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Scott McLaughlin was overcome with joy for fellow Supercars champion and New Zealander Shane van Gisbergen after the latter’s NASCAR win on debut.
The two-time Bathurst 1000 winner was among the front-runners all the way until a Lap 45 Caution and the decision to shorten the race, which started late due to rain, turned matters on its head.
Nevertheless, he fought his way through to the front, passing not only lucky former backmarkers but also those he had been racing against for podium positions earlier in the afternoon.
McLaughlin tweeted just after SVG took the chequered flag, “Im so fkn happy for him. Enjoy every moment brother. NZ represent. Emotional”
Im so fkn happy for him. Enjoy every moment brother. NZ represent. Emotional
— Scott McLaughlin (@smclaughlin93) July 3, 2023
As is often the case with respect to Supercars and other motorsport, McLaughlin was an interested viewer, hours after he drove to fifth in the Mid-Ohio IndyCar race, offering a running commentary via social media.
Can’t remember the last time I paced around my lounge room over a motor race
— Scott McLaughlin (@smclaughlin93) July 3, 2023
Correct me if I’m wrong. But shouldn’t you just red flag the race when it gets dicey darkness wise? Then declare it, Rather then change the length of the race and effect the overall strategy of some cars? Look I’m just a guy on the couch drinking a coors minding my business, just…
— Scott McLaughlin (@smclaughlin93) July 3, 2023
He and van Gisbergen were fierce on-track rivals when both raced in Australia but are now close friends, and the Team Penske driver has stated before that he would like to see his countryman in IndyCar some day.
However, it seems that NASCAR is now SVG’s destiny after his impressive drive in the Project91 Camaro which Trackhouse Racing fields on a part-time basis for drivers from other categories.
Speaking in his post-race television interview, van Gisbergen said, “I’m doing one more year in Oz and then I’d love to come over here.”
He is signed up for Triple Eight Race Engineering for 2024 and 2025 but a get-out clause in his contract allows him to leave after that first year of the term if he lands a drive in another category.
