Van Gisbergen rocked the NASCAR world when he won on debut in the inaugural Cup race at the Chicago Street Course in July, driving the Project91 entry for Trackhouse Racing.
He became the first driver in 60 years to win in his first-ever Cup Series start. The New Zealander followed it up with a top-ten finish at the Indianapolis RC, becoming the first driver to open their Cup career with back-to-back top-tens since Terry Labonte did so in 1978.
He also made his Truck Series debut at IRP last month, finishing 19th with Niece Motorsports.
In 2024, SVG will join Trackhouse’s developmental program, which will see him race across all three national divisions of the sport in select races. He will also run “some late model and other races,” per the team.
“This announcement means so many things to me,” said the 34-year-old in a release from the team. “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.
“I’m so thankful to everyone who has played a role in my career so far, especially Triple Eight Race Engineering, and looking forward to finishing our year with a few more highlights!
“It is time for a new challenge and this adventure into NASCAR will be the biggest challenge of my career and one I’m really looking forward to. I want to thank Justin Marks (Trackhouse founder and owner) and everyone at Trackhouse Racing who have taken a chance on me and given me this opportunity. I’m excited to get to America and getting the season started.”
Race winner Shane van Gisbergen, Trackhouse Racing, Chevrolet Camaro
Photo by: David Rosenblum / NKP / Motorsport Images
Exact details of his 2024 schedule have yet to be released, but the goal seems to be all about getting Van Gisbergen up to speed as fast as possible.
“This is going to be a tremendous challenge for Shane but he is a tremendous driver as we have all seen,” said Trackhouse Racing team founder Justin Marks. “Next year will be about getting him acclimated to oval track racing, superspeedways, 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 currently fields two full-time Cup cars with Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez. They do not have any teams in the lower NASCAR divisions.
But before heading over to America, Van Gisbergen still has a title fight to settle in Supercars. He is 137pts adrift of championship leader Brodie Kostecki with the endurance rounds just ahead, beginning with the Sandown 500 this weekend.