How Shane van Gisbergen’s NASCAR rivals will react to his return after his incredible debut win

What should Shane van Gisbergen expect when he makes his NASCAR return? A US expert has warned there will be some bruised egos waiting for him.

Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen has the potential to be a “real star” when he makes the switch to NASCAR, but he first has to contend with the “bruised egos” of the series regulars he upstaged when he makes his Cup Series return this weekend.

That’s the opinion of NASCAR analyst Steve Letarte, who says the eyes of the United States motor racing fraternity will be firmly on the triple Supercars champion at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for his second Cup series start after his heroics in Chicago last month.

Describing van Gisbergen’s stunning performance to upstage his NASCAR rivals on debut in the inaugural Chicago street race as one of the most memorable performances he had seen, Letarte said the second act featuring the New Zealand ace had been built up as another “monster storyline” for the sport.

And van Gisbergen’s Chicago triumph has ensured the spotlight will also shine brightly on the Cup Series debut of his Supercars championship rival Brodie Kostecki, who will make a NASCAR cameo in Indianapolis.

As van Gisbergen plots his Supercars exit to make a switch to NASCAR next year, Letarte, a former crew chief for Dale Earnhardt Jnr before becoming an NBC NASCAR analyst, predicted the Kiwi ace could make an immediate impact in the States.

“He has the potential to be a real star,” Letarte said in an interview from the US.

“I do believe that he has the ability to come over here and to be successful and to be a star because he is unlike everything else.

Shane van Gisbergen made an immediate impact when he won his NASCAR debut. Picture: Getty Images

“There will be a portion of the fans that will cheer against him because he is not an American and as long as that’s healthy, I’m great with that, that’s what sports is.

“But I think there will be another huge fan base in the US that is probably thirsting to have this international star in NASCAR.

“You can’t do what he did in Chicago without being amazing. It’s just impossible, the field is too good.”

Van Gisbergen became the first driver in 60 years to win on debut in NASCAR’s top tier and only the sixth driver born outside the US to win a Cup Series race.

Made all the more impressive, he had only spent one day behind the wheel of a NASCAR before the Chicago street battle.

But if his rivals weren’t expecting what he was able to do then – they certainly are now.

While he expected van Gisbergen to be strong on a road course once again, Letarte said the Triple Eight star would now be a marked man.

“The biggest challenge for him and his team and his fan base is to temper expectations,” Letarte said.

“Whatever happens this weekend does not diminish what happens in Chicago one bit.

“I think he will still be fast, but I would be shocked that the regulars don’t take – maybe offence is the wrong word – but if their egos weren’t bruised a little with what happened in Chicago.

“That’s a compliment to Shane and what he was able to do, but that is going to make his task way harder on Sunday.

“Not that they gave him anything in Chicago, but they are definitely going to take more than they ever thought of giving in Indianapolis.”

Shane van Gisbergen and Brodie Kostecki will both race in the NASCAR Cup Series race in Indianapolis this weekend. Picture: Getty Images

Van Gisbergen will make his Cup Series return for Trackhouse Racing on Monday morning local time, but will also make his oval debut in the third tier Truck Series early Saturday.

Kostecki, who leads the Supercars standings, will debut in a Richard Childress Racing entry.

Letarte said the two-pronged Supercars driver attack had become a big story in the US – and put the spotlight on the Australian V8 series.

“It is a huge storyline that Shane is back in the race, it’s a monster storyline,” Letarte said.

“Here is this international star to have won, let’s not forget he is only the sixth international driver to ever win in NASCAR so you layer that with his debut and it’s a huge story.

“Brodie I have known about for quite some time, I have seen him and watched him … as the American analyst on this, my notebook is much deeper on Brodie than it would have ever been if it wasn’t for what Shane did back in Chicago.

“I see on my social media a lot of NASCAR fans have seen Shane’s success and leapt over the pond to say ‘Well, I want to see this other series then’. If this person is this talented to win 70-some-odd races over there, it has definitely gained interest for the US fan.

“For the competitors and the TV people like myself, we were already fans, so we kind of already know. I think Scott McLaughlin has helped the link for the IndyCar fan, but I do think Shane’s performance has definitely drawn some NASCAR fans over to see what it is all about.”

Can van Gisbergen continue his incredible start to his NASCAR career? Picture: Getty Images

Of the hundreds of NASCAR races Letarte has commentated on, he rated van Gisbergen’s Chicago win among the “top-10 most memorable performances”.

“It was a gigantic story,” Letarte said.

“While I expected him to be fast, I didn’t expect to see anywhere near the pace that we saw at the end of that race.

“I don’t look as much at the results as I analyse the action on the track … it was more his racecraft and the final 10 per cent that was so amazing to me … a couple of the late moves he made were truly surgical.

“We hadn’t seen that type of action, especially out of a first-start driver.”

