Rushbrook on Waters’ NASCAR chances

Waters and NASCAR has been a hot topic in the Supercars paddock this year with the Tickford driver dipping his toe into US scene.

He made a pair of starts in the third-tier NASCAR Truck Series with Ford squad ThorSport Racing, before stepping up the NASCAR Cup Series in Sonoma in an RFK-run Ford Mustang.

He had also planned to contest the Watkins Glen round before a date change for the Sandown 500 intervened.

The US outings sparked speculation that Waters, whose contract situation with Tickford was for some time unclear, might look to follow Shane van Gisbergen Stateside in a full-time capacity next year.

Waters has since moved to clarify that his 2025 plans are in Supercars and with Tickford amid chat that the team does have an ongoing option on his services.

Still, Waters’ flirtation with NASCAR has clearly captured the attention of Ford at a global level, with Ford Performance chief Rushbrook quoted in the Waters/Sonoma media release when that deal was announced.

Post-Sonoma, Rushbrook remains convinced that Waters has the ability to make the NASCAR grade on a full-time basis should he want to head to the States.

“I think he can do whatever he wants to do. I think he’s got a lot of talent behind the wheel,” Rushbrook told Speedcafe recently.

“He’s definitely shown it in Supercars, and in the early days at NASCAR with Trucks and Cup. Yeah, I think he can do well.”

Waters’ Cup Series debut was far from an on-paper success, with a spin in practice and a somewhat flat performance in qualifying.

His pace was significantly better in the race itself, only for his run to come to a halt on lap 66 of 110 due to suspension damage a pair of crashes that were unavoidable from his perspective.

Rushbrook, however, was impressed with what he saw outside of the bad luck and/or poor car speed.

“I think he did well,” he added. “Definitely the car was off on balance for his practice and qualifying. But in the race, I think they made some adjustments and he was making some good lap times, good progress.

“[He] certainly had some issues in the race but not of his own [making].”

NASCAR returns to the Chicago streets this weekend to mark a year since van Gisbergen stunned the motor racing world by winning on debut in the Cup Series.