Shane Van Gisbergen Opens Up About Following the Footsteps of International Motorsports Legends in NASCAR

Shane van Gisbergen is ready to make his mark in NASCAR full-time after his exploits in Supercars Championship. After his NASCAR Cup Series debut for Trackhouse Racing, the racer also became the first New Zealand NASCAR winner after triumphing at Grant Park Chicago driving the No. 91. The whole NASCAR experience can be overwhelming at times and one needs someone to guide through it when embarking on a maiden call-up. For Gisbergen it has been two-time Cup Series winner, Marcos Ambrose.

Ambrose is the first Australian to have clinched a Cup Series race win, so he and Gisbergen have something in common as they hail from the same continent of the world. Despite having back-to-back top tens in his debut run, the 34-year-old Kiwi has yet to taste the full Cup Series experience and has a great example to follow in Ambrose. However, Gisbergen will have to hold his horses as he has another challenge awaiting him.

Shane van Gisbergen aspires to have a similar Cup Series experience as Marcos Ambrose

In what has been a brief spell in the Cup Series, Gisbergen has also racked up some records. After his debut win in Chicago, he went on to score his second top-ten finish in just his second outing, making him the first since Terry Labonte in 1978 to have achieved this feat. Now with Xfinity Series in sight, who knows if he might continue his miracle run here as well.

While attending a media briefing via Peter Stratta’s YouTube channel, Gisbergen talked about how quickly things moved and how he had to move his entire family to the States. The Cup Series in 2025 is his ultimate goal but a fresh adventure in Xfinity awaits him. While it won’t be his first time racing in America, the dynamics of now being a full-time driver for Kaulig Racing certainly is a huge step up. Taking up various questions, one journalist asked him about the feeling of racing in America.

SVG replied drawing a parallel between him and Marcos Ambrose, “Marcos Ambrose is a great example, similar sort of background coming into NASCAR. You know I researched how Marcos did it and what he went through. It took him three seasons before he was full-time in Cup Series and I forgot about that side of things. It’s not going to be an easy transition and me doing Xfinity it’s going to be a lot of learning.

“Marcos has been really helpful for speeding up my learning process. He sent me a lot of advice, what to expect and how to approach things and that’s what I want to emulate what he’s done. Get into the Cup Series and be successful, he had a great time here and loved his experience. So I’d like to be like that.”

In his bid to scale new heights in motorsports, it looks like Gisbergen has been attracting a lot of eyeballs and this has got him a noteworthy recognition.

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SVG named in Autosport Top 50 racers of 2023

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American stock car racing combined with the Supercars Racing Championship has fueled the rise of Shane van Gisbergen in 2023. So much so, that on the back of his stellar 2023 campaign, he has been named in the Autosport Top 50 charts. While big names like Chris Buescher, Denny Hamlin, Ross Chastain, and Tyler Reddick were snubbed from the list, Gisbergen ranked #20.

Flying to America from New Zealand, he leaves behind three Superstars Championship wins, and 81 career victories. His NASCAR curve began when Justin Marks from Trackhouse Racing was able to spot the talent and placed him under the PROJECT91 program. It was through this project, that 2007 Formula 1 champ Kimi Raikkonen also raced in NASCAR in 2022 and 2023.

Shane van Gisbergen has got a golden ticket on his hands, an opportunity of a lifetime. He could well follow in the footsteps of Marcos Ambrose or even do better in building his own legacy. Exciting times are ahead for both Gisbergen and Kaulig Racing, who after all might have found their dark horse.

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