In just his fourth Cup Series start, van Gisbergen was thrust onto Talladega Superspeedway where he largely floundered.
Then with Kaulig Racing, the Kiwi constantly found himself being shuffled out of line due to his relative inexperience to the rest of the field.
In superspeedway racing, drivers work together to make headway in the turbulent traffic, but as a rookie, van Gisbergen struggled to be competitive with few willing to help him.
In his second Talladega start, and with outings at Daytona and Atlanta, van Gisbergen got pushed to a lead which he held for nine laps.
Now, with two Cup Series starts at Talladega under his belt, van Gisbergen is confident that he can be competitive.
“Talladega is epic! There is nothing else like it,” said van Gisbergen.
“The drafting tracks have been a challenge for me because it’s just a different type of racing.
“I remember my first start at Talladega, people would put me four wide just to leave me out to dry, because I guess they didn’t want me in there.
“Now I feel like I can flow with the guys, have the right momentum, and judge the runs a bit better.
“The last Talladega race I was pushed to the lead and held it a while.
“I definitely feel like I’m part of it and that I’m better at it now. Happy that I don’t have yellow stripes on my car.”
With his yellow rookie stripes gone, the 35-year-old goes to the 10th race of the season after the Easter break with a tad more confidence.
As for how he approaches superspeedway racing, van Gisbergen said, “It’s all in the preparation.”
“You’ve got to have a clear mind when you’re racing, things become instincts,” he explained.
“There’s a lot of teamwork, too, with the spotter because he is going to be guiding me.
“Spotters are probably the most important thing when superspeedway racing. I just trust Josh’s (Williams) guidance.
“But you also have to make sure you have friends in this kind of racing, make sure you got the right kind of cars behind you, and make sure it’s a teammate or a Chevrolet.
“It’s just a different kind of racing.”
Van Gisbergen will carry SafetyCulture backing on his #88 Chevrolet Camaro.
The Jack Link’s 500 at Talladega Superspeedway gets underway at 5:30am AEST on Monday, April 28. Coverage will be live and exclusive on Fox Sports.
