Last year, the Trackhouse Racing Team launched an ambitious program called Project 91. The objective was to recruit a top racing driver from any motorsport discipline and give them a taste of NASCAR. Former F1 world champion Kimi Raikkonen was the first driver to be part of the project, competing in one race in 2022. In the following year, the Finnish veteran was back in action for one more race, and on both occasions, he competed on road courses. However, a handful of races later, the #91 car was back, but a different driver was behind the wheel. That driver was none other than V8 Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen.

When the New Zealand native competed in his first race, he definitely made an impact. He made his debut at the Chicago Street Course, which was also making its own debut in the NASCAR Cup Series. Amazingly, Van Gisbergen went on to stun everybody and win the race. Thanks to that, he pretty much became an overnight sensation in the NASCAR community.

Later on during the season, he competed at the Indianapolis road course and finished in a respectable 10th place. Now that he has gotten a taste of NASCAR, the Supercars Champion seems hooked and cannot wait to be back on American shores in the future.

Brickyard will not be the last that anyone sees of Shane van Gisbergen

The good news for NASCAR fans is that the Kiwi driver will be back on the Cup Series grid in 2024. Once again, he will be in the Trackhouse Racing stable for Project 91 for a limited number of races. The best part is that van Gisbergen has inked a deal to compete in various races across all three divisions. Admittedly, though, there could be other drivers who could be given a shot at competing with Project 91. However, van Gisbergen is already penciled in for a fair few races and he could spoil the party for a few.

Amidst all this, the 34-year-old has confessed that he is targeting a full-time NASCAR Cup career. Having won three V8 Supercars championships, the driver will be eager for a new challenge. However, if he does compete full time, there will be a few challenges lying ahead.

The first and most important challenge will be adapting to oval racing. After all, van Gisbergen has only competed on road courses, so he could face a tough challenge.

In his excitement to compete on a more permanent basis, he told Speedcafe, “It sounds like I’m going to be doing a lot of races. When they said that it’s be a part-time schedule – maybe 20 races – you know, it’s more than what we do here full-time. I want to get as much experience as I can and hopefully be in the Cup Series in ‘25.”

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How did the New Zealand driver earn his 24 hours of fame?

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Frankly, a rookie driver going up against seasoned NASCAR drivers was always going to be intimidating. However, the V8 Supercars champion took it all in stride and was up for the challenge. It all started when he qualified in an impressive third place, behind pole-sitter Denny Hamlin and 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick. What probably helped Shane van Gisbergen was the fact that this was a brand-new track in NASCAR.

Since everyone was still learning about the Chicago Street Course, even the regulars didn’t have an advantage. But Van Gisbergen, due to his further exploits, was familiar with driving stock cars on road courses, which probably gave him an edge. Furthermore, when race day arrived, the heavens opened, and the drivers were greeted with a soaking wet track. This worked in his favor, as he was able to master the conditions and pull off an unexpected victory. His triumph was one of the few bright spots in a dismal year for Trackhouse Racing.

He stuck around in the top five during the early stages of the race. However, the situation got complicated after the 100-lap race was shortened to 75, owing to fading daylight. Owing to that, the front-runners scrambled to pit first and found themselves languishing in the midfield, with cars who stopped earlier. Shane van Gisbergen was among the many who were caught out. Soon, an opportunity presented itself when Kevin Harvick crashed and tried to rejoin the track. Unfortunately, he rejoined at the narrowest section and essentially became a roadblock. The Kiwi driver managed to squeeze past and make up positions.

Shane van Gisbergen is keen to kick-start his NASCAR career

Currently, the veteran V8 Supercars driver is battling for his fourth title. He lies in 2nd place on 2565 points, with two rounds remaining at the Adelaide Street Circuit. The points leader is none other than van Gisbergen’s fellow NASCAR debutant, Brodie Kostecki. The Adelaide race will be the Kiwi driver’s final runs with his current Triple Eight Race Engineering team. After that, Will Brown is set to take over his seat while van Gisbergen pursues a NASCAR career.

Aside from a Cup Series career, the driver also plans to compete in the Truck and Xfinity Series. He already got his first taste of the Truck series earlier this year, thanks to Niece Motorsports giving him one race in their truck. During the Truck race at the Indianapolis Raceway Park, he finished in a respectable 19th place. Meanwhile, in Cup Series, on the same weekend, he managed to finish in the Top 10.

One thing is for sure, Trackhouse Racing has really struck gold with a driver of this caliber. Van Gisbergen boasts of an astounding 81 race wins in the V8 Supercars championship, to go with his three titles. He also has a 176 podiums and 48 pole positions and is aiming for a hat-trick of championships. Considering that he has five wins this season, with two races left, he could be in with a shot for his fourth title and third in a row.

As things stand, the odds are in his favor, and while he might not come all guns blazing into NASCAR next year, as he did at Chicago, fans can still expect him to do great things and be among the top runners.

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