SHANE van Gisbergen could be clear to make a full-time move to the NASCAR Cup Series next year after all.
The revelation has come to light via a Fox Sports interview this morning with Triple Eight Race Engineering managing director Jamie Whincup.
Van Gisbergen is definitively under contract for next year, and both he and the team have until now stressed that they’ll continue together in 2024.
But on the back of his win on NASCAR debut in Chicago, where the category’s own stars admitted he made them look bad, momentum around an SVG move to the States much sooner is growing.
Now, for the first time, Whincup has entertained the possibility that this could be the Kiwi’s last season Down Under.
“He’s only contractually bound to us for next year,” said Whincup, who raced as van Gisbergen’s teammate for six seasons before retiring.
“But me sitting here right now, of course I’m trying to run the business as well as I possibly can and I need the best drivers, but if any driver, engineer, employee came to me and said ‘hey, my dream is to go to the other side of the world and do something else’ then I’m not going to stand in their way, am I?
“I want to open up opportunities for all my staff, so we’ll see. I’m sure SVG is just on a wave right now.
“I need him to dial in to this weekend because we’re racing at Townsville for Round 6 of our championship so let’s focus on that first but no doubt we’re going to have some discussions the next month or so and work out what he wants to do.
“He has certainly got my praise, whatever he wants to do, and we’re going to support him all the way.”
Asked specifically if he would hold van Gisbergen to his contract even if a full-time 2024 NASCAR gig came up, Whincup doubled down: “I certainly wouldn’t stand in his way, no.
“Of course there’s contractual things we need to work through but if someone really wants to go do something else, then I’m certainly not going to stand in his way, that’s for sure.”
If that did come to pass, the Supercars silly season would erupt with one of the best seats in the championship suddenly in play.
Van Gisbergen is one of 10 drivers known to have a 2024 Supercars contract, along with teammate Broc Feeney, both current Dick Johnson Racing and Erebus Motorsport drivers, Walkinshaw Andretti United’s Chaz Mostert, Grove Racing’s Matt Payne, Team 18’s Mark Winterbottom and Brad Jones Racing’s Andre Heimgartner.
