Trackhouse Racing has just made one of the biggest moves in NASCAR, as they have officially landed New Zealand's Shane van Gisbergen for the foreseeable future starting in 2024.
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The V8 supercar driver burst onto the NASCAR scene earlier this year when he made his Cup Series debut in the Chicago Street Race, which he won.
NEWS: SVG is coming to America!
He’ll race in a combination of @NASCAR’s three national series in 2024.@shanevg97 | #ThisIsTrackhouse pic.twitter.com/wvoRF7PEn9
— Trackhouse Racing (@TeamTrackhouse) September 14, 2023
It was long rumored that van Gisbergen was going to make the jump to the United States, and race in NASCAR. The news was made official this week. The deal with Trackhouse will see van Gisbergen make starts across all three of the top NASCAR series.
van Gisbergen was thrilled to get the deal done, and he mentioned how important it was in a team statement released on NASCAR.com.
"This announcement means so many things to me," van Gisbergen said. "I'm proud of what I have achieved here in Australia, but I'm excited by this new chapter in my career and the opportunities that it brings."
Trackhouse Owner Justin Marks had been saying for this to work for SVG it was going to have to be a team like Trackhouse. Marks was thrilled they got this deal done but also made sure to talk about how many challenges SVG has ahead of him.
"This is going to be a tremendous challenge for Shane but he is a tremendous driver as we have all seen," Marks said. "Next year will be about getting him acclimated to oval-track racing, super speedways, 1.5-mile tracks, and everything he has never experienced in his career. It's obviously going to be a learning process, but we think Shane will perform quite well."
Trackhouse took a chance on him in Chicago, and it paid off, who's to say this won't pay off in the end? SVG has a lot to learn, but one thing is for sure, he can drive these next-gen cars, proven by his two cup starts that have both resulted in top 10 or better finishes.