Letarte predicted other Supercars drivers could make NASCAR appearances, but said the number of oval races on the schedule made the full-time transition a challenge, which was what van Gisbergen had ahead of him.

“I do believe there will be folks from over there that will come and run on a partial schedule,” Letarte said.

“I still believe with ovals being the dominant challenge, it makes it very hard. It’s no longer the car, it’s no longer the travel, it’s purely just the schedule now.

“If you take our 36-race schedule, we have six speedways, you take those out … and you take our seven road courses out, you are still talking 23 what I would call standard ovals, that’s a daunting task week in, week out.

“Oval racing is just totally different and while (van Gisbergen) has tremendous car control, the nuances of an oval are just so much smaller … it’s like switching a sport completely on one of the ovals.”

SVG CALLS ON RACING LEGENDS IN LEAD-UP TO NASCAR RETURN

Shane van Gisbergen has been tapping into the knowledge of Scott McLaughlin and Marcos Ambrose ahead of his NASCAR return this weekend as he plots his full time racing switch to the United States.

But the defending Supercars champion said he was still working on locking in a NASCAR deal for 2024 as he claimed his Supercars team Triple Eight had a “shortlist” of drivers to replace him, all of whom he was comfortable with stepping into his coveted seat.

Van Gisbergen’s comments came after championship challenger Will Brown emerged as a leading contender to replace the Kiwi ace, despite being contracted to Erebus Motorsport for next year.

The triple Supercars champion has made it clear he wants to switch to NASCAR in 2024 – which would mean leaving his Triple Eight deal a year early – but has been concerned with the team finding a strong replacement.

Speaking from the US head of his Cup Series return at Indianapolis this weekend, van Gisbergen said he was still in talks about his plans for next year, but his focus was on Triple Eight’s next move.

“I’m still working hard on it,” van Gisbergen said.

“Still, my main priority is my Australian team, Triple Eight, wanting to get them to have a replacement they’re happy with.

“As long as they’re happy with who’s going to replace me, I’ll be happy leaving.

“I’m trying to get something over here and work on it. I don’t have anything signed up and I’m loving Trackhouse, where I am now, and the plans that (owner) Justin (Marks) has proposed for the future is pretty exciting.

“I’d love to be here and keep working, expand my career …. and come over and have a crack.”

Shane van Gisbergen stunned the motorsport world with his NASCAR win on debut in Chicago last month. Picture: Chris Graythen/Getty Images/AFP

Van Gisbergen said he was comfortable with any of the drivers on a Triple Eight shortlist replacing him, but he also remained focused on defending his Supercars championship this year.

“I’ve had people ringing me about it, asking what the team’s like,” van Gisbergen said.

“I know there’s a shortlist of people on the team, I think there’s three or four guys, and all of them, I’d be comfortable with having to replace me.

“So, hopefully one of them comes off sooner rather than later and we can work on with it.

“But I’m still loving being a part of that team. It’s been good, the last round, we had a good one and we’re still fighting pretty hard for this year’s championship.”

After stunning the motorsports world with his debut NASCAR win on the streets of Chicago last month, van Gisbergen will make his return with Trackhouse Racing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course on Monday morning local time.

He will be joined in the field by Erebus Motorsport’s Brodie Kostecki, who will make a Cup Series cameo for Richard Childress Racing.

Before then, van Gisbergen will make his oval racing debut in the NASCAR Truck Series at the Indianapolis Raceway Park two days earlier.

The two-time Bathurst 1000 champion has been tapping into the track knowledge of former Supercars drivers McLaughlin and Ambrose ahead of his US racing return.

IndyCar, in which McLaughlin now stars, and NASCAR will feature in a double-header at Indianapolis this weekend.

Van Gisbergen said he had welcomed fellow New Zealander and former on-track rival McLaughlin’s insight.

“Yesterday he was at the simulator when I was,” van Gisbergen said.

“They invited me to sit in on his session and I got to listen for a bit and watch how he was driving and that side of things. It was very cool to see.

“It’s awesome to be a similar world to him again, we went for lunch on my last trip and he was just so encouraging to come over here and give it a crack.

“Obviously this weekend they’re on Saturday after our qualifying. They have invited me to go and watch the race on the pit box, which will be awesome to go and cheer him on and Scott Dixon as well.”

Ambrose, who made the switch from Supercars to race in NASCAR from 2006 to 2014, has also offered some timely advice for his oval racing debut.

“Marcos Ambrose sent me a whole list of stuff last night, he has obviously got experience at that track but he has gone through exactly what I’m going through, transitioning into the ovals,” van Gisbergen said.

“So all of the advice he has sent me, it’s a lot to take in and digest and take in, but hopefully all that advice helps.

“Obviously you’re going to be in a pack learning, it looks like it’s pretty close and tight racing around there so it’s going to be tough to get in your own air and feel comfortable.”