Shane van Gisbergen is drawing some inspiration from the land Down Under for this Saturday’s Crown Royal Purple Bag Project 200 at Darlington Raceway.
Trackhouse Racing announced Monday that van Gisbergen’s No. 97 Chevrolet will honor former NASCAR driver and Australian native Marcos Ambrose.
Ambrose, who last competed in a NASCAR race in 2014, enjoyed a highly decorated career in the Supercars Championship, like van Gisbergen. Ambrose won back-to-back titles in 2003 and ’04, winning 28 races and tallying 66 podiums. He made the transition to NASCAR full-time in 2007, winning five Xfinity and two Cup Series races.
After taking part in two Cup Series races last season, van Gisbergen made the move to America full-time for the 2024 campaign. The 34-year-old is running a full-time schedule in the Xfinity Series and a part-time schedule in the Cup Series for Kaulig Racing in collaboration with Trackhouse.
Shane van Gisbergen out for All-Star Race after earning eligibility into event
In two Cup Series starts this season, van Gisbergen finished P20 at the Circuit of The Americas (COTA) and P28 at Talladega. The New Zealand native currently sits 15th in the Xfinity Series points standings, picking up a season-best P3 result at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
van Gisbergen will not participate in the NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro on May 19, Kelly Crandall of RACER reported last week. He earned eligibility into the event after winning the Chicago Street Race last season, but Trackhouse needed to enter a third car for him alongside Ross Chastain and Daniel Suárez.
Speaking with Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports back in March, van Gisbergen opened up about making the transition to NASCAR.
“It’s been awesome — every moment and all the people have been nice,” he said. “The racing’s been good and the feeling of putting my helmet on every week being nervous and not having anticipation [for results] and just not knowing what’s happening is a cool feeling. I like being out of my comfort zone at the moment.”
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