Shane van Gisbergen confirms he called Max Verstappen ahead of NASCAR Mexico City race

Ahead of the June 15 NASCAR Cup Series race in Mexico City, Shane van Gisbergen reached out to a friend for some advice. It was Max Verstappen, the four-time Formula One champion.

Verstappen had some experience at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. Van Gisbergen did not.

“I just texted him a little bit on the morning. He was racing in Canada that day — just trying to get any help I could,” van Gisbergen told FOX Sports analyst Kevin Harvick. “He raced there or practiced there in the wet — had some small advice, not too much, but it helps.”

Van Gisbergen previously said that he sought advice from Verstappen on racing in the rain in Mexico City: “I just look for every advantage I can. I know he’s raced here in the rain, and he’s a friend of mine, and I walked out onto pit road this morning, and it was amazing how slick it was.

“Normally, on a wet circuit, the tarmac has grip, and the white lines are slipperier. It was the opposite. It was like ice, how slippery it was out there. I just reached out to him, was the grip on line, off line, what kind of techniques did he use. And, yeah, he didn’t say too much, but it’s always good to get a little leg up, you know.”

Shane van Gisbergen putting together historic start to NASCAR career

Whether it was because of Verstappen’s advice or not, the fact is that van Gisbergen dominated that race in Mexico City. He led 60-of-100 laps, cruising to his second career Cup victory by a margin of 16.567 seconds.

It’s what we’ve come to expect from van Gisbergen on road courses. This past Sunday, he did it again; he throttled the field in the Chicago Street Race, taking the checkered flag from the pole. Van Gisbergen now has three Cup victories in just 33 starts, the fastest driver to reach the milestone since Jimmie Johnson in 2002.

Van Gisbergen still has work to do to become competitive on ovals. But when it comes to road/street course racing, nobody is better than the New Zealand native.

“These [road] races are like a holiday to me. It’s the ovals where I’m really focused on getting better and better,” van Gisbergen said. “I come here and there’s no stress.”