He won in his NASCAR Cup Series debut at the 2023 Grant Park 220 in Chicago driving the No. 91 for Trackhouse Racing, becoming the first driver to win in their NASCAR Cup Series debut since Indy car driver Johnny Rutherford in 1963, becoming only the seventh to do so in series history and the first driver to do it in the modern era of the sport.[2] He also became the first New Zealander to win a race in the Cup Series.
In 2014, van Gisbergen co-drove to the BNT NZ Supertourers Hankook Super Series championship with primary driver Simon Evans. Shane won 7 of the 9 races in a total of the Endurance rounds including sweeping the entire Fuchs 500 weekend at Pukekohe Park Raceway with winning race #3 in spectacular fashion driving from 1 lap down.[5]
In 2021, van Gisbergen won the New Zealand Grand Prix held as part of the Toyota Racing Series. The event is normally held for a global field however was restricted to a New Zealand-only field due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with van Gisbergen entering as a wildcard.[6] Van Gisbergen ran a Brabham BT62 in the South Island Endurance Series at Euromarque Motorsport Park in 2023, with co-driver and car owner Dwayne Carter. However, a right rear wheel came off on lap 2 and the car was sidelined for 87 laps in total at the end of the event, after Carter ran over 30 laps with no problems before retiring it from the race later on. Van Gisbergen turned no laps in the 3 hour race.[citation needed]
Driving for Team Kiwi Racing, van Gisbergen became the 200th driver to start a race in a V8 Supercar at the Jim Beam 400 at Oran Park Raceway in Round 8 of 2007.[7] Having impressed in his 2007 races, van Gisbergen was picked up by Stone Brothers Racing in 2008.[8] He continued with the team for five seasons until 2012, securing a best of fourth in the championship in 2011. In late 2012, he announced he would be leaving V8 Supercars[9] but in January it emerged that he was moving to Tekno Autosports at the start of the 2013 season.[10] Van Gisbergen faced legal action for breaking his contract with Stone Brothers Racing.[11] The move to Tekno proved fruitful, with van Gisbergen finishing runner-up in the championship in 2014.[12]
Van Gisbergen has also shown a strong pace at the series' most famous race, the Bathurst 1000. He was in the lead in the 2009 Bathurst 1000 until pitting on lap 108 when his car would not start, resulting in a 1:14 pit stop and losing him a number of positions in the race. A near-identical issue repeated itself in the 2014 edition, where with 10 laps to go – he stalled and the starter motor failed, costing him almost a certain victory and he finished 16th. Van Gisbergen had started the 2014 race from pole position, his first at the event.[citation needed]
Van Gisbergen (right) and his teammate Jamie Whincup (left) at the 2016 Sydney SuperSprint
In 2016, van Gisbergen moved to the Triple Eight Race Engineering team, alongside two of the most successful drivers in series history; Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes.[13] Van Gisbergen won his first race for the team at the Tasmania SuperSprint in 2016.[14]Alexandre Prémat joined van Gisbergen as co-driver in the Enduro Cup.[15] The pair won the 2016 Enduro Cup, including three second-place finishes and Prémat's first race victory in the championship at the 2016 Castrol Gold Coast 600, and became the first non-Australian drivers combination to win.[16] At Pukekohe, van Gisbergen became the first New Zealander to lift the trophy, named in honour of Jason Richards, who died of cancer in 2011.[17] He went on to win eight races that season and won the championship.[18]
Van Gisbergen at the 2017 Sydney Motorsport Park
In 2017, Whincup and van Gisbergen paired up again under the Red Bull Holden Racing Team banner. At Adelaide, he started his title defence with a double-victory, but finished 4th in the championship.[19][20]
