Beginning what will be one of the top international racing stories in the 2024 season, three-time Supercar champion Shane van Gisbergen has touched down in America and is ready to embark on his NASCAR career.
Kaulig Racing and Trackhouse Racing announced today that van Gisbergen, the winner of the inaugural Chicago Street Race in his NASCAR debut in July, will race full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series driving the No. 97 Chevrolet Camaro with Kaulig Racing, while also driving in a minimum of seven Cup Series races in 2024.
The 34-year-old Auckland, New Zealand native landed in the United States Monday ready to take on the greatest racing challenge of his lifetime.
“After winning in Chicago, I could not stop thinking about racing full time in NASCAR,” said van Gisbergen who won Supercars Championships for the Australian Triple Eight Race Engineering team in 2016, 2021 and 2022.
“I am still stunned at how quickly this has all come together. I must thank the NASCAR industry and fans for embracing me and allowing me to chase this dream. I respect every driver who has put in the work to make it to the Cup Series, and I am ready to put in that same effort. I am anxious to get started.”
In addition to full Xfinity duties, van Gisbergen will participate in the following Cup races:
• Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin on March 24
• Talladega Superspeedway on April 21 and October 6
• Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 26
• Chicago Street Race on July 7
• Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International on Sept. 15
• Las Vegas Motor Speedway on October 20.
Trackhouse founder and owner Justin Marks brought van Gisbergen to NASCAR and Trackhouse last year as part of the team’s PROJECT91 program created to give international stars a chance to compete in the sport. Through PROJECT91, 2007 Formula One champion Kimi Raikkonen raced in NASCAR in 2022 and 2023.
“We know Shane will be incredibly competitive at the road course events in both the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity series, but we wanted to get him as much experience on NASCAR ovals as possible, so I am really excited about his 2024 schedule,” said Trackhouse Racing founder and owner Justin Marks. “Kaulig Racing has a history of winning in the Xfinity Series and as a fellow Chevrolet team, we are so thankful Matt Kaulig and Chris Rice see the potential in Shane that we see. The anticipation for this season is palpable.”
Van Gisbergen’s Chicago victory and 10th-place finish on the road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on August 13 are his only two Cup Series starts. His only other NASCAR experience came Aug. 11 at Indianapolis Raceway Park where he made his paved oval career debut. He kept a lead lap position until the final few laps, finishing 19th.
After taking over the lead from former Kaulig Racing driver Justin Haley at Chicago with five laps remaining, Van Gisbergen became one of six foreign-born drivers to win a Cup Series race and the first driver since Johnny Rutherford in 1963 to win his first Cup Series start. It was just the latest entry in a resume that includes three Supercar titles, 78 wins and 47 pole positions making him the fourth most successful driver in Supercar series history.
He also won the Bathurst 1000, the premier race in Australia, in 2020, 2022 and 2023.
Van Gisbergen joins a Kaulig Racing organization that has won two Cup races and 23 Xfinity races since the team’s inception in 2016. The Welcome, North Carolina team won the 2023 Bank of America ROVAL 400, as well as four Xfinity races with a variety of drivers. Van Gisbergen will join Kaulig Racing teammates Josh Williams, driver of the No. 11 Chevrolet and AJ Allmendinger, driver of the No. 16 in 2024 Xfinity season.
“We started our talks with Trackhouse about the possibility of putting SVG in a Xfinity car for a few races quite some time ago, and from there the talks evolved to discussions about how much it would cost to run a full season,” said Chris Rice, president of Kaulig Racing. “Once we knew we had an open seat for next season, it became the perfect scenario to put him in the car. We partner with Trackhouse’s pit crew department, and with their key support from Chevrolet, it made teaming up an easy decision.”
