Plans were hatched for a Mobile X-backed wildcard that would have put Busch behind the wheel of a Triple Eight Camaro at this year’s event. However, Busch ultimately opted not to race.
The likelihood of a NASCAR driver being able to contest next year’s Adelaide Grand Final has been helped by a sizeable calendar swing.
Next year’s NASCAR Cup Series will conclude on November 3 (AEDT) while the Supercars season will wind up on November 27-30.
“I wouldn’t, but I’d love to see how a Kyle Busch or a Kyle Larson would go,” said van Gisbergen on the latest Apex Hunters United podcast.
“I wouldn’t do it myself because I know how difficult it would be to jump in, end of the season, and try and get a result. You’ve got no chance against these guys. The Supercar guys are very, very good. But I would love to see how those guys would go.
“If they came anything better than last, it would be an awesome achievement. I don’t think they would come last, but how far up? That would be a great question and I’d love to find out. Hopefully next year we find out.”
The advent of the Next Gen car in NASCAR has brought the stock car series closer to Supercars and its Gen3 machines.
Van Gisbergen and Apex Hunters United host Scott Pye said relaxing testing rules for a wildcard would be paramount.
Pye saw how IndyCar stars Alexander Rossi and James Hinchcliffe went in 2019 when they raced a Walkinshaw Andretti United Holden ZB Commodore.
Rossi and Hinchcliffe raced in the Bathurst 1000 that year and would up nearly four seconds off the pace in qualifying and two laps down in the race after burying their car in the sand at Murray’s Corner.
“I would love to see Larson do it and the category release some restrictions on testing,” said Pye.
“If he comes in and does well, there’s no shame. I don’t see him winning, even with 10 test days. But what happened with the guys that came and did the Bathurst 1000, they got the one test day at Winton, for two drivers. They had to share it, and it was terrible. I felt bad for them.
“They were five seconds a lap off the pace and they were much better than that. Adelaide is a taller ask than even going to Bathurst because the field spread is less, so you could be last and not be that bad.”
Had Busch raced in the 2024 Adelaide 500, he would have had a one-day turnaround to get from the United States to Australia to test before practice began on Thursday.
“It’s difficult because I think Kyle Busch was going to have a day at The Bend or something right before Adelaide,” said van Gisbergen.
“It’s not relative. It’s a completely different track. You need two days at Queensland Raceway or two days at Mallala or something with some consequence for going off.
“I don’t see him turning up and doing a good job because you don’t have that at The Bend.
“Next year, I think they’ve made two weeks between the [events] on purpose for someone to have a go.
“Man, I’d love to see it happen for a quality driver. But as I said, you have to respect quality of both people.
“I have no idea how one would go with proper preparation but it’d be very interesting to see.”
For more of the latest NASCAR news and analysis, visit Speedcafe US
Discussion about this post