When Shane van Gisbergen showed up at Chicago for his first career NASCAR race earlier this month, even one of his seasoned competitors admitted that he had no idea who the Australian Supercars champion was. When "SVG" returns for his newly-announced second race in a NASCAR Cup Series car next month, he will be seen as a pre-race favorite.
Trackhouse Racing announced Wednesday night that van Gisbergen will return to its part-time Project 91 entry for August's race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. As van Gisbergen won on debut at Chicago in one of the most extraordinary results in NASCAR Cup Series history, he will be expected to factor into that race in early August.
An additional race this season could be part of big future plans for van Gisbergen, who had already discussed joining NASCAR full-time in 2025 after his Chicago win. Team leadership at Triple Eight Racing, the New Zealand driver's Australian Supercars program, recently shared that van Gisbergen would be free to pursue NASCAR starting next season if he had an opportunity. In a particularly weak pool of domestic talent, van Gisbergen could be a major player for many seats that could open up before next season. A second race under his belt, even one that spoils a perfect winning record through one race, would help his case if he were under consideration at any team.
The race at IMS has proven to be a popular one for drivers interested in a one-off appearance: van Gisbergen joins Formula 1 champion Jenson Button, Le Mans winner Kamui Kobayashi, and Australian Supercars title rival Brodie Kostecki on that entry list. The trend of major talent racing in NASCAR part-time was made possible by a Next Gen car that is more accessible to a driver from outside the world of stock cars, but van Gisbergen's win showed that this can be more than just a chance to try something new. All four drivers will enter Indianapolis with the hope that they could actually win the race.
All of van Gisbergen, Kobayashi, and Kostecki are entered in one-off cars for race-winning teams, so they are not protected by the charter rules that typically guarantee entry for a race. With just four spots available for open cars, two more entries would put those drivers at risk of missing the race in qualifying. If Jimmie Johnson's part-time No. 84 entry is entered in the race, any extra entry creates that risk. As Button's entry is chartered as part of the full-time Rick Ware Racing team and not entered as an additional car for Stewart-he won't have to worry about the possibility of missing the event in qualifying.
