Superscars champion likely heading to various NASCAR events in 2024
Shane van Gisbergen shocked the NASCAR world when he entered his first ever NASCAR Cup Series race on the Streets of Chicago. He parked it in victory lane, becoming to first driver in to win in his debut since 1963.
The driver is a 34-year-old from New Zealand. He’s run 501 races in Supercars competition, claiming 80 wins and three championship. His most recent title came in 2022.
Since winning in Chicago, Shane van Gisbergen has expressed interesting in joining the world of NASCAR full-time. He’s taken steps toward making that happen as he ran a NASCAR Truck Series race at Indianapolis Raceway Park over the weekend.
He likely wouldn’t jump right into full-time Cup Series racing. Instead, he’s looking for a 2024 schedule that includes a lot of learning across ARCA, Trucks, Xfinity and Cup.
And, now the first step of that process is out of the way. Red Bull Ampol Racing, his Supercars team has officially released van Gisbergen from his 2024 contract with the team. Since Chicago, the team has stated they would allow him to pursue his dreams in America….
Red Bull Ampol Racing releases Shane van Gisbergen from Supercars contract
“Triple Eight Race Engineering is thrilled to announce the signing of Will Brown who will join Red Bull Ampol Racing from 2024 on a three-year deal,” Red Bull Ampol Racing opened in a statement.
“The 25-year-old is a proven race winner and one of the category’s most exciting talents, and the team look forward to celebrating this exciting new partnership in January 2024.”
“The announcement comes as the team has agreed to allow Shane ‘SVG’ van Gisbergen to explore his dreams to race in overseas categories in 2024 and beyond.”
Shane van Gisbergen could exit Supercars contract for NASCAR
Justin Marks laid out the blueprint
“We have to be very, very calculated and intelligent about how we build a program for him,” Marks told NBC Sports.
“If he wants to come do this full-time, it doesn’t make sense to just win the Chicago race, come run 10th (at Indy) and then just go Cup racing full-time.”
“Darlington and Dover, 600 miles at Charlotte, 500 laps at Bristol, those are lifts for someone who’s never done that kind of thing before, so we have to be really smart about how we build the program around him.
“Trackhouse is a NASCAR Cup Series team. We’re not an Xfinity team, we’re not a Truck team, we’re not an ARCA team, so we have to lean on partners in how we sort of build that program, which is sort of what we’re in the middle of right now.”
Shane van Gisbergen explains why he has lost interest in the Supercars Series
“It has been a bit of a struggle there with the way the series is at the moment,” Shane van Gisbergen stated via the Dale Jr Download.
“Where it’s not as enjoyable. Oh, just the new car and stuff. They changed it.”
“A whole new chassis and concept, everyone’s the same. Same parts. It’s very similar to here.”
“The qualifying there is awesome. But, the racing sucks. It’s so boring. You’re driving around at 30% trying to keep the tires. And everyone’s just following each other.”
“All the parts are the same. And, the car’s got a very narrow setup under it. Everyone’s running the same setup, basically.”
“And, there’s a minimum tire pressure rule of 17lbs. So everyone goes out on 17. They come on at the same time, drive around at the same time. And the tire just explodes because it’s running too high.”
“I come here and the race is just a hustle the whole time. Just driving, flat out. That’s what I love.”
“Fundamentally, [Supercars] it’s an awesome car. It needs time, changes and it’ll come.”
Shane van Gisbergen compares NASCAR to Supercars
Supercars and the Next Gen era of NASCAR have a lot of similarities, likely helping with the transition to the new racing discipline.
“They are in some parts with the way the chassis is,” Shane van Gisbergen compared the Next Gen car to Supercars via the Dale Jr Download.
“So, it’s the same between everyone. All the components are the same and the front and rear clips.”
“They’re pretty similar in some ways. But, the weight of the car is 300 kilos, I think. They’re so much heavier. The tires, much wider and all the downforce underneath them, with the underbody. Whereas ours is on the top, with the big wing.”
“The way they drive an d react is very different. Especially because of the spook diff we have. Like, our cars don’t turn. You’re constantly trying to get turn in them.”
“These cars, it looks like you’re trying to get rear grip on exit with all the power.”
“Very different. But, I guess the overall concept is similar.”
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Red Bull Ampol Racing | Shane van Gisbergen | NASCAR Chicago | NASCAR | Supercars
