Drivers pursuing NASCAR not necessarily a bad thing for Supercars

Supercar drivers are continuing to chase NASCAR opportunities, however it may not be a bad thing for the Australian motorsport industry.

Supercars drivers appear to be increasingly interested in NASCAR – but does that mean the US will take all of the Aussie and Kiwi talent?

All of the decent talent in Supercars is going to end up in NASCAR, apparently.

It’s an easy enough conclusion to draw, based purely on the optics. Scott McLaughlin took off to the US off the back of three Supercars titles (albeit to IndyCar, not NASCAR).

And then Shane van Gisbergen broke his Triple Eight contract for this year to become a NASCAR driver. Brodie Kostecki flirted with NASCAR last year. And last weekend, Cam Waters and Will Brown, both active Supercars drivers, made their NASCAR Cup Series debuts at Sonoma.

Cam Waters made his NASCAR debut at Sonoma Raceway. Picture: Logan Riely / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP

Then there is Waters’ infamous radio outburst after copping a penalty in Sydney last year, which prompted much of the discussion about drivers looking outside of Supercars: “What the fuck is wrong with this sport?” he asked his team in a message that went out over the live broadcast. “They wonder why all their fucking drivers want to leave.”

All of that combined has fuelled concerns from the fan base that the lucrative US scene will rob Supercars of all of its talent.

That, however, is a highly pessimistic take.

For one, there are not unlimited opportunities in NASCAR. The US is a lucrative market, but the commercial realities of running a race team still exist. In most cases, for these Supercars drivers to make their NASCAR cameos, they need to bring a budget. They need to head into the sponsor market and lobby for money.

Professional drivers are used to that, however at the level of a Kostecki or Brown or Waters, they are established enough that these days they are usually pitching for personal backing. A luxury. Not singing for their supper. Teams sign them, and pay them, because they want them in their car.

Supercars drivers are likely to bring a budget to NASCAR but drivers like Will Brown are already making a good living out of racing cars. Picture: Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images

The idea of being told that, yes, there’s a seat available in the Truck or Xfinity Series, you just need to bring X-amount of dollars with you, is not necessarily attractive for somebody who has been making a good living out of racing cars for several years.

As for the jobs that pay in the NASCAR series, scoring one of those isn’t easy. Van Gisbergen did it, but we’re talking about a generational talent who pounced on his opportunity to win his Cup Series debut. Nobody had done that since Johnny Rutherford in 1963.

So even if there was a significant group of drivers looking to move from Supercars to NASCAR, there isn’t a significant number of opportunities just sitting there waiting to be taken to spark a mass exodus.

Instead we should be looking at this scenario as a huge positive. We are blessed in Supercars with world-class drivers that can head to the US and more than hold their own in professional categories such as NASCAR and IndyCar.

That is a huge green tick for Supercars – but not just Supercars. It shows that our entire Australian motor racing ecosystem, while not perfect, is capable of producing incredible drivers.

Drivers with sights on NASCAR can come through the Supercars ranks. Picture: Supplied

And the more success seen on the world stage by either active Supercars drivers or graduates from the series, the more talent that will come through the system.

Previously, if a driver wanted to race overseas they would generally leave Australia as soon as possible after karting and not end up racing in Supercars at all.

That continues to be the only viable option if a driver is focussed on Formula 1, given how critical it is to get into the F1 ladder system as quickly as possible (remember Oscar Piastri had never raced a car in Australia until the 2023 Australian Grand Prix).

However, drivers with eyes on NASCAR can now come through Supercars and either find a happy home, or use it as a springboard to the US. That can keep talent in the series for longer.

Could we see someone like Waters make a full-time move to the States? Sure. Will more Supercars drivers look to do the same in the future? Certainly feasible.

But is it actually a problem for Supercars? No, quite the opposite.

* To read more Supercars news from Speedcafe go to: https://speedcafe.com

Originally published as Drivers pursuing NASCAR not necessarily a bad thing for Supercars