NASCAR CUP SERIES SONOMA RACEWAY TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES JUNE 27, 2026 |
Shane van Gisbergen, driver of the No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet and No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, met with the media in advance of running double duty in the NASCAR Cup and O’Reilly Auto Parts Series at Sonoma Raceway. | MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race AdvancesChevrolet Newsroom |
NASCAR CUP SERIESSONOMA RACEWAYTEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTESJUNE 27, 2026 |
Shane van Gisbergen, driver of the No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet and No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, met with the media in advance of running double duty in the NASCAR Cup and O’Reilly Auto Parts Series at Sonoma Raceway. | MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race AdvancesChevrolet Newsroom |
Media Availability Quotes: How has the preparation been this week for Sonoma, a track that you ran for the first time in the Cup Series last year, with it being sandwiched in between both San Diego and Chicagoland, a track that you have zero experience on?“Yeah, I feel like we did a fair bit before we left the shop, and then we had a good couple of days off after last weekend. The last few days, we sort of switched over to Sonoma. We had a good meeting yesterday; planning what we were going to do, how we’re going to approach it and really just maximizing points. We had a really good strong car here last year, so kind of just building off that and tweaking it a little bit. Hopefully, we’re still a strong car. We really need to maximize our points achieved on Sunday to help our Chase position.” To follow up with that, what is that preparation like for Chicagoland and North Wilkesboro? You know what your expectations are for this weekend, but considering where you are in points, how hard are you prepping for Chicagoland and North Wilkesboro?“I know nothing about Chicagoland, other than it doesn’t have a back-straight. I kind of live week-to-week and focus as much as I can every week, so I’ll change over next week. I don’t know if they have that track on the simulator or not, but I’ll try and do a bit next week to understand that place. They did a test a month or two ago and I think there’s a lot of information around about that. Next week will be a lot of studying to learn a new track. We have an open practice, too, and I always seem to go better when I have a longer practice, a couple of sets of tires and can try a bit with my car. But yeah, I look forward to that.” Red Bull put out a really cool video where a lot of their athletes were trying to hit the five-second timer. You and Connor (Zilisch) were really close. You’ll be going head to head again today. How competitive is the rivalry between you guys?“One person had one go at that and one had five (laughs). It was a bit of social media stuff. But yeah, we have a pretty friendly banter, Connor and I, and that relationship gets better and better. We drove up here together this week. He’s awesome. Obviously, he’s pretty frustrated, I guess, at the moment. The results aren’t going his way and it seems to be one thing after another. Even yesterday in qualifying for O’Reilly, there’s nothing you can do about stuff like that. But we all go through that stuff and I’m sure he’ll be a factor today in the race and also qualifying today, too. It’s going to work out for him. He’s a great teammate and it’s been fun to see him pushing himself to get better.” You kind of touched on my follow-up of just kind of the up and downs Connor (Zilisch) has faced this year. Not as a teammate but as a friend, what advice do you offer to him?“I mean, I went through a pretty similar thing last year. You come in expecting to do decent. Everyone in the Cup Series has won O’Reilly races. That’s the level everyone’s at. It’s tough. Everyone in here is good. You jump in after you’ve been in good cars all through your junior career, and then you jump in the main series and it’s a shock. I had it in Supercars when I was 18 years old. I did really well in all my junior formulas, and then I got into the main class and I was qualifying at the back. It’s a rude awakening, but you got to push through it. I’m sure the second-half of his season will be good and he’ll just keep at it. Things will start turning around for him.” I saw that I think you did stuff with Race Service in LA this week. I know also, occasionally, you have events with Red Bull that kind of take you out of the NASCAR bubble. When you talk to people in those situations where maybe they love motorsports or cars but not specifically NASCAR, what do you think the perception is of the racing here and of yourself? What is the awareness of what’s going on in NASCAR?“Yeah, I find it always cool. The questions are certainly unique. I think it was like that the first Chicago Street Race, but also at San Diego. I think it was some stat like 80% of people hadn’t gone to a NASCAR race before. That’s why it’s cool going to new places and seeing new people. I think you introduce them to what the sport is like, and then hopefully, we have good races the weeks after and it keeps them engaged. I think our sport is really awesome as a motorsport. You don’t know who’s going to win, whereas you watch F1, there’s three guys who are going to win. I think our sport’s really cool. Even at a road course, there are 10 guys who can win. I think that’s really cool how many different storylines there are in our sport. I think you guys do a good job, but as drivers, we have to do a good job, as well, of keeping people interested, keeping the storylines coming and hopefully people keep coming into our sport.” The result from last week (at San Diego), does that make you angry more just because it was an opportunity to win or because of the impact on a potential Chase spot?“Both. I was pretty pissed off Sunday knowing that we had a good opportunity for a points day. Especially when the track rubbered up, my car just came alive, so I was pretty gutted trying to think about what I could have done better there. I was pretty pissed off with that, but I can use it as motivation pretty well. I’m pretty fired up this weekend, but also pretty calm and focused, too. We just have to go and execute; do my job and try and make up for it this week.” No mic…“No, no I can’t. You can just do things better and not make mistakes. I did all the preparation I could to see where I was weak last year and try and be better. But I just have to go out and execute and hopefully have a good party Sunday night.” Do you feel there’ll be more V8 Supercar drivers that will make the switch to NASCAR racing? “I mean, I hope. I think it’s cool that Broc Feeney’s here this weekend. It was cool to catch-up with him for dinner last night, and I know he’d love to do a race and a couple of others, too. Yeah, I certainly welcome it. I think it’s appealing to teams, in some ways. You’re going to have strong road course guys, but you’ve got to commit to a big building phase on the ovals, as we’ve seen. But yeah, I’d love to see more come and try and do it.” Slightly disappointed that Matt Payne not here this weekend?“I’d love to see him do it. I think he’s a massive talent. He was only just starting when I left, but from what I saw, he was he was really good. It sounds like he wants to come do it, so hopefully, he can have a go.” I talked to Connor (Zilisch) earlier in the week and I asked him how much he leans on you for advice. I want to know what is the relationship between the two of you? It’s his first season after switching over from the O’Reilly Series over here to the Cup Series… “Yeah we’re pretty open, I think as far as teammates go. It’s been really good. We do rely on Ross (Chastain) a lot on the ovals, and he’s the same on road courses. He can ask any question he wants and we’ll give him an answer. It’s been pretty cool trying to make each other better. With Connor (Zilisch), we’re really pushing each other to get better. As I said earlier, it will click for him soon. But yeah, hopefully it’s us at the front this weekend. It’s been fun working with him. He’s almost 20 years younger, but he’s very fast, too.” |