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Speculation regarding NASCAR's first street course winner, Shane van Gisbergen, making the switch to stock car racing seems to be showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon.
Winner of the inaugural Chicago City Street Race, the V8 Supercars driver from New Zealand became the hottest driver to have raced in Trackhouse Racing's Project 91 program.
While Shane van Gisbergen is contracted with V8 Supercars team Triple Eight until the end of next season, there has been no hiding the fact that he has garnered interest from the United States of America.
His visit to victory lane in his debut race in the highest echelon of stock car racing made him a runaway success story in NASCAR, with the feel-good factor of his story playing in his favor.
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Many personnel in the Supercars paddock tipped 2023 as the three-time champion's last season in the Australian touring car series.
Triple Eight Managing Director Jamie Whinecup has also made it clear that the team won't stand in the 34-year-old Auckland native's way if he does decide to pursue a different racing series.
With an illustrious V8 Supercars career already in Australia, Shane van Gisbergen could be looking at a complete switch-up in his career after his dream start in the NASCAR Cup Series.
If he does go through with the same, it will be an understatement to say the driver market silly season will kick off in full swing.
Shane van Gisbergen's Supercars team managing director on the Kiwi's future plans
Jamie Whinecup, managing director at Triple Eight in the V8 Supercars series, has been one of the most supportive of Shane van Gisbergen's switch to NASCAR if he plans to do so.
Having spoken on the topic earlier regarding the 34-year-old's contract with the team, he elaborated to v8slueth.com.au and said:
"For us, nothing has changed, we've got a solid plan in place for 2024 but he may communicate that he wants to change the plan and we'll run through the process of what that could look like. We'll try to have a discussion sooner rather than later for sure."
In NASCAR's Next Gen era, Shane van Gisbergen found himself amidst the perfect storm where racing cars similar to V8 Supercars on a street course meant he could excel at what he does best.
It remains to be seen what comes of the noise regarding the Kiwi's full-time NASCAR switch. Stay tuned for the latest updates.
