McDowell said in an interview<\/a>. \u201cWhat he\u2019s doing right now is incredible. But he\u2019s not Superman.\u201d<\/p>\nAccording to McDowell, Gisbergen stands out because of those small details built from his racing background. \u201cHe\u2019s doing everything just a little bit better because of his background. He brakes a little later and different going into a turn. His line through turns is a little different. He accelerates a little earlier exiting turns. It\u2019s a matter of feet. But it\u2019s turn after turn, lap after lap.\u201d<\/p>\n
Plus, McDowell pointed out that some drivers seem beaten before the green flag ever drops on a road course. Meanwhile, he believes Gisbergen is raising the standard for everyone this year. \u201cHe\u2019s pushing all of us to be better. He\u2019s pushing everyone to make some adjustments. And it will happen. It\u2019s just a matter of time.\u201d<\/p>\n
What Do the Different NASCAR Journeys of Michael McDowell and Shane van Gisbergen Reveal?<\/p>\n
When you look at McDowell and Gisbergen, the paths could not be more different. McDowell\u2019s journey is grounded in more than 15 years of grinding away in NASCAR, chasing opportunity and finding a way to stay relevant, highlighted by that Daytona 500 win. With every season, McDowell\u2019s story is one of sticking around and making good on every shot he gets.<\/p>\n
On the flip side, Gisbergen landed with an international reputation already built. The New Zealander is a three-time Supercars champion, and he turned heads by winning in his first Cup Series start on the streets of Chicago in 2023. Since then, the road courses have almost looked too easy for Gisbergen, who has piled up four wins in five starts on those tracks this year.<\/p>\n
This level of success has even drawn applause from legends like Jimmie Johnson, who said Gisbergen is in a league of his own right now. Still, both Johnson and McDowell agree on one point: it is too soon to call Gisbergen the greatest ever on these tracks.<\/p>\n
Today, McDowell is convinced the rest of the field will catch up before long. The Cup garage is filled with talent, and Gisbergen\u2019s winning streak is forcing everyone else to raise their game. In NASCAR, history shows no one stays on top forever, and now it\u2019s up to the veterans to close that gap.<\/p>\n
At the moment, the spotlight sits squarely on Gisbergen and his eye-catching run on the road courses. But if McDowell\u2019s view comes true, the real test will be how long that gap lasts before the chasing pack figures it out, giving fans even more to watch as the 2024-25 campaign rolls on.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Shane van Gisbergen has been the name on everyone\u2019s lips in NASCAR, thanks to his rise as a…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":202427,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[111607,104,728,1406,10814,86770,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-202426","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nascar","8":"tag-hes-not-superman-nascar-veteran-delivers-brutal-reality-check-to-shane-van-gisbergens-road-course-dominance","9":"tag-breaking-news","10":"tag-local-news","11":"tag-nascar","12":"tag-newsbreak","13":"tag-pfsn","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-united-states","16":"tag-unitedstates","17":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115151973014766996","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=202426"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202426\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/202427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=202426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=202426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=202426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}