What to expect from Shane van Gisbergen's full-time NASCAR move
Shane van Gisbergen took the NASCAR world by storm when he won the inaugural race on the streets of Chicago, which was his Cup Series debut. Now, the New Zealand native is coming to the states full-time.
van Gisbergen, 34, will be competing across all three of NASCAR's top series in 2024, and ideally will run full-time in Cup at some point. He has already run additional races in 2023 at the Indianapolis Road Course in Cup (finished 10th) and Indianapolis Raceway Park in the Truck Series (19th).
The move to NASCAR from Australia's Supercars Series, where van Gisbergen is a three-time champion, is not an unprecedented one. In the late 2000s, Marcos Ambrose made the same leap of faith, and had a reasonably successful Cup career between 2008-14.
Ambrose won twice at the Cup level, at Watkins Glen in 2011 and 2012, and had five additional wins in what's now the Xfinity Series. He was one of the premier road racers in the field and also put together some solid performances on oval tracks, despite never winning on one. It's not unreasonable to think "SVG" could do the same.
van Gisbergen will undoubtedly need some time to learn the art of the stock car oval, as proven by his Truck debut. That's what he'll be primarily focused on in 2024, but if there's anything we already know about SVG, it's that he's a quick learner.
Don't be surprised if van Gisbergen makes the jump to full-time Cup racing by 2025, and with now six road courses on the schedule and the "win-and-you're-in" championship format, don't be surprised if he's able to mix it up for a playoff spot on at least a few occasions. He may be getting a late start, but he's already a proven winner.
At the very least, we hope that NASCAR's TV announcers will be able to learn how to pronounce his name.
More must-reads: