CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Welcome to the Xfinity Series playoffs, Shane van Gisbergen. Now here’s a copy of how the system works, so study up.
The New Zealand driving sensation — who won the first Cup Series race he ever entered with a victory last year on the street course in Chicago — has run a full Xfinity Series schedule this year after moving from Australia and the V8 Supercars circuit.
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.
“I studied it (Monday) trying to understand how it works,” van Gisbergen said. “The playoff system is crazy. It’s the most overcomplicated racing series I’ve been a part of, but I think it’s pretty cool. It’s 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. It’s so complicated.
"So, I shared that on my pages and there’s people saying, ‘Oh, thanks, I didn’t know that’s how it worked.’ Everyone was reading it, learning with me. So, that’s pretty cool.”
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 “Roval” 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, who’s 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.
“When you watch a superspeedway race casually, it’s the most boring thing ever. It’s a good time to have a nap,” van Gisbergen said. “But when you understand the racing and what’s happening, the fuel saving, the positioning, the stage points, seeing what’s going on, and then in the race itself, there’s some bits in the Cup side that can be dull, but, man, there’s just so much happening throughout the whole race.
“The track evolution, the cars, the placement, when you understand it, it’s 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,” he continued. "The pit stops are an art in themselves, especially the five lug stuff, it’s pretty cool to see. There’s been cool amount of fans follow me over in Australia and New Zealand that really have no idea the finer details of this racing. It’s been cool to share that experience with them.”
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.
“The tracks I don’t know, I’m normally pretty conservative starting, and it takes me a long time,” he said. “Normally, by Stage 3, I’m pretty competitive, but some weeks I kind of get through the field, or I get sort of held up.
“Normally, in practice, I’m just conservative not to crash. I realize that every lap’s important, and it just keeps adding to my experience. So I’ll probably, I’ll keep that same approach at Kansas. I’ll just build up through the race and then be there at the end.”
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