SHANE van Gisbergen has voiced a desire to co-drive for Triple Eight Race Engineering in next year’s Repco Supercars Championship enduros.
Van Gisbergen is set to depart for the United States at season’s end to step up his career transition into NASCAR.
That is yet to be officially confirmed, with van Gisbergen still assessing his options and how a first full year Stateside might look.
But the 34-year-old does envision an opportunity to return to Supercars, including for the Repco Bathurst 1000, before he eventually becomes a Cup Series full-timer.
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Van Gisbergen spoke to that end on The Dale Jr Download podcast, released ahead of his Indianapolis doubleheader this weekend.
“I think next year maybe, if I’m doing a partial (NASCAR season), it would be good to go and race with my current team,” he replied when asked about still racing in the Bathurst 1000 beyond the end of his Supercars tenure.
“I’d love to do that.”
That of course would be schedule permitting, with neither Supercars nor NASCAR’s 2024 calendars out yet.
The potential for van Gisbergen to return to Supercars as a co-driver is enticing, given fellow three-time champion turned US sensation Scott McLaughlin has been unable to do so.
McLaughlin’s situation is complicated by the fact he represents Chevrolet in IndyCar, while his beloved Dick Johnson Racing is aligned with Ford.
Triple Eight’s current co-drivers for its lead Camaros are Jamie Whincup and Richie Stanaway; Broc Feeney and Will Brown are set to be the team’s primary drivers in 2024.
Among other topics covered in discussion with podcast host Dale Earnhardt Jr was whether Red Bull might follow van Gisbergen into NASCAR.
Van Gisbergen, who has been affiliated with the energy drink giant since joining Triple Eight in 2016, admitted that his status going forward as a Red Bull athlete is an unknown at this stage.
“I don’t know. We haven’t got there yet,” he said.
“But it would be awesome to have them come over here and get back into the NASCAR side of things.
“Maybe the timing was a bit different but they had some success in NASCAR. They haven’t been here for a couple of years.
“Hopefully after Chicago that entices them a bit and maybe next year I’m doing a whole bunch of cool stuff and hopefully they come onboard. We’ll see.”
