Christopher Bell is of the opinion that Shane van Gisbergen will find it harder in his second NASCAR start.
Van Gisbergen shocked the NASCAR world when he won the Cup Series race on his debut at Chicago Street Course. And now he will make his second start, again in Trackhouse Racing’s Project91 car, next month at Indianapolis.
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Many attributed van Gisbergen’s win to the fact that the event was an entirely new format even for the Cup drivers. This would mean that the three-time Supercars Championship will find it a lot harder to win in his next race. Bell believes that NASCAR drivers will be better prepared than him for the track.
“l’d say just the fact that we have all been there – I say we as the Cup group – for a number of years now. Lap one of the race track we are going to know roughly where our brake markers are, what the grip level is going to be at the different turns, so he is going to have to play catch up a little bit on the track knowledge,” Bell said.
“I’m sure he is going to have a bunch of simulator time that will prepare him for the visuals of it. I would expect that, by the end of the weekend, for him to not really have a disadvantage, but I would think at the start of practice, he’s going to have to learn the track a little more than the regulars will.”
In fact, Van Gisbergen has already exceeded a lot of expectations in his first race and no one would expect him to repeat the feat. Nonetheless, with talks of the driver making a career switch to NASCAR, the race could serve as his credentials for other teams.