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Shane van Gisbergen is racing in NASCAR this weekend in part because he is “not really enjoying” Supercars.
The three-time Supercars champion will make his debut in the Chicago street race in the Project91 entry which Trackhouse Racing fields on a part-time basis for international cameos.
While the drive is thus a one-off for now, van Gisbergen has a clause in his newly signed Triple Eight Race Engineering contract which means he is free to leave at the end of 2024 if he lands a drive in another category.
The interest in NASCAR came as something of a surprise, though, with SVG having previously expressed a preference for sportscar racing in terms of North American motorsport, and a relative lack of interest in ovals.
However, he has become obviously frustrated with the politics of Supercars, including the infamous press conference episode involving Mark Skaife in Newcastle, and does not particularly enjoy the new Gen3 race cars.
“I guess Supercars isn’t that fun at the moment,” he said in the days out from the Chicago NASCAR event.
“I’m not really enjoying it as much and starting to think about other things and look around.
“But, my motivation for Supercars is high – I’m still trying hard and pushing as hard as I can, I guess – but I just… I don’t know, it’s complicated.
“But, certainly now I’ve started watching NASCAR more again this year that the opportunity’s come up, and it’s appealing.
“You see so many more road courses, [and] the cars are so similar now.
“Two seasons ago, the cars were so foreign; you couldn’t jump in them straight away [and be competitive].
“You’d have to have done a couple of years of Truck and Xfinity, like Marcos [Ambrose] did up the ladder, whereas these cars are much more relevant for any driver through the world.
“So, you could jump in the series, I think, and you wouldn’t be fast in your first year – it would take some time – but it looks appealing.”
Van Gisbergen also drew a contrast between NASCAR’s packed calendar of 36 competitive races plus contests such as the Clash and All-Star event to Supercars’ sparse, 12-event calendar.
“They’re doing more road courses, more variation, and seeing this week the routine…” he added.
“Like, you go to a race, you spend half a day off, then you spend the week debriefing, and then focus on the next race and go traveling and do it all again.
“The routine of racing every weekend is pretty appealing. It’s mid-year now and we’ve only done five races [events] in Supercars.
“So, that’s the appeal for me, just to go and try it out. [To] race every week would be pretty cool maybe, but we’ll see how this week goes.”
However, the 34-year-old is not pursuing a full-time NASCAR drive – yet.
“Not really,” he remarked.
“Just open eyes and ears this week, just try and take it all in and enjoy myself, really.
“I’ve got no pressure on myself for results and I know that my preparation is good and if I have fun, maybe it’s something I will look at.
“I’m fully focused on Supercars for this year and next, for sure, but maybe if something comes up, I’ll definitely entertain it.”
