February 15, 2025 • 10 mins
Kiwi driver Shane van Gisbergen will be a fulltime fixture on the grid in the 2025 Nascar Cup Series.
Van Gisbergen made a splash on the American scene after joining Trackhouse Racing for a one-off project in 2023, racing in the inaugural event at the Chicago Street Course.
NASCAR commentator Nate Ryan joined Elliott Smith to discuss.
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Weekend Sport podcast with Jason Vine
from News Talk ZEDB on news Talk ZIB.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
You'll remember this from Shane van Gisbergen.
Speaker 3 (00:16):
Sheen E.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Van gisberger has been perfect. He has navigated the streets
of Chicago to perfection.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
The final time under the front stretch, he comes to
the checkered flag.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
He's a very full street. Yes, indeed, Shane van Gisbergen
there with that win in Chicago and NASCAR. After that
switch a couple of years ago, he's had a season
in Exfinity and tomorrow morning in the showpiece of NASCAR,
the Daytona five hundred, one of the biggest events in
(00:52):
will motorsport, Shane van Gisbergen will be there and on
the start line, joining us state side to discuss as
NBC Motorsport journalist Nate Ryan Nate thinks, so joining us
on news Talk ZIB this afternoon.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
Oh, it's a pleasure, thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Who it's hey, j shanevan guzburg and as we know
him down here in New Zealand to have his Diabletha
Daytona five hundred and really a matter of hours. Look,
I guess the countdowns on for shanevan Guzbergen from a
local perspective, what are you expecting from Shane Weng Guzbergen
and how different will this be for him as he
gets on the way in the early hours of Monday
(01:26):
morning at time.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
It's gonna be extremely different from what he's used to
in the Supercar Series and what you guys have seen
down under in use in Australia. I mean, he's gonna
be on this oval and it's not anything like he's
ever experienced. It seems rather simplistic because it's essentially just
making four turns a lap. And you know, it's not
like road courses or street courses where there's elevation changes
(01:50):
and shifting and turns. This is it seems simple, like
I said, but it's a very dynamic process and I
think that's what SPG has struggled with so far, is
that he's trying to learn exactly where to put his
car on the track on every lap. And again, it
seems reductive. It seems like it should just be as
simple as just turning left, but there's actually a lot
(02:12):
more to it. There's a lot of nuances to it,
and I think that's what he'll be figuring out in
the Daytona five hundred, the biggest race of the year.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
Has ex Finity a year in that last year equipped
him at all for what to speak tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
It certainly helped. You know, he didn't have any oval
experience before he got to NASCAR. He made his first
oval start less than two years ago in the Truck Series,
and like you said, then, he had a year in Exfinity.
He also did some Cup races as well, so he
doesn't come into this cold. But the thing that's different
about the Daytona five hundred is this is the Cup
(02:46):
Series and these are the very best drivers in America
in NASCAR, and they have just oodles of experience compared
to SVG on how to race these ovals, like I
was talking about, and it's not just about the fact
that this is an oval. It's a very particular specialized
type of racing. It's super speedway race. The horsepower is
(03:07):
choked down on all of these cars, so they run
in really tight packs and it's very very easy to
make a mistake that can take you from the lead
to twentieth in a half a lap. And it's also
very easy to make a mistake to make a bobble
that can trigger a huge multi car wreck, and unfortunately
spg's already been in a wreck this week during the
qualifying race Thursday, so hopefully that doesn't happen Sunday, but
(03:31):
it's very difficult to avoid. We're sure to see big
crashes at the Daytona five hundred. Usually you know, forty
one car field. I would not surprise me at all
if only fifteen twenty cars finish, and hopefully Shane Vegas
Berging is one of them.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
I sort of quote from him saying he had to
be prepared to wreck his car, and who's quite the
mindset shift from what he's been used to in Super guys.
How how tricky is that for him?
