Brad Keselowski Sums Up Shane van Gisbergen’s Fairytale NASCAR Story in One Tweet After Chase Elliott Feels Humbled by Chicago Winner

The Grant Park 220 on Sunday was a historic event by every measure. Despite the apprehensions about the circuit and the possibility of heavy rain threatening the race, it was a successful experiment by NASCAR and one that the fans will certainly look forward to in the future. The biggest story was perhaps Shane van Gisbergen winning, something that left even champions like Brad Keselowski and Chase Elliott singing the three-time Supercars Championship winner’s praises.

With Sunday’s win the Kiwi became the first driver to win on his NASCAR Cup Series debut in 50 years.

Brad Keselowski pays Shane van Gisbergen the ultimate compliment

The RFK driver and co-owner took to Twitter after the race to congratulate van Gisbergen, posting, “I’ll be honest. Didn’t know who he was when walking beside him Saturday am. But I dang sure do now! Nice win man.”

Worth noting is the fact that the Kiwi was making his debut with Trackhouse Racing’s Project 91 and making his debut in perhaps the most difficult condition to race – on a street course after rain.

Chase Elliott on the “humbling” experience in Chicago

After the race, 2020 Cup Series champion Chase Elliott said, “I don’t want to speak for everybody else, but he made me look bad, and I kind of think the rest of us, too. He’s going to go home and tell all of his friends how bad we are.”  

Elliott also took to Twitter, congratulating van Gisbergen on an impressive performance.

Interestingly, two-time champion Kyle Busch was not surprised by the Kiwi’s performance, and with good reason. The RCR driver had previously worked with him before as a teammate with the Lexus program at the 24 Hours of Daytona. The #8 added, “He’s probably, I don’t know, four, five, eight years ahead of us in this sort of car in the things that he’s done with the V-8 Supercars. We were all really fast, so he always kept probably the quickest time for the team the whole time we were down there for Daytona. He is no slouch. I knew he would be good when he came over.”

It will indeed be incredible if van Gisbergen decides to come to the NASCAR Cup Series to race full-time. Based on Sunday’s performance, finding potential suitors should not be an issue.