The Tickford Racing pilot will become the third Supercars driver in less than 12 months to make his debut in one of NASCAR’s own national series, the others being Shane van Gisbergen and Brodie Kostecki, when he drives a Ford F-150 with ThorSport Racing at Martinsville.
Van Gisbergen seized the opportunity created by his debut win in Chicago last July to make a full career change, at a time when he was already disillusioned with Supercars.
Waters, however, referred to this weekend as a “bucket list” proposition and is not necessarily looking to emulate van Gisbergen in leaving Australia permanently.
“Look, I definitely have a dream to one day get over here [United States] and race full-time NASCAR but, to get there, it’s such a long journey,” the 29-year-old explained.
“I’ve got a pretty cool thing going on in Australia, racing Supercars, and for me to do the odd NASCAR race, like we’re doing this weekend, is pretty cool.
“I’m more than happy if I can just do this weekend, get through it, have a bit of fun, and work out what NASCAR is all about, and see what happens in the future.”
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Waters attended the Spring (North America) Martinsville event 12 months ago, then the Cup Series Regular Season finale in Daytona in August, arousing speculation about his NASCAR plans.
However, the Mildura native’s ambitions pre-date van Gisbergen’s Chicago success and Kostecki’s impressive outing on the Indianapolis road course.
“Hundred percent, I’ve been wanting to do something like this for a long time,” he said.
“Shane was super-lucky with how his stuff all come together and [I’m] obviously super-happy for him, and how Chicago went for him was obviously amazing.
“For me, it’s been something that I’ve wanted to do for a long time and it’s just great to finally be able to put something together and do this race.”
The two-time Bathurst 1000 pole-sitter says he has no firm expectations from Friday night (local time).
While he has embraced sprintcar racing as a way of filling up his Supercars off-season, trying to fit in extra-curricular activities in the middle of a title fight is a different prospect, and the Martinsville drive in the #66 ThorSport Ford is a one-off for now.
“Friday night, if we can keep the truck clean, and take in as much as I can, I think that’d be good,” declared Waters.
“I’ve kind of got no expectations; I don’t really know how I’m going to go.
“It’s going to be kind of jumping in the deep end, so to speak, with the limited practice and not being able to drive the truck beforehand.
“Right now, this is the only thing we’ve kind of got set in stone. It’s kind of hard with my schedule in Australia; I’m going after championship over there.
“This race fitted it in pretty perfectly, between AGP and Taupo to fit in a race.
“I really just need to get through this weekend and see how we go, and go home, go to New Zealand, and try and win some races over there to get my Supercar championship back on-track.”
Waters’ US sojourn comes with the support of Tickford, which announced the drive to Australian media.
Practice, Qualifying, and the 200-lap race all take place this Friday at the 0.526-mile oval which is Martinsville Speedway.
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