Speaker 3 (03:53):
You know Jeff Burton, who's a NASCAR an NBC analyst
and raced in NASCAR for twenty plus years, won all
the big races. He said about racing at Daytona is
that what's really hard about it is you don't go
into many races expecting to wreck, and like I said,
more than half the field probably is going to wreck
(04:14):
in the Daytona five hundred, So it's really difficult I
think for drivers to adjust to that mindset and to
just understand that there is a better than fifty to
fifty chance your car is gonna end up in the
wall here, and you can't really hold back because of that.
I think you have to kind of rewire your brain
a little bit and be cautious when you're in the
(04:35):
draft and you're in the middle of all these cars
that are inches apart at two hundred miles an hour,
But you also have to take risks, and it's a
really fine balance, and that's why it's so difficult for
someone who has inexperienced as SVG on the ovals. So
I get what he's saying when he says that you
really have to be ready to kind of totally twist
your mindset around from being a three time Supercars champion.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
So what does a good result for him look like tomorrow?
Is it as simple as you see it? Finishing the Rice?
Speaker 3 (05:02):
I think top ten would be an excellent result for him,
you know, finishing, I think, like you said, would be great.
But if he's still on the track with like fifteen
to twenty laps to go, he's probably gonna have a
chance to finish in the top fifteen. Presuming he's still
in the lead lap, because again this is a real
strange type of racing where you know, we've seen flukey
(05:24):
winners at the Daytona five hundred, where it doesn't always
favor the most experienced drivers, even though it's really hard,
I think as a rookie to come in here and
just win. But if you managed to sort of it's
it's like a game of survivor if you manage to
like just stay out there and avoid the big crashes,
and you're in the mix with like twenty to go,
(05:45):
and you know, at that point spg Will had more
than four hundred miles of experience on the high banks
of the Deterian National Speedway. It's not out of the
realm with possibility that he could finish top ten or
even you know, top five.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Another plan and that's right, another drive at debuting tomorrow
who we're familiar with down here from from yous of
watching Indy Cow with Scott Dickson, Scott McLaughlin, Helio Kestronievis
to make his debut a well, which is pretty specially
he's won the Indy five hundred of course four times,
so to have a racer of his caliber crossing over
what's the reception, Like the Hilio Kesterroniva is making his
(06:16):
Daytona five hundred debut.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
I think the reception has been great. And NASCAR actually
created a special exemption for Leo Castro and Nevs so
he could make this race. He didn't make the race
actually on speed or through the race. He had used
this special provisional that NASCAR created for in this case
a four time Indy five hundred winners for any world
class driver in Leo Castro Nevs. Certainly is that. But unfortunately,
(06:40):
like Eleo's had a really tough week. This is his
NASCAR debut. He's never raced in stock cars at this level,
at this speedway, and he's raised a couple of support races,
he's raced in the qualifying race, and he's crashed in
all of them, and he had a really bad rooky
mistake in the qualifying race Thursday. But all of that
being said, he did manage to finish fifth despite being
(07:03):
one of the early crashes in the support race the
day before the Daytona five hundred. So again, like I
think like he's got a shot if he's there at
the end. But regardless to your point, the fact that
he's even in this race certainly raises the profile for NASCAR,
just like SPG being in the race. I mean, having
two world class drivers like SPG and Elio Castro Nevez
(07:25):
in the biggest race of the NASCAR season, it's a
big win for NASCAR.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
Some of that listers will know the name Daytona five hundred,
may not be as familiar with it, but I was
watching the Fox Sports coverage of the Super Bowl last week,
though were advertising it heavily. It's really is one of
the jewels in the crown of American motus. What world modorsport,
isn't it.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
Yeah, I mean this is the race every NASCAR driver
wants to win. It's just like the Indianapolis five hundred, which,
as you probably know, Scott mcglonchwin was on the pole
for that race last year, and I mean just winning
the poll for that race attracted a ton of attention.
But when you win the Indy five hundred, when you
win the Daytona five hundred, that's essentially how you're introduced
for the rest of your career as an American race
(08:03):
car driver. You're you're you know, You're Daytona five hundred winner.
Austin Syndric. No matter what Austin Cindric does for the
rest of his career, He's going to be first introduced
as a Daytona five hundred winner. So yeah, this is
the big one. This is the crown jewel of the
NASCAR season. It kicks off their year, which is a
little bit weird to have the Quasi super Bowl be
the season opener, but that's the way NASCAR does it.
