Shane van Gisbergen explains how he wound up in NASCAR with Trackhouse Racing
Shane van Gisbergen didn’t have your typical journey into the NASCAR world, but he’s elated to be racing in the series anyway.
The former Supercars Championship superstar’s name became known during his victory at the Chicago Street Race in 2023, and it’s snowballed into a full-time Xfinity Series ride with Trackhouse Racing, with designs on moving to the Cup Series in the future.
Speaking with former NASCAR Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick during the latest episode of Harvick’s Happy Hour, van Gisbergen took some time to elaborate on how this new chapter in his illustrious racing career came about.
“Initially, so I obviously saw the Project 91 stuff last year or year before happening. Just thought I asked Paul Morris if he knew anyone in the states to reach out and he spoke to, I think Dale [Earnhardt Jr.] and also Max Papis to try and introduce us and yeah, Justin [Marks] rang me,” van Gisbergen told Harvick. “Must have been the end of 2022. And just said, ‘Yeah, there’s a chance we could race together. I think the Chicago street race will be a perfect place for it,’ and then said, ‘Give me a couple of months and I’ll see if I can make it work.’ He rang me early that year. I was at the Australian Grand Prix when he gave me the go ahead and said, ‘We’re doing it.’ Yeah, I thought it would just be a one-off, but obviously it went pretty well. We came back a month or two later and did Indianapolis. I thought I thought it’d be one more year in Australia. I’ve just signed a one year extension. But then things just snowballed. And it’s been a crazy whirlwind.
“The way Justin thinks and makes things happen is seriously impressive. I was all on board. You know, even my bosses in Australia, they said, ‘You’ve just got to get over there and make it happen.’ I went from doing, I think it was gonna be ten Xfinity races, and it would’ve been three cup races the first year, a lot of learning. Now, it’s full Xfinity and up to eight Cup, maybe some more. It’s crazy how stuff snowballed, and how it just keeps happening and the way people have got on board and supported us. It’s been amazing. It’s pretty wild to just see the brand grow.”
Thus far in the Xfinity Series, Shane van Gisbergen has been impressive, as he learns the ins and outs of racing a stock car. We’re not even at the road courses yet, which will be in his wheelhouse. The future is more than bright for SVG in NASCAR, if that wasn’t already obvious.