Shane Van Gisbergen is currently preparing for his first full-time Cup Series season after a successful stint in the Xfinity Series. His remarkable success in NASCAR is attributable to Trackhouse Racing’s Project 91 program through which he made his debut in 2023. The one question that pops up in mind when looking at the progress that he has made is if Project 91 is ready to introduce its next superstar.
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The program came into existence in 2022 as a dream project of Trackhouse Racing’s owner Justin Marks. He wanted to make use of the parity that the Next Gen car brought to the sport and introduce capable drivers from all over the world to NASCAR. The first name that he flew across the seas was former Formula 1 champion Kimi Raikkonen.
Van Gisbergen then came into the picture and hyped up the program to the skies. Marks said when asked about the future of it during the recent Race Industry Week,
“Project91 is certainly not dead. I would expect to see that on the race track sooner rather than later. What I love about it is… it’s like our first Project91 graduate.” He sure is proud of the New Zealander’s journey to the highest echelons.
The success story has simultaneously caused some of the best drivers around the world to be interested in participating in stock car racing. Marks explained,
“I mean, a ton of opportunity. I get phone calls all the time from some of the greatest drivers around the world about coming and doing it. That’s really exciting for us.” He continued to reason why the program wasn’t active in 2024.
Why Project 91 did not introduce a new driver in 2024
Shane van Gisbergen’s initial performance in the Cup Series made it clear that he was going to be able to challenge for wins every week. But he still had to get trained in the art of racing on oval tracks. Marks decided to do this by sticking him in the Xfinity Series for a year.
He still brought him to the Cup Series for sporadic appearances this season to keep him in touch with the demands of the top tier. This is why he couldn’t focus on Project 91.
He said, “The only reason that it wasn’t on the race track this year is that we just had so much going on with the third car that we prepared for a few races for SVG. Then helping him over at Kaulig.”
“Kind of all this stuff going on. We just didn’t really have the bandwidth or time for it.” Now that Trackhouse Racing is set to be a three-car team in 2025, Marks has assured that Project 91 will be seen on the track sooner rather than later.
