He's back: Shane van Gisbergen to run at Indy for Trackhouse Racing
Shane van Gisbergen, a three-time Supercars champion who won the Chicago Street Race earlier this month in his Cup debut, is returning to NASCAR for another race.
Van Gisbergen is back with Trackhouse Racing and will compete in the team’s Project 91 car Aug. 13 at the Indianapolis road course. NBC will air the race.
“I never dreamed this could have all rolled out this way,” said van Gisbergen in a statement from the team.
“Just getting to race in NASCAR is an opportunity I never thought I would get, but then to win and get another chance this year is beyond anything I imagined. I can’t thank (Trackhouse founder and owner) Justin Marks, everyone at Trackhouse Racing and NASCAR for this opportunity.
“Everyone in NASCAR welcomed me to Chicago and it’s been awesome to see how big the reception from that race has been around the world. I am honored to be part of it.”
Darian Grubb will again serve as van Gisbergen’s crew chief for the race.
“The team did an incredible job preparing the car, being ready for the moment and putting it all out there on the line and letting him put that show on,” Grubb said in a statement from the team. “You’re never going to forget that. It’s the first event; we all wanted some souvenirs and stuff from it just to make sure we remembered it for life and tell our grand kids about it. It was really cool and I hope we can do that again in Indy.”
That race also will have Kamui Kobayashi, a two-time Rolex 24 at Daytona winner, and two-time Supercars winner Brodie Kostecki. Both are making their Cup debut. Kobayashi will drive for 23XI Racing, while Kostecki will drive for Richard Childress Racing.
Kostecki and van Gisbergen compete against each other in the Supercars Series.
The 34-year-old Van Gisbergen, who is from Auckland, New Zealand impressed many Cup drivers with his victory at Chicago. He was the first driver to win in their Cup debut in 60 years.
“He was in a league of his own, and in my opinion, put on a really big-time clinic,” said Chase Elliott, who finished third at Chicago, about van Gisbergen. “I don't want to speak for everybody else, but he made me look bad, and I kind of think the rest of us, too.”
Elliott: van Gisbergen put on a 'clinic'
Chase Elliott is critical of his own performance despite fighting to a top-three finish and jokes that Shane van Gisbergen "made us look really bad" and "he's going to go home and tell all of his friends how bad we are."
