The NASCAR Xfinity Series will see some new faces enter the foray and compete for glory. Two of those drivers who will make their debut are Hailie Deegan and Shane van Gisbergen. Now looking back at their statistics and past performances it is only a matter of time before we get to decipher who shall come out on top in 2024.
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Deegan on the one hand has been a popular face in the lower echelons of the sport, not so much for her results, but rather for her strong sponsors (Monster Energy) and overall marketability. In the 68 starts that she had in the Truck Series she’s never been to victory lane. All she has is five top tens to her name.
But there could be a good chance that her entry into the Xfinity Series might be better than racing in the Trucks, mostly since she’d be well suited to this type of car. After all, Deegan was successful in the K&N Pro Series West with three victories to her name and also being the only woman to win in that series. Additionally, she has also proven herself to be a capable racing driver in the Tony Stewart-owned SRX Series with two second-place finishes to her name.
Hence, with the 2024 season in the Xfinity Series, we could perhaps see Deegan perform well enough to impress. But with van Gisbergen also joining the competition, would she be able to keep the attention on her or will she drown behind the Kiwi supercars champion?
Shane van Gisbergen’s Road to NASCAR
Last year, Australian V8 Supercars champion Shane van Gisbern stormed into the American racing scene after winning the first-ever NASCAR Chicago Street race. His absolute domination of the event put most of NASCAR’s top talent to shame as he hunted the pack down to cross the checkered in the closing stages of the race.
Since then, there has been a lot of attention over the Kiwi to move from the Supercars series to the NASCAR scene. Not long after, he announced that he would be interested in making the move and Trackhouse Racing who originally fielded him during the Chicago race, made arrangements for him to get into the American stock car racing scene. Hence, starting in 2024, van Gisbergen will start his first full-time season in the Xfinity Series.
Based on his past experiences and prowess to win in every series he has been a part of, there is no doubt that the Kiwi will make an impact and might even collect a couple of wins in his rookie year. SVG’s entry into NASCAR is currently one of the bigger headlines and he’ll surely have most of the eyeballs looking at him this year.
