No Shane van Gisbergen in the All-Star Race Is Asinine

July 2, 2023. That was the day that Shane van Gisbergen came in and whooped the NASCAR Cup Series field on his debut.

Everyone remembers van Gisbergen’s triumph at the Chicago street course last season for many reasons. For one, it was a monumental moment. For an Australian V8 Supercars driver to come in and show up the NASCAR regulars, in his first start, at the first street race in Cup Series history, would’ve been unthinkable just a year prior.

Another reason van Gisbergen’s win was so memorable was because of the fact that not only did he prove parity was possible in the Next Gen (something that has since fallen off), but he also proved that stars from other racing series could come over and perform well given the right equipment.

Trackhouse Racing’s PROJECT91 car, for which van Gisbergen drove, had made just two starts in its history prior to the Kiwi stepping behind the wheel, both with Kimi Raikkonen. The ride was designed for champions in other motorsports (which van Gisbergen and Raikkonen both are) to have easier access to compete in a Cup Series race.

While PROJECT91 has largely fallen dormant, as the team switched its focus to putting van Gisbergen in a developmental project for 2024, his Chicago triumph has encouraged other teams to field other motorsports champions. Since van Gisbergen’s win, Kamui Kobayashi, Brodie Kostecki,and now Cam Waters have decided to jump in a NASCAR racecar (or in Waters’ case, a truck) to test the NASCAR pool. That’s in addition to drivers like Conor Daly, Mike Rockenfeller, Jordan Taylor, Jenson Button, Daniil Kvyat and Marco Andretti trying their hands at NASCAR in some capacity since 2022.

Finally, van Gisbergen’s win was important to the grand scope of NASCAR. Because of van Gisbergen’s success as a Supercars champion, his ability to come to America and win a Cup Series race right out of the gate helped reintroduce NASCAR on a global scale. To this day, New Zealanders and those within the Repco Supercars paddock tune in to NASCAR races to see their former champion rough it up with the Americans.

For the NASCAR faithful, one little bonus to seeing van Gisbergen win at Chicago was the fact that the New Zealander was now locked into the 2024 NASCAR All-Star Race. While the rules for the All-Star Race change seemingly every year, the general constant was that any driver, regardless of full- or part-time…