Triple Eight Race Engineering will not put Shane van Gisbergen through a ‘guilt trip’ over his desire to leave Supercars for NASCAR, according to Team Manager Mark Dutton.
He will make his second Cup Series start in just over a week’s time at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, on the same weekend he makes his oval debut in a NASCAR Trucks Series race at nearby Indianapolis Raceway Park.
That leaves Triple Eight in a difficult situation as it scrambles to find a replacement driver for one of its Red Bull Ampol Racing Camaros, although Dutton did not entertain the idea of trying to convince van Gisbergen to stay.
“Shane’s a team-mate and obviously we want him to stay,” he said.
“But, we wouldn’t ever think of running a guilt trip or anything to try and stop him from this next step.
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“This is not leaving down pit lane, this is not going to the opposition.
“This is an amazing opportunity and, whichever way it goes, we’ll be totally supportive.”
Van Gisbergen is theoretically tied to Triple Eight for at least 2024 under the terms of a new, two-year contract which he only signed in April, although Team Principal Jamie Whincup has already stated he will not stand in the New Zealander’s way if he wants to leave sooner.
The inaugural Chicago street race winner himself told media in recent days at Sydney Motorsport Park that he “not leaving because of this team,” and that he would hope to not leave it in the lurch.
Problematically for Triple Eight, every other driver currently sitting in the top seven of the championship is thought to already be spoken for so far as at least 2024 is concerned, including Tickford Racing’s Cameron Waters.
Andre Heimgartner, currently sixth in the standings, and his team owner Brad Jones attended the above referenced press conference after the #8 R&J Batteries Camaro pilot finished second to van Gisbergen in Race 19 of the season at ‘Eastern Creek’.
Jones was asked if he had reviewed Heimgartner’s contract in case van Gisbergen tried to recruit Heimgartner to Banyo in order to ease his conscience.
“I didn’t know Shane had a conscience,” he quipped.
“Besides, he’s got the ‘GOAT’; he can always put him in for a year.”
The GOAT is, of course, a reference to seven-time drivers’ champion Whincup, who has not ruled out a comeback to full-time Supercars driving to fill the vacancy which would be left by van Gisbergen.
According to Dutton, that is “definitely not our first option” but is “an awesome fallback.”
Have your say on who you think should replace van Gisbergen, in the event that he does leave Supercars at season’s end, in this week’s Pirtek Poll
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