(08:25):
So be a ton of eyeballs at Daytternational Speedway watching
what happens on the Daytona five hundred.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
And just finally, n that's so grateful for good time.
Just going back to Shine Van Gisberg. In terms of
the year, a heats a big year again obviously for him.
What will success look like for Shane Van Gisberg in
this year, Well, it's a.
Speaker 3 (08:42):
Really good be an interesting year for SPG because, like
I mentioned, he's really I think going to struggle to
get acclimated on the ovals. I think winning on the
ovals is going to be extremely difficult. But NASCAR has
this unique playoff system where if you win a race,
you qualify for their ten race dass to the championship,
which are called the playoffs at the end of season,
and there are six or seven street race and road
(09:06):
course races on the Cup Series season, and in every
one of those races, SPG is going to be a
favorite to win, especially at Chicago, where as you know,
he won in his first time ever in NASCAR in
twenty twenty three. He probably would have won the race
last year if you wouldn't have been wrecked. So SBG
has a really good chance as a rookie of running
(09:27):
for a championship in NASCAR's premier series because he's probably
going to qualify the playoffs by getting a win either
at Chicago or one of those road courses. So it's
going to be a learning year for SPG, but it
could be a very successful year for them as well well.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Plenty of final wait for the year ahead. But Daytona
five hundred tomorrow, enjoy the racing. Nate Ryan, thanks so
much of your time here on Newstalk ZB.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
Thanks so much for having me.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
That is Nate Ryan, NBC motorsport journalist joining the program.
You see Daytona five hundred early tomorrow morning. I think
I saw about seven thirty am, if memory serves for
I think they bought Ford half an hour an hour.
We'll double check that and come back with an official
time after the break here on News Talk ZEB. But
I did see the make a change because there's storms
(10:11):
on the way or something like that. So seven thirty
I've got the night of approval from producer Andy, So
seven thirty tomorrow morning Shane Van Gisberg and one of
motorsports biggest events, the Daytona five hundred. Very cool to
see here we are on the start line for that event.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
For more from Weekend Sport with Jason Fine, listen live
to News Talk said B weekends from midday, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to the Weekend Sport podcast with Jason Vine
from News Talk ZEDB on news Talk ZIB.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
You'll remember this from Shane van Gisbergen.
Speaker 3 (00:16):
Sheen E.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Van gisberger has been perfect. He has navigated the streets
of Chicago to perfection.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
The final time under the front stretch, he comes to
the checkered flag.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
He's a very full street. Yes, indeed, Shane van Gisbergen
there with that win in Chicago and NASCAR. After that
switch a couple of years ago, he's had a season
in Exfinity and tomorrow morning in the showpiece of NASCAR,
the Daytona five hundred, one of the biggest events in
(00:52):
will motorsport, Shane van Gisbergen will be there and on
the start line, joining us state side to discuss as
NBC Motorsport journalist Nate Ryan Nate thinks, so joining us
on news Talk ZIB this afternoon.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
Oh, it's a pleasure, thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Who it's hey, j shanevan guzburg and as we know
him down here in New Zealand to have his Diabletha
Daytona five hundred and really a matter of hours. Look,
I guess the countdowns on for shanevan Guzbergen from a
local perspective, what are you expecting from Shane Weng Guzbergen
and how different will this be for him as he
gets on the way in the early hours of Monday
(01:26):
morning at time.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
It's gonna be extremely different from what he's used to
in the Supercar Series and what you guys have seen
down under in use in Australia. I mean, he's gonna
be on this oval and it's not anything like he's
ever experienced. It seems rather simplistic because it's essentially just
making four turns a lap. And you know, it's not
like road courses or street courses where there's elevation changes
(01:50):
and shifting and turns. This is it seems simple, like
I said, but it's a very dynamic process and I
think that's what SPG has struggled with so far, is
that he's trying to learn exactly where to put his
car on the track on every lap. And again, it
seems reductive. It seems like it should just be as
simple as just turning left, but there's actually a lot
(02:12):
more to it. There's a lot of nuances to it,
and I think that's what he'll be figuring out in
the Daytona five hundred, the biggest race of the year.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
Has ex Finity a year in that last year equipped
him at all for what to speak tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
It certainly helped. You know, he didn't have any oval
experience before he got to NASCAR. He made his first
oval start less than two years ago in the Truck Series,
and like you said, then, he had a year in Exfinity.
