Last July, Shane van Gisbergen (SVG) upended NASCAR’s Cup Series protocols by winning the series’ first-ever street race in downtown Chicago. The three-time Australian Supercars champion, who has plenty of experience racing on similar downtown circuits, competed with Trackhouse Racing’s PROJECT91, which offers NASCAR Cup Series rides for outstanding international drivers.
His success has brought the New Zealand native to the United States for a full year of NASCAR Xfinity Series competition, as well as a few NASCAR Cup Series competitions, as he embarks on the next phase of his exemplary racing career. In the Xfinity Series, van Gisbergen, 34, will pilot the No. 97 Chevrolet Camaro with Kaulig Racing, while also competing in at least seven Cup Series competitions in 2024.
“After winning in Chicago, I could not stop thinking about racing full time in NASCAR, he said. “I am still stunned at how quickly this has all come together,” van Gisbergen remarked. “I must thank the NASCAR industry and fans for embracing me and allowing me to chase this dream,” said the three-time Supercars champ, who earned those titles with Triple Eight Race Engineering in 2016, 2021 and 2022. “I respect every driver who has put in the work to make it to the Cup Series, and I am ready to put in that same effort. I am anxious to get started,” he said after alighting to North Carolina this past Monday.
Beyond his full Xfinity Series duties, van Gisbergen is racing in the following Cup Series contests: Circuit of the Americas (COTA) on March 24, Talladega Superspeedway on April 21 and October 6, Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 26, the Chicago street race on July 7, Watkins Glen International on September 15 and Las Vegas Motor Speedway on October 30.
Trackhouse Racing owner Justin Marks, who brought both van Gisbergen and 2007 Formula One champion Kimi Raikkonen to PROJECT91 said, “We know Shane will be incredibly competitive at the road course events in both the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity series, but we wanted to get him as much experience on NASCAR ovals as possible, so I am really excited about his 2024 schedule,
“Kaulig Racing has a history of winning in the Xfinity Series and, as a fellow Chevrolet team, we are so thankful Matt Kaulig and Chris Rice see the potential in Shane that we see. The anticipation for this season is palpable,” Marks declared. Kaulig Racing has earned two Cup Series victories and won 23 Xfinity Series contests since its 2016 inception. Based in Welcome, NC, the team won the 2023 Bank of America ROVAL 400, as well as four Xfinity races with a variety of drivers. Van Gisbergen joins Kaulig Racing teammates Josh Williams, who drives the No. 11 Chevrolet and AJ Allmendinger, who’s returning full-time to Xfinity competition in the No. 16 Camaro next season.
In 2023, van Gisbergen followed his Chicago victory with a 10th place result on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) road course on August 13. Those were his sole 2023 Cup Series starts. His only remaining 2023 NASCAR experience came at Indianapolis Raceway Park, where he made his paved oval career debut, keeping a lead lap position until the final few laps and earning a 19th place Xfinity Series result.
In Chicago, van Gisbergen took over the lead from former Kaulig Racing racer Justin Haley with five laps left in the contest, becoming one of six foreign-born racers to win a Cup Series contest and the first driver since Johnny Rutherford in 1963 to win his first Cup Series start, a 60-year gap! In addition to his trio of Supercars titles, van Gisbergen owns 80 wins and 48 pole positions; he is the fourth most successful driver in Supercars series history. SVG has also won the most famous and prestigious race in Australia, the Bathurst 1000, where he’s prevailed in 2020, 2022 and 2023.
Kaullg Racing’s president, Chris Rice said, “We started our talks with Trackhouse about the possibility of putting SVG in an Xfinity car for a few races quite some time ago, and from there the talks evolved to discussions about how much it would cost to run a full season. Once we knew we had an open seat for next season, it became the perfect scenario to put him in the car. We partner with Trackhouse’s pit crew department,” Rice noted, “and with their key support from Chevrolet, it made teaming up an easy decision.”
Trackhouse Racing announced that WeatherTech has signed on to serve as primary sponsor for a majority of SVG’s Xfinity and Cup Series entries in 2024, as well as sponsoring Trackouse development driver Zane Smith’s No. 71 Chevrolet fielded by Spire Motorsports. “I think everyone in the automotive and racing world knows WeatherTech and its commitment to motorsports over the years,” Justin Marks said. WeatherTech will serve as primary sponsor for 17 Xfinity races as well as four of SVG’s Cup Series contests, at COTA, Charlotte, Watkins Glen and the fall Talladega race.