Shane van Gisbergen Signed to Developmental Contract for Trackhouse Racing

Shane van Gisbergen, the winner of the inaugural Chicago Street Course event in July, has inked an agreement with Trackhouse Racing, which will see the three-time Supercars champion migrate to the United States in 2024.

The 34-year-old driver has signed a developmental contract with the two-car NASCAR Cup Series operation, which will see him compete in a hand-crafted schedule of NASCAR Cup, Xfinity, and Truck Series events, as well as additional events in Late Models and other vehicles.

In his two NASCAR Cup Series starts to date - at Chicago and Indy's Road Course - van Gisbergen has grabbed a pair of top-10 finishes, making him the first driver since Terry Labonte in 1978 to start his Cup Series career with back-to-back top-10s.

Additionally, van Gisbergen competes in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event at Indianapolis Raceway Park, where he made his oval debut with Niece Motorsports, finishing 19th.

"This announcement means so many things to me," said van Gisbergen in a Trackhouse Racing press release. "I'm proud of what I have achieved here in Australia, but I'm excited by this new chapter in my career and the opportunities that it brings."

The Auckland, New Zealand-native is an 81-time winner in Supercars, with 47 pole positions, and triumphs in two of the last three iterations of the Bathurst 1000 (2020 and 2022), en route to championships in 2016, 2021, and 2022.

Triple Eight Race Engineering, the team he currently competes for on a full-time basis in Australia, was kind enough to release him from his duties with the organization after this year, despite having one more season on his contract.

“I’m so thankful to everyone who has played a role in my career so far, especially Triple Eight Race Engineering, and looking forward to finishing our year with a few more highlights," added the America-bound driver.

“It is time for a new challenge and this adventure into NASCAR will be the biggest challenge of my career and one I’m really looking forward to. I want to thank Justin Marks and everyone at Trackhouse Racing who have taken a chance on me and given me this opportunity. I’m excited to get to America and getting the season started.”

While it has not been disclosed which organization van Gisbergen will compete with while in the NASCAR Xfinity and Craftsman Truck Series in 2024, Justin Marks, owner of Trackhouse Racing, says Trackhouse is building him a great schedule to officially introduce him to NASCAR.

“This is going to be a tremendous challenge for Shane but he is a tremendous driver as we have all seen,” said Marks. “Next year will be about getting him acclimated to oval track racing, superspeedways, 1.5-mile tracks, and everything he has never experienced in his career. It’s obviously going to be a learning process, but we think Shane will perform quite well.”

Image Credit: Tyson Gifford, Racing America