NASCAR’s Shane van Gisbergen on the race that changed his life

One year ago, three-time Australian Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen climbed into a white-and-blue NASCAR Cup Series car on the streets of Chicago. It was the NASCAR Cup Series’ first time on a street course, and van Gisbergen’s first time racing in NASCAR’s top level—in a one-off entry backed by a part-time road crew, no less. Record rainfall flooded the track, and the television announcers couldn’t even pronounce his name. 

Then Shane van Gisbergen won. 

The (then) 34-year-old from New Zealand had run the 2023 Chicago Street Course race in Trackhouse Racing’s “Project91” entry, which serves as a “star car” for drivers from other series. The car is less of a NASCAR audition and more of a showcase—a fun way to see what a talented outsider can do in NASCAR. Only two drivers have raced with Project91: van Gisbergen and retired Formula One champion Kimi Räikkönen, who ran well but never achieved a strong finish in the car. When a star driver tries a different type of racing, it’s more about the show than the performance.

Van Gisbergen’s debut victory became the catalyst for him deciding to move to America and pursue NASCAR full time this year, and looking back, he’s struck by how unexpected it all was. 

“No one thought we would come out and win that race,” van Gisbergen tells me, looking back at the race that changed his life. “That feeling when the radio cracks open and the engineer or crew chief comes over, screaming about how exciting the win was, and that short-term spike of emotions you get—it’s hard to explain, but it’s an amazing feeling.”

The race was treacherous, with drivers skating through the rainfall all day. Formula One champion Jenson Button spun trying to get to pit road. Pole-sitter Denny Hamlin slid into a tire barrier on lap two; Christopher Bell and Tyler Reddick did the same later, with water gushing from the barriers on impact. Midway through the race, more than a dozen cars piled up in the same corner.

With 16 laps to go, van Gisbergen ran eighth. Drivers were on different pit strategies, with some teams choosing to stay out on old tires for track position and others pitting for fresh ones. Van Gisbergen pitted, giving him more speed but more cars to pass. 

And pass he did. Van Gisbergen swallowed each car up, overtaking race leader Justin…