Shane van Gisbergen has received an endorsement from Formula 1 world champion Jenson Button, who reckons the three-time Supercars winner will be a NASCAR front-runner.
Come Monday, van Gisbergen will make his Cup Series debut on the streets of Chicago with Trackhouse Racing.
The dual Bathurst 1000 winner has remained coy on how competitive he believes he’ll be, but Button has backed van Gisbergen to be up the front.
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Button will drive the No.51 Ford Mustang entry by Rick Ware Racing while van Gisbergen saddles into the No.91 Chevrolet Camaro.
There are obvious similarities between Supercars and the NASCAR Cup Series that will aid the New Zealander’s transition.
Both cars are heavy, V8-powered, coupes. Both run sequential gearboxes and run on similar tyres.
The Chicago street circuit isn’t too dissimilar to street courses that Supercars races on, like Adelaide or the Gold Coast – albeit, without large sausage kerbs.
“It’s great having Shane onboard,” said Button.
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“Whatever he jumps in, he’s super competitive. This is very much what he’s used to in terms of street courses.
“I expect him to be very competitive this weekend. He’ll be right at the front end, so hopefully I will be racing with him and I’ll be near him.
“For him to come across and say it has a lot of front grip and it turns in as he would hope, it’s kind of surprising, but it’s great to hear that.
“The cars are in a good place, where it’s competitive against a V8 Supercar.”
Van Gisbergen has already had one hitout in the Chevrolet Camaro he’ll race on Monday morning.
The Kiwi tested on the ‘roval’ at Charlotte Motor Speedway, which incorporates part of the banked turns and infield.
Speaking to media ahead of his competitive debut, van Gisbergen said he felt comfortable in the car despite being left-hand-drive.
The biggest issues to overcome are nuances like navigating the pit lane without a speed limiter.
“I haven’t changed style too much,” said van Gisbergen.
“I got a few laps but it was just more of like acclimatisation just getting used to the team, how the car is, how it changes gear and not much performance stuff.
“We weren’t allowed to change any set up and there were no lap times or anything like that, so I’m not really sure what the car’s like on the limit yet.
“I did get some longer runs to feel what that was like. I guess I’m more confident now I’ve driven it. It feels not too far away from sort of what I was used to – like the car, the brakes are awesome. The way it turns, it’s very reactive and has so much more feeling than I thought it would have. It’s quite surprising in a good way.
“The team’s awesome. They’ve done so much to accommodate me, make sure I’m comfortable and then having the extra week here was just great prep. I could go to Nashville, see what a NASCAR race is all about and meet the team, meet a few drivers and just settle in a bit. It’s been really helpful having the extra week.”
Practice and qualifying take place on Sunday ahead of Monday’s race, which gets underway at 9am (AEST).
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