Van Gisbergen shocked by NASCAR rise

Shane van Gisbergen has admitted he is surprised by how quickly he has been able to secure a full time NASCAR Cup Series drive.

Even before the Playoffs have begun, van Gisbergen has been locked in to race the #88 Camaro for Trackhouse Racing in the entire 2025 NASCAR Cup Series.

It comes just 22 races into his first 33-race NASCAR Xfinity Series campaign where the Kiwi has already notched up three road course victories.

Van Gisbergen has also added six Cup Series starts since his iconic win on the streets of Chicago last year.

After Marcos Ambrose took two years to rise through the ranks to the Cup Series, van Gisbergen revealed his surprise at how quickly things had fallen into place.

Shane Van Gisbergen’s last Cup Series race at Daytona ended with an engine failure last weekend. Image: Matthew T. Thacker / NKP / LAT Images

“It’s been a pretty awesome 18 months, and a huge life change,” van Gisbergen said.

“Everything he (Trackhouse owner Justin Marks) has said will happen has happened. 

“I never thought it would happen this quickly, and I’m very glad we’ve done the learning this year in Xfinity. 

“Kaulig Racing has been great to work with, and also a lot more races to finish the year now. 

“It’s been a huge learning experience, but I’m just excited to get full time in the Cup Series next year. 

“I have a lot of work to do and it’s not going to be easy, that’s for sure. But, I’ll keep pushing and hopefully fit in pretty well next year. I can’t wait.”

Shane Van Gisbergen celebrating his Chicago Xfinity Series victory. Photo by Matthew T. Thacker / NKP / LAT Images

Van Gisbergen follows in the footsteps of not only fellow Supercars champion Ambrose, but also former Formula 1 star Juan Pablo Montoya, who went from quitting McLaren to making his NASCAR Cup Series debut in the same year in 2006.

“It’s a different world, and you’re still car racing but it’s a completely different sport,” van Gisbergen said. 

“There are two recent examples of people I guess that came through – Marcos Ambrose and Juan Pablo (Montoya) – similar backgrounds.

“Juan did three or four races in Xfinity and then full time in the Cup. Marcos took it the slower route, so we’re kind of in between. 

“I think the way we’ve done this is the right way with all of the processes and even though the Xfinity car is very, very different to a Cup car, I think it was 100% worth it. 

“Learning all of the tracks, all of the places, the terminology, metric versus imperial, that’s been tough. 

“It’s a massive learning era, but I’ve just got to keep building on it and keep improving every week.”

Marks explained that van Gisbergen can be a “Playoff contender” in his rookie season thanks to his road course ability.

Shane Van Gisbergen in the Marcos Ambrose tribute livery during the NASCAR Xfinity Series event at Darlington Raceway. Photo by John K Harrelson / NKP / LAT Images

“There’s not a lot of experience in the Cup Series, some unknowns, a lot of hard work, but Shane checks a lot of boxes for a really, really compelling story and building great business for this sport,” Marks explained. 

“I think it’s the fact he’s incredibly talented. He’s really dedicated. 

“There’s a reason why he was the first one to win on debut since Johnny Rutherford in 1963. That’s a big thing. 

“Obviously, the Chicago Street Race is kind of in his wheelhouse, but the rate of adaptability of everything else, just the competition, the restarts, the pit stops, the way he prepared for that race, this is a superstar. 

“This is somebody we were really excited about committing to knowing that’s a relatively unconventional path to a Cup car. 

“But we wouldn’t be doing it if we didn’t think this guy couldn’t win lots and lots of Cup races and be a Playoff contender. 

Shane van Gisbergen running right behind winner Austin Hill, and runner up Chandler Smith on his way to his best oval finish of third at Atlanta. Photo by Nigel Kinrade / NKP / LAT Images

“He checked a lot of boxes for us and everyone in the company is really excited for it.”

Whilst he will be transitioning from the Xfinity to the Cup Series in 2024, Van Gisbergen said he still hopes to race regularly in the second tier to continue his fact-finding missions on the ovals especially.

“I hope so. Obviously, there will be speaking with Chris and the Kaulig team and there’s opportunities to do the road courses, but to me, that’s the easy stuff,” he said.

“I want to do more ovals with them and learn in both ways.

“Hopefully, we’ll race with them next year and win some road courses but hopefully, they’ll let me do some ovals and I can keep getting more experience.”

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