He also did some Cup races as well, so he
doesn't come into this cold. But the thing that's different
about the Daytona five hundred is this is the Cup
(02:46):
Series and these are the very best drivers in America
in NASCAR, and they have just oodles of experience compared
to SVG on how to race these ovals, like I
was talking about, and it's not just about the fact
that this is an oval. It's a very particular specialized
type of racing. It's super speedway race. The horsepower is
(03:07):
choked down on all of these cars, so they run
in really tight packs and it's very very easy to
make a mistake that can take you from the lead
to twentieth in a half a lap. And it's also
very easy to make a mistake to make a bobble
that can trigger a huge multi car wreck, and unfortunately
spg's already been in a wreck this week during the
qualifying race Thursday, so hopefully that doesn't happen Sunday, but
(03:31):
it's very difficult to avoid. We're sure to see big
crashes at the Daytona five hundred. Usually you know, forty
one car field. I would not surprise me at all
if only fifteen twenty cars finish, and hopefully Shane Vegas
Berging is one of them.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
I sort of quote from him saying he had to
be prepared to wreck his car, and who's quite the
mindset shift from what he's been used to in Super guys.
How how tricky is that for him?
Speaker 3 (03:53):
You know Jeff Burton, who's a NASCAR an NBC analyst
and raced in NASCAR for twenty plus years, won all
the big races. He said about racing at Daytona is
that what's really hard about it is you don't go
into many races expecting to wreck, and like I said,
more than half the field probably is going to wreck
(04:14):
in the Daytona five hundred, So it's really difficult I
think for drivers to adjust to that mindset and to
just understand that there is a better than fifty to
fifty chance your car is gonna end up in the
wall here, and you can't really hold back because of that.
I think you have to kind of rewire your brain
a little bit and be cautious when you're in the
(04:35):
draft and you're in the middle of all these cars
that are inches apart at two hundred miles an hour,
But you also have to take risks, and it's a
really fine balance, and that's why it's so difficult for
someone who has inexperienced as SVG on the ovals. So
I get what he's saying when he says that you
really have to be ready to kind of totally twist
your mindset around from being a three time Supercars champion.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
So what does a good result for him look like tomorrow?
Is it as simple as you see it? Finishing the Rice?
Speaker 3 (05:02):
I think top ten would be an excellent result for him,
you know, finishing, I think, like you said, would be great.
But if he's still on the track with like fifteen
to twenty laps to go, he's probably gonna have a
chance to finish in the top fifteen. Presuming he's still
in the lead lap, because again this is a real
strange type of racing where you know, we've seen flukey
(05:24):
winners at the Daytona five hundred, where it doesn't always
favor the most experienced drivers, even though it's really hard,
I think as a rookie to come in here and
just win. But if you managed to sort of it's
it's like a game of survivor if you manage to
like just stay out there and avoid the big crashes,
and you're in the mix with like twenty to go,
(05:45):
and you know, at that point spg Will had more
than four hundred miles of experience on the high banks
of the Deterian National Speedway. It's not out of the
realm with possibility that he could finish top ten or
even you know, top five.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Another plan and that's right, another drive at debuting tomorrow
who we're familiar with down here from from yous of
watching Indy Cow with Scott Dickson, Scott McLaughlin, Helio Kestronievis
to make his debut a well, which is pretty specially
he's won the Indy five hundred of course four times,
so to have a racer of his caliber crossing over
what's the reception, Like the Hilio Kesterroniva is making his
(06:16):
Daytona five hundred debut.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
I think the reception has been great. And NASCAR actually
created a special exemption for Leo Castro and Nevs so
he could make this race. He didn't make the race
actually on speed or through the race. He had used
this special provisional that NASCAR created for in this case
a four time Indy five hundred winners for any world
class driver in Leo Castro Nevs. Certainly is that. But unfortunately,
(06:40):
like Eleo's had a really tough week. This is his
NASCAR debut. He's never raced in stock cars at this level,
