CHARLOTTE, N.C. ā Welcome to the Xfinity Series playoffs, Shane van Gisbergen. Now hereās a copy of how the system works, so study up.
The New Zealand driving sensation ā who won the first Cup Series race he ever entered with a victory last year on the street course in Chicago ā has run a full Xfinity Series schedule this year after moving from Australia and the V8 Supercars circuit.
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He wasn't exactly sure how the system works over the remaining seven races of the season, so when a sponsor posted the rules, he took a look and was a bit alarmed at what he found.
āI studied it (Monday) trying to understand how it works,ā van Gisbergen said. āThe playoff system is crazy. Itās the most overcomplicated racing series Iāve been a part of, but I think itās pretty cool. Itās great for the fans. One of my sponsors put out an article explaining the playoffs and how that all works. I had no idea how it works. Itās so complicated.
"So, I shared that on my pages and thereās people saying, āOh, thanks, I didnāt know thatās how it worked.ā Everyone was reading it, learning with me. So, thatās pretty cool.ā
The playoffs begin with Justin Allgaier as the playoff points leader ahead of reigning Xfinity Series champion Cole Custer. They are followed by Austin Hill, Chandler Smith, van Gisbergen, Jesse Love, Sam Mayer, Riley Herbst, Sheldon Creed, AJ Allmendinger, Sammy Smith and Parker Kligerman, who is stepping back from full-time racing at the end of the season.
Basically, a win by a playoff driver in an Xfinity Series race earns them an automatic berth into the next round. There are three rounds and the field is cut by four drivers after the first two rounds, then the final four drivers remaining race for the championship at Phoenix in November.
Points are accumulated in each of the three races of each round, with the bottom four eliminated. The Xfinity Series races with the Cup Series the remainder of the season.
The first round is Saturday at Kansas Speedway, then Talladega Superspeedway, and finally the hybrid road course/oval at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Charlotte's āRovalā has been reconfigured and van Gisbergen believes that benefits him since his competitors will be learning the course as well. He also believes having Allmendinger, whoās undefeated at the Roval, as a teammate at Kaulig Racing will be an asset.
Because he's new to NASCAR, van Gisbergen believes he's at a disadvantage with only 20 minutes of practice each weekend to learn the track. And that's made it difficult for him to find a decent a rhythm at superspeedways such as Talladega, a track he never understood.
āWhen you watch a superspeedway race casually, itās the most boring thing ever. Itās a good time to have a nap,ā van Gisbergen said. āBut when you understand the racing and whatās happening, the fuel saving, the positioning, the stage points, seeing whatās going on, and then in the race itself, thereās some bits in the Cup side that can be dull, but, man, thereās just so much happening throughout the whole race.
āThe track evolution, the cars, the placement, when you understand it, itās a lot going on. I talk with my friends in New Zealand who are really into the racing now, and they watch it all, they understand the points, the adjustments in the pits, what goes into all the pit stops,ā he continued. "The pit stops are an art in themselves, especially the five lug stuff, itās pretty cool to see. Thereās been cool amount of fans follow me over in Australia and New Zealand that really have no idea the finer details of this racing. Itās been cool to share that experience with them.ā
So, starting Saturday at Kansas, van Gisbergen will race the track with the same approach he's had all season. He won three Xfinity Series races this year, all on street or road courses. Kansas and Talladega are both ovals, making the first round a bit more challenging for the Kiwi.
āThe tracks I donāt know, Iām normally pretty conservative starting, and it takes me a long time,ā he said. āNormally, by Stage 3, Iām pretty competitive, but some weeks I kind of get through the field, or I get sort of held up.
āNormally, in practice, Iām just conservative not to crash. I realize that every lapās important, and it just keeps adding to my experience. So Iāll probably, Iāll keep that same approach at Kansas. Iāll just build up through the race and then be there at the end.ā
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