Kiwi speedster Shane van Gisbergen had a successful NASCAR Xfinity debut with Kaulig Racing. With multiple race wins and a playoff appearance, he certainly exceeded expectations and delivered the goods, finishing the season 12th in the overall standings. Well, SVG has big plans for the 2025 season as he is moving up in the Cup Series with Trackhouse Racing. But, before he embarked on this journey, he had plans to visit his home country to have some off-time.

Now, the off-season doesn’t necessarily mean drivers take a break from racing, but they get to enjoy non-NASCAR racing events. And that is exactly what SVG has indulged himself in. In doing so, he also made sure that he settled the unfinished business from last year’s event.

Shane van Gisbergen reigns and gets the job done on the dirt

SVG had previously announced that he would be returning to New Zealand to compete in sprint car races. He has a packed schedule from December 14 to January 4, where he is going to compete across seven races. However, he made time out of his busy schedule and participated in a dirt endurance race in Australia. This race holds the Guinness World Record for most participants in a single race, and last time around, SVG finished second in the SADDA Round 4 feature.

This year, SVG participated in the Round 5 feature and raced his way to victory in a race that lasted three hours. Interestingly, the Choice Performance race car had the same number, #97, for this event, and SVG made sure he parked the car in the victory lane. From coming oh so close to clinching the win last year to now completing the job, winning the race was a big achievement for the Trackhouse Racing star.

Taking to Instagram, the 35-year-old penned down his experience competing in the endurance race. “SADDA Round 5 was a ripper. Epic turnout of cars and drivers. Great racing all day!! Excellent result for the Choice Performance #97 winning the big trophy in the 3 Hour Endurance race. Cheers.” Well, now we know that Shane van Gisbergen’s racing talents are not just limited to road courses and ovals; he is a dirt racing maestro as well.

Apart from enjoying his time with dirt racing, SVG is also making some smart moves to prepare for the 2025 NASCAR season.

SVG is looking to poach some crew members from his ex-team

It’s no secret that Trackhouse Racing and the No. 97 will be on a hunt to secure as many road course wins as they can get in 2025. Although the likes of Chase Elliott, A.J. Allmendinger, and Tyler Reddick have been formidable on the road course, SVG’s entry will shake things up. Now that the Kiwi driver has secured his ride, he is on a mission to find the best possible hands to work on his race team.

The #97 team has picked up staff from the defunct Stewart Haas Racing team, while others have come from Spire Motorsports. Stephen Doran, who was at Spire working with Zane Smith, will be leading the charge as the crew chief for SVG in 2025. However, he is looking to add more strength to the team and is open to bringing his former crew members from the Triple Eight race team.

“I’d love to have a couple of guys come over and join me. There are certainly a lot of similarities with the Cup car on road courses that we could really learn from Supercars guys and try to bring those ideas across and really bolster our team. We’ve got some great guys here, but it would be good to have some road course-focused guys and build up that program.” SVG was quoted saying this to Speedcafe.

Shane van Gisbergen certainly knows his best shot at a successful 2025 outing is through road courses. And he will leave no stone unturned to further enhance his skills and abilities before the start of the new season.