Shane van Gisbergen has thoroughly impressed the NASCAR community. Getting his first Cup Series victory on the Chicago Street Circuit, too, in his debut race, is nothing but incredible. This performance. put the Kiwi in the limelight, making him a driver to watch out for. Following that, his 2024 campaign in the Xfinity series has been equally impressive, with him bagging the most wins (3) so far in the season.

The unique part of his Xfinity run this season is that all his wins have come on road courses like Portland, Sonoma, and Chicago. Leading to his coronation as the king of the road course. The Kiwi has also excelled on ovals, securing a P3 finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway or a more recent P4 finish at Indianapolis. Shane van Gisbergen has left everyone in awe of his versatility, including Trackhouse owner Justin Marks, who now wants him to run in the Chilli Bowl too.

Owing to his remarkable success in the Xfinity Series, Trackhouse has recently promoted him to the Cup Series for the 2025 season. The organization has expanded its operations by adding a new team and will compete with the No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, driven by van Gisbergen. Experienced crew chief Stephen Doran will lead the team.

Justin Marks, however, doesn’t want his racing talent to stop there. The Trackhouse owner is determined to put Shane van Gisbergen into a midget car. According to Gisbergen, Marks is eager to field him in the Chilli Bowl Nationals next year. However, the #97 driver thinks he’ll be at a disadvantage because of his big stature and the small size of a midget car.

SVG dwelled on this in a recent interview with Speed Cafe; he said, “Justin’s keen to do it, and obviously I did some midget racing. It’s pretty hard for a big fella to drive those cars. I spoke to Kyle Busch about it, because he did the Tulsa shootout, the micro cars the week before, and it’s tough. There’s no rules in Chilli Bowl either. You know, they’re all lightweight cars, lightweight drivers, so you’re at a huge disadvantage being over 60 kilos.”

Marks is confident that SVG will become a dominant force in the Cup. After the announcement, he even said, “It’s also a big step up for Shane who took a chance on Trackhouse Racing, moved here from New Zealand and now joins the most competitive stock car racing series in the world. Everyone will get to watch one of the world’s racing superstars compete in the NASCAR Cup Series next year.” 

Shane van Gisbergen is, however, excited to try it and might do some test runs in the coming months. The Kiwi won’t be the first one from NASCAR to race in the Chilli Bowl. You’ve got NASCAR and IndyCar stars, even international drivers from Canada, Australia, and New Zealand coming in for the action. Christopher Bell, who drives for Joe Gibbs Racing, has won it three times, and Kyle Larson, the NASCAR champ, has taken the trophy twice. He won the prestigious race back to back in 2020 and 2021.

It’s a big deal in the racing world to win this iconic race. Fans are in full support of Trackhouse Racing’s plans, as they think SVG can excel in it, adding a new chapter to his versatility.

Fans believe Shane Van Gisbergen can conquer it all

Shane van Gisbergen had previously spoken about his plans to compete in Sprintcar, racing over the New Zealand summer after completing his NASCAR commitments. He has previous Sprintcar experience, including a victory in Palmerston North in January 2023. “But I plan to race Speedway in New Zealand. I want to come back at the end of the year and hopefully race some Sprintcars again, but pretty early in January is the Chili Bowl, so maybe there is a possibility I’d do that. I’d love to do it, but it’s not easy,” SVG had said.  

Although Gisbergen keeps reiterating that getting into a midget would be tough for him, fans think he’ll do just fine. One fan wrote, “He’d actually do fine, chili bowl probably would be more his wheelhouse than say Port Royal or Knoxville.”

Despite the #97 concerns about midgets, this wouldn’t be the first time he’ll be getting in a smaller car. Shane van Gisbergen participated in a midget race in 2020 but was forced to withdraw from the competition because of the orders of his Supercars team. However, fans are excited for his return, “That’s awesome!” Another fan echoed the same emotions and wants to just keep seeing more and more of SVG in all racing formats. The fan wrote, “Cool! Maybe SVG will do a WoO/ High Limit race next.”

Fans suggested Shane van Gisbergen take pointers from Larson. Larson and the Kiwi have good relations on and off the track. Larson has been a pioneer in crowning him the undisputed road course king, “Him and Larson have been helping each other a lot with each other’s weaknesses so I’m sure he’ll have some good pointers and advice going into it.”

When we talk about versatility, Kyle Larson is probably the first one that pops into the head. Recently, he’s also declared himself the best all-around driver against Formula One’s Max Verstappen. SVG has time and again shown his ability to adapt first Supercars, then NASCAR.

Now some are suggesting that he go conquer F1, as there are some recent vacancies in one team there. One fan on these lines took a humorous turn and wrote, “SVG heard the debate over best driver in the world was between Larson and Verstappen and he got offended that he wasn’t included.”

Do you think SVG will dominate the Cup next season? Let us know in the comments below.