Australian V8 Supercars champion-turned-NASCAR Cup Series winner on debut, Shane van Gisbergen, is one phenomenon set to take the stock car racing world by storm yet again. The Kiwi driver who rose to fame in America following his victory during the inaugural Chicago City Street Race recently announced his move to the big leagues — a year after his fairytale ending in ‘Windy City’.
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The 35-year-old has been announced as the full-time driver of Trackhouse Racing’s third charter for 2025. He will be piloting the #88 Chevrolet from next year — a number that was once driven by names such as Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Rusty Wallace.
Following the long tradition of bringing racing flavor from down under, Gisbergen becomes the first Supercars driver since Marcos Ambrose to compete in the sport.
Longest consecutive top 10 streak on road courses
1. Mark Martin – 16 races
2. Jeff Gordon – 12
3. Bobby Allison – 11
4. Marcos Ambrose – 10
5. Cale Yarborough – 10
6. Tony Stewart – 9
7. Chris Buescher – 8 (active)
8. Kyle Busch – 8
9. David Pearson – 8
10. Jimmie Johnson – 7 pic.twitter.com/vNwyAzofly— Trey Ryan (@TreyRyan99) August 10, 2023
SVG’s blockbuster career in Australia’s premier touring car series has earned him fans who will happily follow the Kiwi driver’s journey in NASCAR’s highest echelon, a welcome addition to the sport’s viewer base during an era when the governing body is looking to expand the sport to newer, younger fans.
Ever since his historic win in Chicago in 2023, the three-time Supercars champion has been cutting his teeth in the junior Xfinity Series preparing for what is outside his usual wheelhouse — Oval Racing. In the meantime, SVG has continued to blitz the field on road course races with two victories under his belt this year.
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Zane Smith’s alliance with Justin Marks’ Cup Series team comes to an end as a result of the New Zealand native’s future with Trackhouse Racing. Smith, who is driving for Spire Motorsports in the NASCAR Cup Series this year was one of the drivers in consideration to drive the racing outfit’s third charter.
Team owner Justin Marks elaborated on the reasoning behind picking SV over Smith and cited reasons surrounding the former’s brand value that he brings to the team over the likes of Smith. Gisbergen’s marketing cache could help the team rope in sponsors for races in a sport where eventually everything boils down to the economics of going racing.
“I think when we decide the drivers, it’s a big picture and we cast a wide net of certain qualifications,” Marks told Racer.com. “It’s a commercial sport, it’s fit in the company, it’s personality, all that, and we don’t have four cars, we have three. We had to make a decision. We’re excited about the decision we made with SVG.”
The only team like this.@JustinMarksTH | @shanevg97 pic.twitter.com/GD7Lp5jKvY
— Trackhouse Racing (@TeamTrackhouse) August 27, 2024
What also could come across as a masterstroke in terms of the dynamics of running a modern-day NASCAR team is how Gisbergen’s addition to Trackhouse Racing could virtually confirm one of the outfit’s three charters’ entries into the playoffs going forward. With Gisbergen’s chops on the twisty stuff of a road course, a guaranteed playoff berth could do wonders for team visibility as well as finances.
The same argument is further solidified when the current results of the team see Ross Chastain dwindling around the cutoff line despite similar performances to last year, albeit with no trips to victory lane.
For Shane van Gisbergen, the opportunity brings forth a chance to cast a name for himself to an extent no other foreign driver has achieved yet in the sport. The ultimate winners in this whole deal if you ask us? Stock car racing fans and NASCAR itself as a sport.
