"There needs to be something to be improved": Shane van Gisbergen shares his 100% authentic response to Cody Ware’s crash in Chicago

The winner of the Chicago Cup race, Shane van Gisbergen, recently shared his honest take on Cody Ware’s horrible crash. The Trackhouse Racing driver also talked about NASCAR officials taking time to address the situation and pointed out that technology could put the decision out of the hands of the officials and expedite the process during such situations.

During the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Chicago Street Race, Cody Ware was briefly involved in a horrifying crash when his brake rotor failed, sending his No. 51 Ford head-on into a tire barrier, striking it at almost 93 mph as he exited Turn 6. The situation justifiably drew outrage after NASCAR took 35 seconds to throw the caution flag, as driver safety prevented an overtime restart. The incident has brought attention to some important issues concerning driver safety and officiating.

Shane van Gisbergen told NASCAR reporter Claire B. Lang:

"I don't think they saw the severity of the crash, or thought he could drive out. But I'm pretty sure in V8 supercars, when I left, the cars had like a G-sensor, or if you had a crash that was big enough, it would trigger that G-sensor to, you know, medical and probably race control."

"And maybe that's something we need here, if they don't have it already, and you know, if the crash is big enough, you need someone to, you know, obviously looking at that fan version of the car passing by, it's sickening to watch that. So yeah, I guess there needs to be something to be improved, but I feel like NASCAR in general is fast moving with that stuff, so I'm sure it'll be better," he added.

NASCAR officials later explained that race control did not have immediate video footage of the impact and thus did not realize the severity of the crash in real time. Subsequently, they admitted that had they seen the event, the caution would have been issued immediately.

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Shane van Gisbergen reveals the bitter truth of the disaster that almost ended his career

Shane van Gisbergen made an astonishing switch from Supercars Champion to NASCAR star after winning his NASCAR Cup Series debut at the 2023 Chicago Street Course. Currently, he races full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series for Trackhouse Racing in the No. 88 Chevrolet and has already had a significant impact as one of NASCAR's most successful international drivers.

Shane van Gisbergen revealed he nearly quit motorsport entirely after a tumultuous period in 2012. During an appearance on The Athletic’s 12 Questions Podcast, he recounted how a bitter legal dispute, public backlash, and deep personal frustration following his exit from Stone Brothers Racing (SBR) left him disillusioned and ready to walk away from racing.

"In 2012, at the end of that year, I was out of racing. I wanted to stop, and I sort of did stop. And then Dad (Robert) really convinced me to keep going, and we changed teams. It was a big legal sh** fight, and I ended up joining another team. It was really bad publicly, but I was able to just knuckle down and focus on my driving," van Gisbergen mentioned.

The saga stemmed from Shane van Gisbergen’s departure from SBR as the team transitioned to Erebus Motorsport and a new manufacturer. Although he initially cited personal reasons for leaving, it soon emerged he had signed with Tekno Autosports, prompting SBR to allege breach of contract and initiate legal action. The dispute, which played out publicly, was ultimately settled out of court.