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Supercars title contender Brodie Kostecki says he has no ‘grandiose’ expectations of becoming a full-time NASCAR star, he ‘just wants to race’.
Kostsecki will become the second Supercars driver within six weeks to make his NASCAR Cup Series debut when he competes in the Verizon 200 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course on August 13.
The Erebus Motorsport driver will join full-time drivers Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon to make his Cup debut for Richard Childress Racing (RCR) in the #33 MobileX Camaro.
Today’s announcement comes on the back of Shane van Gisbergen’s incredible win on debut at the all-new NASCAR street course in Chicago last month – a victory that has created a wave of speculation about the three-time Supercars champion’s possible future in North America.
Despite all the hysteria around van Gisergen’s victory and talk of his exodus to the US, Kostecki remains extremely grounded, despite a boyhood ambition of driving in a NASCAR Cup Series event just a few weeks from becoming reality.
“To be honest I have not really thought about it. I just want to race,” said Kostecki.
“I take things day by day and try not to overthink things too much.
“I am grateful to everyone who has given me this opportunity and I want to go out and do the best job possible.
“As they say, ‘things are always bigger and better in America’.
“There is no doubt that they are bigger, but whether they are better, for me, is a question that still has to be answered.”
Ironically, Kostecki has had more exposure to NASCAR and US-style racing than any current Supercars driver, including van Gisbergen.
A two-year stint in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series in 2013-14 actually gives him more credentials than former Supercars champion Marcos Ambrose possessed when he left for US shores in 2006, where he forged a nine-year NASCAR career.
Despite that experience, Kostecki says it will count for little in the car department come the weekend at Indianapolis.
In fact, Kostecki will only turn a wheel in anger in the #33 MobileX Camaro in the weekend’s first practice session.
“There are probably more similarities between the current Supercar than those cars [K&N Pro Series],” said Kostecki.
“We won’t have the chance to test the car before it rolls off the truck for first practice so it is going to be a short time to get used to the car.
“I will try and do as much time on the simulator here and over there before the race weekend.”
In fact, the last time Kostecki drove an actual NASCAR was when he did undertook a test and media day in Ambrose’s first winning car at Queensland Raceway in 2020.
He also did the preparation and ran the #59 STP Ford, which was totally re-built and shipped to Australia, at the annual Leyburn Sprints in Queensland the following year.
“I learnt my racecraft over there [US] and it is tough,” said Kostecki.
“You have 40 spots on the grid at Cup level and 25 in Supercars, but in Australia we have 10 percent of the population.
“If I can run inside the top 10, that would be a good result.”
Kostecki will head to Charlotte after the upcoming Supercars Sydney SuperNight on July 28-30 to spend more time with the RCR staff, getting a seat fitting and doing some simulation work.
A week after making his NASCAR debut, Kostecki will return to Australia to compete at OTR SuperSprint at The Bend in South Australia on August 18-20.
