Made in America: Shane van Gisbergen's NASCAR debut

Without a shadow of a doubt, Shane van Gisbergen is the name on the lips – and contact lists – of America’s motorsport doyens, thanks to an inch-perfect performance at last month’s first-ever NASCAR street race in Chicago, Illinois.

With a couple of hours’ experience aboard a new-generation NASCAR, the 34-year-old New Zealander topped practice, qualified third and won going away on a treacherous mix of damp tarmac lined with unforgiving concrete, before setting the socials on fire across the world with one hell of a victory burnout.

What’s more, he did it with Trackhouse Racing’s Team 91, a satellite operation that will run just three of 36 NASCAR events in 2023.

Once the champagne dried, the questions started; will the Kiwi head to NASCAR in 2024?

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“I’m doing one more year in Oz, and then I’d love to come over here"

Van Gisbergen told the world post-race, affirming comments that he would serve out this year and next in Supercars with Red Bull Ampol Racing.

Interestingly, though, his boss back in Australia, seven-time Supercars champion Jamie Whincup, then told media that he wouldn’t stand in Shane’s way should the right offer land in the Giz’s inbox, even before the New Zealander’s 500th Supercars start in Townsville the weekend following Chicago.

So… will Shane van Gisbergen bid Supercars a lukewarm farewell on his way to the US of A?

He’d be treading a path not followed since Marcos Ambrose headed to the US in 2006, who carved out a solid, successful career in the NASCAR circus.

Shane can also look to the recent success of fellow Kiwi and former Supercars arch-enemy Scott McLaughlin, who parlayed a promise from Roger Penske himself – a shot at the USA if he won the Bathurst 1000 – into a burgeoning career in IndyCar.

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But there are questions that loom large, not least the issue of the racing itself.

Make no mistake; Shane van Gisbergen is a once-in-a-generation race car driver. The bloke lives to drive fast, and it doesn’t matter what wheels you give him to do the job.