In 2023, van Gisbergen made his Cup Series debut on the streets of Chicago, which he went on to win in spectacular fashion.
Curious to see how he might match up against the seasoned campaigners, the Kiwi watched that year’s race at COTA with a particular focus on the road course ring-ins.
The race was a bit of a crash-fest, with several incidents at the Turn 1 hairpin. That prompted changes for the 2024 race to spread the field out into the tight turn.
“I remember watching the ‘23 race before Chicago, trying to study what Kimi Raikkonen went through and Jordan Taylor too, and it just looked like, ‘what have I got myself into?’” van Gisbergen laughed.
“It looks like they’ve made a good change [since] then I think.
“Turn 1 is only bad on restarts. As a racing corner, it’s awesome. It’s got so many passing opportunities, criss-crosses, and everything. But on a restart it’s a pretty stupid corner
“I think they made a good call last year with the restart zone. Obviously I didn’t do the year before but last year it got a little more strung out than years before.”
The 2025 edition, which marks the third points-paying event of the year, will take place on a shortened circuit.
Until now, the series has raced on the layout used for the United States Grand Prix.
Modifications have been made that will see the cars shortcut the second sector. The esses have been almost halved. Now the cars will shortcut between Turn 6 and Turn 7.
It’s not the same layout as what Supercars used in 2013. That layout featured a chicane whereas the 2025 layout for NASCAR features a short chute.
“I like the track. It’s pretty cool. I think the change they’ve done is good with the second cut-through. The one we did in Supercars would be terrible in these cars.
“They’ve made a good call there, but it’ll probably be a bit of action I think – the tight left-hander.
“Still, it’s odd how we spend more time off the track than on it, but that’s how it is here. It looks pretty cool actually when the cars are battling. I’m looking forward to getting there.
“I think it’ll be okay,” he added.
“I did like the long track but I see why they shortened it. More times past the fans and more action.
“The cut-through that they’ve done, we don’t lose any passing spots. The extra bit, there’s only one real passing spot.
“They’ve kept one with the cut-through. More laps as well, I think it’s probably a good thing, the short track.”
