Shane van Gisbergen
Van Gisbergen slid from sixth in the rankings to 12th following a tough Southern 500 at Darlington that kicked-off the three-race Round of 16.
A 32nd placed finish leaves him just three points above the cut-line to make it into the Round of 12 with Gateway and Bristol to come.
While not many are tipping the Cup Series rookie to progress, van Gisbergen is fighting hard to keep the #88 Trackhouse Racing Camaro in contention.
Asked of his biggest strength and biggest weakness heading into the final nine races of the campaign, van Gisbegen said: “The biggest strength is my team.
“I’ve got awesome people in my corner, and I know they’ll do anything for us to succeed. Seeing the work and preparation in the team has been awesome.
“The vibe and how knuckled down everyone is so special and it’s really cool to be a part of that.
“The weakness is me. It’s my inexperience and I’ve got those people helping me to get better.”
Van Gisbergen ‘helpless’ in horror first Playoffs race
The fact van Gisbergen has not previously raced at the 1.25 mile (2km) Gateway oval only adds to the challenge this weekend.
Van Gisbergen struggled with the handling of his #88 Camaro at Darlington and also lost out through a strategy gamble in the final stage.
“I was pretty down about our result on Sunday night, but we have two more weeks to have good results, try to do better myself and get our car better, which we are capable of,” he added.
“I’ve never been to this track, so preparation and practice will be key to a good result on Sunday.”
SVG during the Southern 500. Image: Supplied
Van Gisbergen said he’s trying to approach the Playoff races in the same way he has tackled the regular season but knows the margin for error is small.
“I’ve tried to keep it the same, but you just know that you can’t make the mistakes because it’s hard to dig ourselves out of that,” he said.
“We just have to keep doing what we’ve been doing, but it’s so hard in a NASCAR race.
“I feel like every race you have a storyline of how the day goes.
“It’s never free flowing really, so we just have to eliminate or minimise what we do wrong, and just try to get it right every week, and that comes with preparation.”
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