The light shines stronger on Shane van Gisbergen every time NASCAR visits the Chicago Street Course. That’s because the Australian Supercars import shocked the world by winning the inaugural race on the circuit in 2023 in his debut Cup Series race. Now that the haulers are lined up in the Windy City once again, conversations are swirling around his name and impact.
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SVG’s success has led multiple Australian Supercars drivers to try a hand at stock car racing. The defending champion from the land down under, Will Brown, is one of them. Set to start from 19th place on Sunday for Kaulig Racing, he was asked if fans in Australia are worried that NASCAR will pry away the most treasured Supercars drivers from them.
Brown admitted that there have been comments about it, but he was unable to provide an opinion from a fan’s perspective. However, he did say, “It’s been great for us because it’s Monday morning. A lot of us wake up in the morning and watch Shane. Nearly everyone in our team definitely does, and a lot of fans, every Monday, are watching NASCAR. So, that’s been amazing.”
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Seeing established drivers like SVG and Brown dive into a foreign series might be a tough pill to swallow for everyday Australian fans. But it does come with some advantages. Brown continued, “I think losing Shane from our series was a hit at the time. But there’s been a lot of young guys come up through and sort of take that place and be really competitive now.”
Will Brown make a permanent move to NASCAR?
The Chicago Street Course race is Brown’s second race in the Cup Series. He raced for Richard Childress Racing at Sonoma last season but delivered an underwhelming result following electrical issues in his car. The hope is that he’ll showcase his full potential this time around in the No. 13 Chevrolet that Kaulig Racing has geared up for him.
Should he produce an impressive result and sponsors become interested in him, will he opt to stay in NASCAR as a full-time driver? The chances are low. Brown clarified to the media earlier this year that he has no intention of following SVG to become a permanent driver in the NASCAR scene since he is comfortable racing back home.
Brown said, “I’m pretty comfortable here in Australia, I actually took Shane’s seat when he left, so I’m very glad that he went Stateside, I was happy to see him go…
“Right now for me, it’s kind of scratching an itch, it’s going over there, competing against some of the best in the world, seeing how I fare against them, and trying to do the Aussies proud.”
That said, he did acknowledge that a solid decision can’t be made until offers are on the table. The first step towards getting them is to recreate what SVG did at the circuit in 2023.
