Trackhouse Racing driver Shane van Gisbergen is a two-time winner this season, and heads into Sunday’s race ranked 16th – holding onto the final Chase transfer position – 50 points up on 17th place, Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing’s Ryan Preece and 63 points up on his Trackhouse teammate Ross Chastain in 18th place.
The New Zealander van Gisbergen said Saturday at New Hampshire that nothing really changes in his approach as the regular season closes out. He always races to maximize points – in both the two mid-race stages as well as his ultimate finishing position. And he does not ask for in-race updates on his closest competitors, saying he’s just ‘mindful’ of who he’s racing.
“Every week we’re thinking about points,” said van Gisbergen a multi-time Australian Supercars Series champion before his move to NASCAR fulltime who concedes that championship experience is helpful.
“A lot of unknown next week [at Daytona] so would be nice to have a good week [this weekend] and try not to have big pressure next week. Execute and be mindful of the guys we’re points racing and see where we end up after the weekend.”
Van Gisbergen’s Trackhouse teammate Chastain is taking a similarly broad view of the weekend, not focusing on his closest competitors but simply trying to get the best out of his No. 1 Trackhouse Chevrolet and letting the chips fall where they may.
“Just looking for speed, just trying to go faster,” Chastain said. “I’m surprised that qualifying effort ended as well as it did. I thought we’d be ten spots back based on how it felt in the car. So that’s nice to end up there.
“Points-wise,” he added with a smile, “I’ve just got to go faster.”
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