NASCAR: Chicago street race winner Shane van Gisbergen to make second start at Indianapolis
The three-time Australian Supercars champion became the first driver in 60 years to win in his first Cup Series start on July 2
Shane van Gisbergen is coming back to the NASCAR Cup Series.
Trackhouse Racing announced Wednesday that van Gisbergen would run the Indianapolis road course race Aug. 13. Van Gisbergen became the first driver in 60 years to win in his first Cup Series start when he won the Chicago street course race July 2.
The three-time Australian Supercars champion put on a clinic over the final laps of the Chicago race as he sliced his way through the field and then easily drove away from Justin Haley over the final two laps.
A return to NASCAR seemed likely after that win and van Gisbergen joins fellow Supercars driver Brodie Kostecki in the Indianapolis field. Kostecki is set to drive a third car for Richard Childress Racing in what will be his first Cup Series race.
“I never dreamed this could have all rolled out this way,” van Gisbergen said in a team statement. “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.”
A stacked field of part-timers racing in Indy
The race on the Indianapolis road course will feature the two Supercars drivers in Kostecki and van Gisbergen and two former Formula 1 drivers in Kamui Kobayashi and Jenson Button.
The race is set to be Kobayashi’s debut as he drives a third car for 23XI Racing. The sports car driver has made 75 F1 starts and has two Rolex 24 wins in IMSA.
Button will be making his third and final start of the season. The 2009 Formula 1 champion was also in the field in Chicago and made his first start at Circuit of the Americas in Austin in March. Button finished 18th at COTA and was 21st in the Chicago race.
