“He should’ve done a wildcard”: Shane van Gisbergen states Indy Car star should've raced in NASCAR this weekend 

Shane van Gisbergen is ready to immerse himself into the complete NASCAR experience as the Australian V8 Supercars champion heads into two races this weekend.

Making his debut on oval racetracks, the three-time Supercars champion will be in action in the Craftsman Truck Series race at Indianapolis Raceway Park, followed by the Cup Series race at the road course.

Ready to seemingly jump into a NASCAR Cup Series season as soon as possible, van Gisbergen will not be the first driver to travel to a different part of the world to try something new in his racing endeavors.

In 2006, former Cup Series and Supercars series driver Marcus Ambrose made the switch just like Shane van Gisbergen hopes to now. NTT IndyCar Series star Scott McLaughlin also did the same back in 2021.

As both NASCAR and IndyCar prepare for a doubleheader at Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend, van Gisbergen, the inaugural Chicago Street Race winner said about his fellow countryman to motorsport.com:

“It would be cool to have him join, he should’ve done a wildcard this weekend. We went for lunch on my last trip (to America) and he was just so encouraging about coming over here and giving it a crack. So, yes, it’s awesome to be around him again.”

Shane van Gisbergen is excited to watch the IndyCar Series race this Saturday

With the NTT IndyCar Series racing on the same road course that NASCAR is scheduled to run on Sunday, Shane van Gisbergen is excited to jump back into the open-wheeled series.

With fellow countryman and ex-Supercars racer Scott McLaughlin as well as several other notable drivers to cheer for, van Gisbergen will be at an IndyCar race after a gap of 14 years.

Seeing the cars whiz by in person for the first time since IndyCar's visit to Australia in 2008, van Gisbergen is looking forward to Saturday's race. He said (via motorsport.com):

"They’ve invited me to go and watch the race on the pit box which will be awesome. I haven’t seen an IndyCar race since they were in Surfers (Paradise) in 2008, so it’s going to be awesome to go and watch him (McLaughlin) and see Scott Dixon race as well."

Watch Shane van Gisbergen's second Cup Series start at the Indy Road Course at 2:30 pm ET this Sunday