Erebus Motorsport is heading to the United States in coming weeks in a bid to learn from a NASCAR team and potentially help land Brodie Kostecki a drive.
Team CEO Barry Ryan has revealed that the squad will be visiting Richard Childress Racing, with which it has something of an affiliation through former Image Racing crew member Andrew Dickeson, in the hope of a beneficial, two-way exchange.
However, Kostecki could also stand to benefit personally in his aspirations to race in NASCAR, following confirmation of Shane van Gisbergen’s upcoming Trackhouse Racing cameo in the Chicago street race.
“We’re going over there in a few weeks to visit a team we’ve got a small affiliation with, so we’re doing a bit more research while we’re over there,” Ryan told reporters.
“Supercars is our priority, but anything we can learn… and the drivers, if they can race every weekend, they’re only going to get better, so we encourage that as best we can.”
Kostecki spoke last year of his desire for cameos in NASCAR in 2023 and, as reported by Speedcafe’s Mark Fogarty on his Parked Up Plus podcast, is in the frame for simulator work with a NASCAR team.
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Asked by Speedcafe if the focus of the trip is to get the 25-year-old a seat in the category at some point in the future, Ryan identified that as a potential side benefit of what is a team information-sharing exercise.
“A lot of that is Brodie’s business to do, but if we can introduce him to anybody we know…” he explained.
“He already knows a lot of people out there. The Richard Childress thing is through Andrew, so it’s more of a friendship at the moment, but they’ve shown interest in Brodie, especially how he’s performing now, and they know his history.
“Obviously, road course stuff is really important to them, so if they can help out their drivers on road course stuff, it could be a good thing for them as well.
“So that’s the way we’re going to go, to see if our drivers can show them something on turning right as well as left because in NASCAR, you’ve got to win a race to get into the Chase [Playoffs], so it’s really important to do the road courses well.”
Erebus and Terry Wyhoon’s Image squad enjoy a close alliance in the Dunlop Super2 Series, while Dickeson is now an engineer on Kyle Busch’s car.
Not only are personnel from the Melbourne-based team heading Stateside, Richard Childress himself might be coming Down Under at some point.
“[Dickeson] used to work for Terry Wyhoon, so we went there last year for the Darlington race; saw [former Tickford Racing engineer] James Small as well and I’m good mates with James,” recounted Ryan.
“The boys at RCR are good. Richard Childress really wants to come out here – he’s never been to Australia – so, we’re trying to get him over here. He just missed out on coming to Adelaide last year.
“It’s great to go there and just see how they do it.
“We might not get much out of it, but a professional team like that, surely we can learn something.”
Richard Childress Racing currently fields Busch and Austin Dillon in the Cup Series, and boasts six titles at the top level of NASCAR.
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