup Series debut this weekend at the Chicago Street Course and is considered a dark horse to upset the usual pecking order.
FEATURE: The NASCAR street races before Chicago
His biggest threat could well be the potential for a series regular to have him off – almost in a similar vein to how Triple Eight boss Jamie Whincup spoke of the on-track disrespect wildcard Zane Goddard recently faced in Darwin.
“I had that podcast that NASCAR does with Corey LaJoie and he’s like, ‘well, there’s two ways to look at it: when I race you, I don’t have to see you next week, you’re leaving; and you don’t have to see me next week so you can do what you want’,” said van Gisbergen.
“So it’s a funny way that they think here, it’s very different, but I fully intend to race like I do in Australia.
“Just because there’s no rules here doesn’t mean I’m going to go crazy taking people out.
“Everyone here is racing for a good result, racing for their points championship or a spot in the Chase if I’m lucky enough to be racing up front, so I plan to be respectful and hopefully be someone that they look at as good to race so you don’t get beat up later on!”
That theme ties in with a tongue-in-cheek comment van Gisbergen made to V8 Sleuth about Ross Chastain, who was involved in a post-race punch-on last month: “I’m glad he’s a teammate because he’s someone I don’t want to piss off!”
Speaking this morning from Charlotte, where he tested earlier this week, van Gisbergen continued: “It’s going to be fun to see how it is.
“When I listen to whatever Jordan Taylor said or Jenson (Button) said after the COTA race, like they just got beaten up and picked on.
“Hopefully it’s not like that here because there’s so many walls around but you have got to stand your ground too at some point I guess.”
