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It’s official. Shane van Gisbergen will be racing in the United States in 2024 with Trackhouse Racing. It will be on a development deal that features select races in the NASCAR Cup Series, Xfinity Series, Truck Series, and late models. What Cup Series races would we love to see SVG try in 2024?
SVG is a spectacular road course racer as is evidenced by both his success in supercars and the win in the Chicago Street Race back in July. If Trackhouse wants to give SVG a chance to win a race, then he must run any road course race that exists on the calendar. Yes, it is a development deal, so it is more about teaching SVG how to run on ovals than on road courses, but that does not mean he should completely abandon what he does best.
Fans want to see SVG do well, and road courses are where he performs best. Any time a road course race is on the schedule, SVG should run it.
SVG needs to learn how to run on a superspeedway, and the best chance to do that is the Daytona 500. Not only is it the sport’s biggest stage, but it also is the most reps SVG will get on a superspeedway on any weekend. Not only does he get the Daytona 500, if he qualifies, but he also gets a 150 mile qualifying race the Thursday before.
He gets more on track activity at Daytona than any other weekend of the year. What SVG needs is reps, and he will get plenty of those at Daytona. On top of that, what better time for SVG to make his Cup Series oval debut than the Daytona 500?
This is more down to SVG’s development than the event itself. SVG can run at Richmond to learn about how to handle a tire strategy race in NASCAR. Pretty much every Richmond race in the Next-Gen era has come down to tire strategy in some form or another. If SVG wants to succeed in NASCAR, he needs to learn every aspect of the sport that he possibly can.
Richmond offers a unique challenge, but it’s a unique challenge that could pay dividends. It may be a race that SVG struggles some, but that is okay. Reps are important, and reps that SVG is truly learning from are more important.
There has to be at least one intermediate track on the schedule that SVG races on in the Cup Series, and there is no better option than Nashville. First, it’s a home race for Trackhouse with a base in Nashville. Secondly, it is a track that Trackhouse runs well at.
It may be a bit unique compared to other intermediate tracks, but it still provides SVG with some much-needed reps. Yes, you are probably tired of me saying that by now, but those are truly the most important things for SVG now. Nashville is a track that SVG can have success at, and that is an ideal place for SVG to run a race.
Another intermediate track in Charlotte, but SVG will also learn how to adapt to changing track conditions. The Coca-Cola 600 starts during the day and ends at night, and Charlotte Motor Speedway is the most temperature-sensitive track that the Cup Series goes to. This is a good test and learning experience for SVG.
On top of that, it is one of the sport’s crown jewel races. Why not give SVG the chance to run one of the sport’s most iconic events?
There are plenty of Cup Series events that SVG would likely love to run in 2024. Are there any other races we could add to this list?
