I believe everyone expected Shane van Gisbergen to have a solid shot at competing at a high level in his NASCAR Cup Series debut at the Chicago Street Course, but I don't know how many people expected the Australian V8 Supercars star to pace practice for the Grant Park 220.
The 34-year-old racer is THAT good, as he turned a fast lap time of 89.419 seconds around the 2.200-mile street course that cuts through downtown Chicago's Grant Park. The lap equated to an 88.571 mph average speed.
And it wasn't just that SVG paced the session, he did it by a good bit as Denny Hamlin was his next closest competitor, and Hamlin was 0.313 sec. behind van Gisbergen.
SVG stepped into a NASCAR Next Gen car and was immediately the fastest cat in town his first time in the car. It's impressive.
While his performance in NASCAR Cup Series practice was impressive, van Gisbergen says there is still a lot for him to take in with the NASCAR stock car this weekend.
"Just a lot to take in," van Gisbergen smiled. "The intensity of practice. Straight away, Austin Dillon was bombing me all over. Nobody really played it, but it felt good. The car was good. The guys have done a good job here. My preparation has been good and makes me feel comfortable. Hopefully, we can replicate it in qualifying."
Making a go at it in NASCAR has always been on van Gisbergen's radar, and the NASCAR Cup Series heading to a street course, gave him a prime chance to impress due to his extensive background on street courses in Australia.
However, while van Gisbergen is well versed on street circuits, he says he's never encountered one quite like the 12-turn course in Chicago.
"I've always dreamt of it, we do a lot of street courses. But nothing like this with the cracks in the road and the violence in the braking markers," van Gisbergen explained. "It's really difficult, but same for everyone. The cars are running low and stiff, just got to find that fine line, and the track will just keep getting better too."
Behind van Gisbergen and Hamlin on the scoring chart was former F1 world champion Jenson Button, who is piloting the No. 15 Ford Mustang for Rick Ware Racing this weekend.
Martin Truex Jr. and Christopher Bell rounded out the top-five fastest in the practice session for Sunday's Grant Park 220 at Chicago.
Photo Credit: Will Bellamy, Racing America