at this speedway, and he's raised a couple of support races,
he's raced in the qualifying race, and he's crashed in
all of them, and he had a really bad rooky
mistake in the qualifying race Thursday. But all of that
being said, he did manage to finish fifth despite being
(07:03):
one of the early crashes in the support race the
day before the Daytona five hundred. So again, like I
think like he's got a shot if he's there at
the end. But regardless to your point, the fact that
he's even in this race certainly raises the profile for NASCAR,
just like SPG being in the race. I mean, having
two world class drivers like SPG and Elio Castro Nevez
(07:25):
in the biggest race of the NASCAR season, it's a
big win for NASCAR.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
Some of that listers will know the name Daytona five hundred,
may not be as familiar with it, but I was
watching the Fox Sports coverage of the Super Bowl last week,
though were advertising it heavily. It's really is one of
the jewels in the crown of American motus. What world modorsport,
isn't it.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
Yeah, I mean this is the race every NASCAR driver
wants to win. It's just like the Indianapolis five hundred, which,
as you probably know, Scott mcglonchwin was on the pole
for that race last year, and I mean just winning
the poll for that race attracted a ton of attention.
But when you win the Indy five hundred, when you
win the Daytona five hundred, that's essentially how you're introduced
for the rest of your career as an American race
(08:03):
car driver. You're you're you know, You're Daytona five hundred winner.
Austin Syndric. No matter what Austin Cindric does for the
rest of his career, He's going to be first introduced
as a Daytona five hundred winner. So yeah, this is
the big one. This is the crown jewel of the
NASCAR season. It kicks off their year, which is a
little bit weird to have the Quasi super Bowl be
the season opener, but that's the way NASCAR does it.
(08:25):
So be a ton of eyeballs at Daytternational Speedway watching
what happens on the Daytona five hundred.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
And just finally, n that's so grateful for good time.
Just going back to Shine Van Gisberg. In terms of
the year, a heats a big year again obviously for him.
What will success look like for Shane Van Gisberg in
this year, Well, it's a.
Speaker 3 (08:42):
Really good be an interesting year for SPG because, like
I mentioned, he's really I think going to struggle to
get acclimated on the ovals. I think winning on the
ovals is going to be extremely difficult. But NASCAR has
this unique playoff system where if you win a race,
you qualify for their ten race dass to the championship,
which are called the playoffs at the end of season,
and there are six or seven street race and road
(09:06):
course races on the Cup Series season, and in every
one of those races, SPG is going to be a
favorite to win, especially at Chicago, where as you know,
he won in his first time ever in NASCAR in
twenty twenty three. He probably would have won the race
last year if you wouldn't have been wrecked. So SBG
has a really good chance as a rookie of running
(09:27):
for a championship in NASCAR's premier series because he's probably
going to qualify the playoffs by getting a win either
at Chicago or one of those road courses. So it's
going to be a learning year for SPG, but it
could be a very successful year for them as well well.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Plenty of final wait for the year ahead. But Daytona
five hundred tomorrow, enjoy the racing. Nate Ryan, thanks so
much of your time here on Newstalk ZB.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
Thanks so much for having me.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
That is Nate Ryan, NBC motorsport journalist joining the program.
You see Daytona five hundred early tomorrow morning. I think
I saw about seven thirty am, if memory serves for
I think they bought Ford half an hour an hour.
We'll double check that and come back with an official
time after the break here on News Talk ZEB. But
I did see the make a change because there's storms
(10:11):
on the way or something like that. So seven thirty
I've got the night of approval from producer Andy, So
seven thirty tomorrow morning Shane Van Gisberg and one of
motorsports biggest events, the Daytona five hundred. Very cool to
see here we are on the start line for that event.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
For more from Weekend Sport with Jason Fine, listen live
to News Talk said B weekends from midday, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio.
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