Bob Pockrass
FOX NASCAR Insider
HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. — Shane van Gisbergen has no targets for the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season.
It will mark the primary full Cup season for the three-time Supercars champion, and he’ll undertake the identical strategy that has labored properly for him in recent times.
“I do not run with targets,” the 35-year-old New Zealander informed FOX Sports throughout his pre-season manufacturing day on Wednesday. “I’ve been like that for some time. I do my greatest each week and I’ve the identical strategy each week.
“I do know I can do the job. … It’s simply time. I do know I can get there. It’s simply how lengthy it takes on the oval aspect.”
Since successful in his Cup debut within the inaugural Chicago road race in 2023, van Gisbergen has paved the way in which for NASCAR. While below contract final 12 months with Trackhouse, he ran a full Xfinity season for Kaulig Racing final 12 months, additionally competing in 12 Cup races.
He received three Xfinity races, all on the street, however was eradicated from the playoffs after the opening spherical. He averaged twenty third place in his Cup occasions, the place he additionally rode for Kaulig.
With Trackhouse’s growth to 3 Cup groups, van Gisbergen will drive the No. 88 in 2025, possible posing a risk on street programs whereas nonetheless attempting to determine what he wants when working circles.
“I haven’t got any expectations about it. I think about it will likely be one other 12 months of studying once more as a result of the automobiles are so totally different,” van Gisbergen mentioned. “Of course, the outcomes should begin arriving and enhancing, particularly on the oval aspect.”
And even on the times when he is not racing on the entrance, van Gisbergen insists he can have enjoyable. He did it final 12 months within the Xfinity race at Bristol, the place he completed 18th.
“I received lapped, and it was among the finest races I’ve ever had, preventing folks the entire time on the (high after which) backside fence – I’ve by no means discovered a lot in at some point,” van mentioned Gisbergen. “The race was epic. It was probably the most enjoyable I’ve ever had. And we had been in the midst of the pack.”
Before the beginning of his Cup season, van Gisbergen will start his 2025 with the Rolex 24 sports activities automotive race this weekend. Trackhouse has a staff with its drivers van Gisbergen and Connor Zilisch teaming with Scott McLaughlin and Ben Keating.
McLaughlin, a Team Penske IndyCar driver, and van Gisbergen know one another properly after staging some epic battles in Supercars.
“It’s undoubtedly very unusual to have certainly one of your fiercest rivals (as a teammate),” van Gisbergen mentioned. “But now we’re actually good buddies and dealing collectively has been nice… simply seeing how Scotty does, we’re very totally different.
“But what we requested for within the automotive was the identical.”
Among the similarities? The identical seat insert is utilized by van Gisbergen and McLaughlin, which isn’t as stocky as its formal rival.
“We’re not very totally different when it comes to dimension,” van Gisbergen mentioned. “And GT (sports activities) automobiles are fairly small, so I’m fairly cramped, however it’s really one of the snug GT automobiles I’ve pushed, the Corvette, the way in which you huddle in it, I suppose it is type of like a automobile with open wheels.
“He appreciated it too. It’s a bit like his IndyCar, I suppose.”
Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX Sports. He spent many years protecting motorsports, together with greater than 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene journal and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.
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