The team has described the adventure as a staff incentive program, rewarding crew members for victory in the Pirtek Pit Stop Challenge last season.

Triple Eight’s mechanics have visited the headquarters of Trackhouse Racing in Charlotte, North Carolina, before they head to this weekend’s race at Daytona, Florida.

“It’s just staff incentives to get some of our crew to see the rest of the world and see motorsport all over the world,” explained team boss Jamie Whincup of the trip.

“They did such a good job of pit stop practice last year, the crew that’s over the line.

“The drivers are strapped to missiles doing 300 kays, they get compensated well for that danger money.

“We just want to compensate the guys who are over the line, standing out there with a race suit and a helmet where cars are coming past at 40km/h.

“To be able to send them overseas for some new experiences we thought was a good thing.”

Trackhouse fields three full-time NASCAR Cup Series entries, including that of former Triple Eight Supercars driver Shane van Gisbergen.

Van Gisbergen spoke last year of wanting to poach Triple Eight engineering talent to join the Trackhouse operation to improve its road course program.

Triple Eight’s US staff trip is taking place while American GM chiefs host five representatives of its new Supercars homologation squad, Team 18.

Team principal Adrian Burgess and four engineers attended last weekend’s NASCAR race at Richmond as part of a trip devised amid Triple Eight’s impending Ford defection.

Ford Supercars drivers Thomas Randle and Matt Payne were also in attendance at the Richmond race last week, the former doing so with sponsor Castrol.

Triple Eight driver Will Brown will soon be headed stateside too for his NASCAR Xfinity Series outing at Portland on August 30.

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