Shane van Gisbergen has endeared himself to NASCAR fans in record fashion, through heart-pounding victories and his rivalry with Austin Hill in the Xfinity Series.
The latest chapter in that rivalry was written on Saturday evening, as van Gisbergen captured the victory at Sonoma Raceway after delivering Hill a receipt for costing him the win at COTA. Afterwards, van Gisbergen drifted behind Hill for a majority of his victory lap, in one of the more glorious celebrations you’ll ever see.
As the smoke clears on the weekend that was in Sonoma, van Gisbergen provided some insight into whether or not he purposely drifted behind Hill, or if it was just an ironic development following his win.
“You know, you want to be a good winner, so I feel a little bit bad and in some ways petty,” van Gisbergen explained, via an appearance on Corey LaJoie’s Stacking Pennies podcast. “So I was doing the skid at Turn 1, because that’s where all the fans are on the hill, and in Turn 2, and then he goes past pulling the finger. So I’m like, ‘This is for you now, not the fans.’ I just followed him the whole lap.
“But you know, he knows what COTA was. I just followed him. And then during the lap he’s pulling the finger. So eventually, I passed him, and I was just waving at him. I don’t feel anything against him, but.”
A hilarious turn of events that made for an epic celebration from van Gisbergen in Sonoma. He’s certainly got the better of Hill in many ways throughout their on-track rivalry, but this one seems still far from over between the two wheelmen.
Nevertheless, van Gisbergen has been turning heads in the Cup Series with his behavior, specifically Denny Hamlin’s. The NASCAR veteran elaborated on why he believes that his rivalry with Hill is all well and good for van Gisbergen in the Xfinity Series, but that wouldn’t fly in the Cup Series.
“Shane, he took an opportunity,” Hamlin stated, regarding van Gisbergen’s victory, during the latest episode of his Actions Detrimental podcast. ” He ran, he wanted to stay beside Austin Hill on that restart. But I think he made a bit of an ambitious move to do it. I think he still had enough speed, and technique, to get around Austin. Because the tires cooled back off. … So I think he could’ve been a little more patient, and picked Austin off cleanly, probably by Turn 11 on that first lap after the restart. But he sees an opportunity, and he’s run in NASCAR enough now. He’s like, ‘These guys just run into each other, so I’m joining the party. I love this.’ … I think he’s adapting to NASCAR well.
“It won’t go over probably as clean and clear on Sundays, as what it is on Saturdays, right now. But he’s taking full advantage of the ‘Rubbin’ is racing’ mantra.”
Alas, time will tell whether or not Shane van Gisbergen can get away with the same antics he’s pulled in the Xfinity Series, but he’s not going to let himself be pushed around, and he has the talent to back it up week-in and week-out, that’s for sure.
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