(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)
By Aaron Bearden
Chicago Street Course winner Shane van Gisbergen is coming back to NASCAR for a Midwest encore.
Trackhouse Racing announced Wednesday night that van Gisbergen, 34, will return to the Cup Series for the Aug. 13 Verizon 200 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. The three-time Supercars champ will again join the team’s special Project 91 entry, meant to showcase global talents in NASCAR.
Van Gisbergen stole the show in his Chicago debut, qualifying third and mounting a late charge through the field to win in a darkness-shortened race. It was the first win for a driver on debut in over six decades.
“I never dreamed this could have all rolled out this way,” van Gisbergen said in a team release. “Just getting to race in NASCAR is an opportunity I never thought I would get, but then to win and get another chance this year is beyond anything I imagined.
“I can’t thank (Trackhouse founder and owner) Justin Marks, everyone at Trackhouse Racing and NASCAR for this opportunity. Everyone in NASCAR welcomed me to Chicago and it’s been awesome to see how big the reception from that race has been around the world. I am honored to be part of it.”
Marks echoed the excitement for van Gisbergen’s return, calling him a “world-class talent” and saying both the team and fans of NASCAR benefit from his return. “I don’t think I am being overly dramatic when I say the entire motorsports world will be watching the No. 91 Chevrolet at Indianapolis,” he said.
The Kiwi’s return comes at a time when he is rumored for a full-time leap to NASCAR, possibly as soon as next year. Van Gisbergen vowed to honor his one-year commitment to Triple Eight Race Engineering in Supercars after his Chicago win, but team principal Jamie Whincup has expressed openness to releasing him early so he can chase a NASCAR dream.
“He’s only contractually bound to us for next year,” Whincup told Fox Sports. “But me sitting here right now, of course I’m trying to run the business as well as I possibly can, and I need the best drivers – but if any driver, engineer, employee came to me and said, ‘hey, my dream is to go to the other side of the world and do something else’ then I’m not going to stand in their way, am I?”
“No doubt we’re going to have some discussions the next month or so and work out what (van Gisbergen) wants to do,” he later continued. “He has certainly got my praise, whatever he wants to do, and we’re going to support him all the way.”
All Star Showdown
The arrival of van Gisbergen adds to an already-stacked field of drivers planning a crossover run at the Brickyard. Richard Childress Racing announced earlier in the week that fellow Supercars ace Brodie Kostecki will pilot its No. 33 Chevrolet in the race. Kostecki currently sits second in the Supercars standings, ahead of van Gisbergen and trailing only teammate Will Brown.
Sports car ace Kamui Kobayashi will also be present. The Japanese star will compete for 23XI Racing, piloting its No. 67 Toyota in the event. Kobayashi, 36, is a two-time FIA World Endurance Championship winner with victories in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and Rolex 24 at Daytona.
Both Kostecki and Kobayashi will be making their Cup debuts in the race. They’ll be joined by 2009 Formula 1 champion Jenson Button, who will make his third start of the year in a partnership between Rick Ware Racing and Stewart-Haas Racing. Button qualified top-10 at Chicago and has shown pace, though he’s finished 18th and 21st in the race.
The Briton also participated in NASCAR’s Garage 56 entry for Le Mans, piloting the special entrant alongside Mike Rockenfeller and Jimmie Johnson before giving it a final run last weekend in the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
Former full-time NTT IndyCar Series competitor Conor Daly was also announced to be contesting the event as part of his limited schedule with TMT Racing in February. Daly has made three Cup starts, with a best finish of 29th in the season-opening Daytona 500.
