Supercars 2023: Shane van Gisbergen has locked in his NASCAR plans for 2024 after signing with Trackhouse Racing

Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen’s NASCAR plans have been officially locked in after signing a deal to kickstart his racing career in the United States.

Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen has locked in his NASCAR plans for 2024 after signing with Trackhouse Racing to launch his full-time racing career in the United States, but says he remains focused on ending his Triple Eight tenure with a “few more highlights” this year.

On the eve of the Supercars endurance season, Trackhouse Racing confirmed on Thursday it had signed van Gisbergen to a “developmental program” in which the New Zealand ace will drive in a combination of NASCAR’s three national series next year.

Trackhouse, the team van Gisbergen made his NASCAR debut for in July, said it would build a program for the two-time Bathurst champion incorporating select races in the Cup Series, Xfinity and Craftsman Truck Series plus some late model and other races.

Van Gisbergen put his name in lights in the US when he upstaged NASCAR’s best to claim a stunning win on debut on the streets of Chicago in July.

Van Gisbergen said he was excited to open a new chapter in his racing career after 17 years in Supercars.

“This announcement means so many things to me,” van Gisbergen said.

“I’m proud of what I have achieved here in Australia, but I’m excited by this new chapter in my career and the opportunities that it brings.

Shane van Gisbergen has locked in his NASCAR plans for next year. Picture: Chris Graythen / Getty Images North America / Getty Images via AFP

“I’m so thankful to everyone who has played a role in my career so far, especially Triple Eight Race Engineering, and looking forward to finishing our year with a few more highlights.

“It is time for a new challenge and this adventure into NASCAR will be the biggest challenge of my career and one I’m really looking forward to.

“I want to thank Justin Marks (Trackhouse founder and owner) and everyone at Trackhouse Racing who have taken a chance on me and given me this opportunity. I’m excited to get to America and getting the season started.”

Van Gisbergen became the first driver in 60 years to win in his first Cup Series start before he backed up to finish 10th at Indianapolis the following month.

“This is going to be a tremendous challenge for Shane, but he is a tremendous driver, as we have all seen,” Marks said.

“Next year will be about getting him acclimated to oval track racing, superspeedways, 1.5-mile tracks and everything he has never experienced in his career.

“It’s always going to be a learning process, but we think Shane will perform quite well.”

Triple Eight confirmed last month it had agreed to release van Gisbergen from the final year of his contract with the team next year as it announced Erebus Motorsport’s Will Brown as his replacement.

Van Gisbergen has four races left in his 2023 Supercars campaign, starting with the Sandown 500 this weekend, before he starts his US journey.

Shane van Gisbergen sits second in the Supercars drivers’ championship. Picture: Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images

The 34-year-old will team with Richie Stanaway for the endurance season, in which he will be chasing a third Bathurst 1000 crown and can propel his title push.

Van Gisbergen sits second in the Supercars drivers’ standings, 137 points behind Erebus Motorsport series leader Brodie Kostecki.

Excited to team with his fellow Kiwi, van Gisbergen said he still had plenty of time left in the season to catch Kostecki.

“It’s awesome to have him (Stanaway) back racing and next year full-time of course as well, so it should be good,” van Gisbergen said.

“It’s only (137) points, so it’s pretty close and there’s four rounds left … so we’ll just do our best and see what happens.”

The triple Supercars champion’s preparation for the endurance season took a hit list week when he suffered brake failure and crashed his Camaro in testing at Queensland Raceway.

But van Gisbergen said he had recovered well from the shunt.

“I was pretty sore for a few days, but now I’m fine,” van Gisbergen said.

Richie Stanaway will team with defending champion and fellow New Zealander Shane van Gisbergen for the Supercars endurance season for Triple Eight.

Stanaway, who will make a full-time return to the Supercars grid for Grove Racing next year, said teaming with van Gisbergen was an “incredible” opportunity and the pair had “good odds” in the enduros.

“It’s an incredible opportunity for me to drive at Red Bull Ampol Racing, such a successful team, there is a lot that I can learn from the environment,” Stanaway said.

“Driving with Shane is incredible, he has been so successful and when you’re co-driving you always want to drive with the best guys. That’s the situation I’m in and I’m really grateful for it.

“I would say we have got pretty good odds but you never know. Every track that we go to with the new generation car there is no form guide.”

Originally published as Supercars 2023: Shane van Gisbergen has locked in his NASCAR plans for 2024 after signing with Trackhouse Racing