Shane van Gisbergen arrived in Chicago in July 2023, an unknown to most of the NASCAR community. He left as a star after winning the inaugural street course event in his first time behind the wheel of a stock car.
Van Gisbergen’s life and career were forever altered.
“It doesn’t feel like it’s been two years,” he told ESPN. “But so much has happened since then. Yeah, amazing. We had a really strong car there last year, too, and had the potential to win it again. I’m looking forward to getting back there. Obviously, I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for that track. So, it’s a pretty cool and special place.”
Van Gisbergen won that race on July 2, 2023. Two months later on Sept. 13, Trackhouse Racing announced it had signed him to a developmental deal for 2024. He ran the full Xfinity Series season, won three times and also contested 12 more Cup Series races.
For it all to fall into place, though, Van Gisbergen had to end an incredible career in Australian Supercars, where he was a three-time champion, and move to the United States. Triple Eight Race Engineering didn’t stand in his way and released him from his contract.
“It changed my life 180 degrees,” Van Gisbergen said.
He remembers his first career win vividly, admitting that he was very much in the moment. It was the best of his life, he says.
Chicago will host its third consecutive, and perhaps final, NASCAR event this weekend. The street race is in the third and final year of its contract, but there are option years that would allow the city and NASCAR to keep it on the schedule.
The course is 2.2 miles and 12 turns and sees the field scream down Michigan Avenue, go over a bridge on Jackson Drive and cross the start/finish line on Columbus Drive in front of Buckingham Fountain.
It gets a nod of approval from Van Gisbergen, who has made a living competing on road and street courses, but he acknowledges that “it’s difficult” because there are no runoff areas.
“Turn 1 and Turn 5 face each other, so you can’t have runoff,” Van Gisbergen said. “It’s dangerous. You’re in the fastest part of the track, and there’s a concrete wall in front of you, and it’s great. It’s so much risk versus reward. I think it’s one of the coolest things, but it’s difficult when you get it wrong. I think for a street track, [NASCAR has] done very well for their first go of it.”
His triumph two years ago impressed many, but it was the perfect storm of variables falling his way: a street course, wet conditions and a car that seemed to suit his driving style. NASCAR’s Next Gen car, right or wrong, has drawn comparisons to sports cars and Australian Supercars.
Van Gisbergen has had quite a bit to adapt to, though. And not just sitting on the opposite side of the car.
“The weight of the car is very different [heavier],” he said of his adaptation to stock cars. “The way the car corners is different. The downforce is over the top instead of underneath, so the way it drives is very low to the ground and stiff, whereas the Supercars were high and rolled around. So, they look similar on paper, but they are way, way different. They are close, but they’re also not.”
The weight and the tires are the biggest differences that Van Gisbergen points to. When asked if there were characteristics from either car that he would love to combine, or if there is one that he preferred over the other, he described the current version of the Australian Supercar as a “piece of s—.”
“Which is one of the reasons why I left,” he laughed. “But the old Supercar was awesome. It was a really cool car. So, I don’t miss the Supercar.”
Van Gisbergen is finding plenty of enjoyment driving the Next Gen car now as a full-time rookie in the Cup Series in the No. 88 Chevrolet for Trackhouse. It’s been an adjustment and difficult at times with up-and-down results, but he has embraced his new life and routinely expresses how fun it has been. He is learning something every week.
“I still get excited by that,” Van Gisbergen said. “It’s still fun seeing us improve in areas and still lacking in a lot that we have to get better at, too.”
It’s also been quite a while since he has been at the bottom of the pecking order instead of dominating a series. NASCAR is an entirely different sport than what Van Gisbergen is accustomed, and despite having done a lot of racing around the world, he feels there is nothing like stock car racing.
Before winning on the road course in Mexico City last month, his second career win, Van Gisbergen was languishing at 33rd in the championship standings. Now, he will be in the postseason.
Before then, there are opportunities for more wins. Chicago, for instance, where van Gisbergen will be a favorite. Or in Sonoma, the following week. If not there, Watkins Glen is early next month. Oh, and if he and his team can manage to advance out of the first round of the NASCAR postseason, the Charlotte Roval is waiting in the second.
“This is the most I’ve enjoyed my racing in a long time,” Van Gisbergen said. “Every week, it’s a new challenge. It’s not just the same type of track each and every week. Even when you go to 2½-mile racetracks, they’re completely different from each other. So, every week feels refreshing, which is cool, and there is always something to try, and the cars are forever developing.
“It’s pretty cool.”
Source: espn.com