Kiwi motorsport ace Shane van Gisbergen has added another achievement to his driving repertoire, completing his first Nascar truck race at Indianapolis Raceway.
After qualifying 28th for the TSport 200 - the 19th event of the truck series - van Gisbergen finished in 17th, but could not wipe the smile off his face, after contesting the first oval-lap event of his career.
"That was awesome, but I have to say a little gutted, with 10 to go, to finally drop off the lead lap," he admitted. "Had a ball, had some awesome racing with people and a lot of fun.
"I'm living the dream. It was really cool and and everyone was respectful - it was awesome."
Oval-track racing represents a very different proposition to the tracks and street circuits used for the Australian Supercars series, where he is two-time defending champion. Since fellow Kiwi Scott McLaughlin switched to IndyCar racing, he has taken almost three seasons to make the adjustment.
Asked to grade his performance on the oval, van Gisbergen declined.
"I don't do that, but I've got a lot to learn," he said. "Pace was OK in some spots, and I probably have the wrong call on the adjustments and we probably dropped on the last stint, but so much fun."
Van Gisbergen finished a lap behind winner Ty Majeski and will now turn his attention to the Nascar Cup Series event around the Indianapolis road course on Monday (NZ time), after winning the inaugural Chicago street race at his first attempt in July.
Currently sitting third in the Supercars standings, just 54 points behind leader Brodie Kostecki, van Gisbergen won his last outing at the Sydney Supernight event and will return to Australia for the next round at Tailem Bend, South Australia next weekend.