In 2018, van Gisbergen won both Race 1 and Race 2 at Adelaide, driving a Holden Commodore ZB.[21][22] At Townsville, van Gisbergen won at race 18 after Whincup marked the 10th running at race 17. On 4 August, van Gisbergen won the Sydney SuperNight 300 after a Safety Car was called in.[23] At Tailem Bend, van Gisbergen dominated the inaugural race at The Bend Motorsport Park, taking a near lights-to-flag win in Race 22. On 16 September, at Sandown, van Gisbergen finished 2nd alongside Earl Bamber. Van Gisbergen controversially escaped a penalty for spinning his wheels during a pit stop at the Auckland SuperSprint at Pukekohe.[24]
Van Gisbergen during practice at the 2021 Mount Panorama 500
At Newcastle in 2018, van Gisbergen was handed a 25-second post-race penalty following an investigation into a refueling breach at his third pitstop.[25] Scott McLaughlin was declared the winner of the race. Van Gisbergen finished second at race 31 and in the points standings.[citation needed]
In 2015 he entered the Blancpain Endurance Series in a McLaren 650S GT3 run by Von Ryan Racing. Racing in conjunction with his V8 Supercars commitments, he was forced to miss one round due to a date clash, however achieved two victories in the four races he entered. The team was dissolved after the 2015 season, and for the 2016 season, van Gisbergen moved to McLaren's new Garage 59 team.[27] He will once again miss the final round of the championship at the Nürburgring in Germany due to the Sandown 500 V8 Supercar race being held on the same weekend. Van Gisbergen won the 2016 season with Côme Ledogar and Rob Bell having won the 3 Hours of Monza and the 1000 km Paul Ricard despite skipping the last round at the Nürburgring due to a clash with his Supercars Championship commitments.[28]
Through his McLaren and Tekno Autosports connections, he drove one of Tekno's factory-supported McLaren 650S GT3s at the 2016 Bathurst 12 Hour. In qualifying on Saturday, van Gisbergen set the fastest ever officially recorded lap of the Mount Panorama Circuit to achieve pole position.[29] He went on to set the fastest ever race lap on the way to securing victory alongside Álvaro Parente and Jonathon Webb.[30]
NASCAR
Van Gisbergen's race-winning car at the 2023 Grant Park 220Van Gisbergen's race-winning car at the 2024 Zip Buy Now, Pay Later 250van Gisbergen celebrating his win at the 2024 Zip Buy Now, Pay Later 250 by kicking a rugby ball into the grandstands at Sonoma Raceway.
On 18 May 2023, it was announced that van Gisbergen would make his debut in the NASCAR Cup Series driving the No. 91 Chevrolet for Trackhouse Racing and its Project 91 programme at the inaugural event at the Chicago Street Course.[31] During qualifying for the race, he earned the 3rd spot in the starting grid.[32] Van Gisbergen was shuffled back to midpack after a pileup the lap before the completion of the second stage. Van Gisbergen took the lead on lap 71 from Justin Haley, and maintained it until Bubba Wallace collided with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. on Lap 73 and sent the race into NASCAR Overtime. Van Gisbergen won the race, becoming the seventh driver and the first driver in the modern era of NASCAR, and the first driver since Indy car driver Johnny Rutherford 60 years prior in 1963, to win in his Cup Series debut race, and also becoming the first New Zealander to win in the Cup Series, and only the sixth driver born outside the US to win a Cup Series race. He also was the first "road course ringer" to win a Cup Series race since Indy car driver Mark Donohue in 1973.[2] Until his second career start, van Gisbergen was also one of only two drivers to have a perfect winning record in NASCAR, briefly joining Marvin Burke in that accomplishment.[33] On 19 July 2023, Trackhouse Racing announced van Gisbergen would make his second start of the 2023 season at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
[34] Van Gisbergen scored his 2nd Top 10 finish in the one-caution race, the first to start a NASCAR Cup career with two Top 10s in their first two starts since Terry Labonte in 1978.[35]
On 14 September 2023, Trackhouse announced that van Gisbergen would drive part-time all three of NASCAR's national series in 2024 as part of a development deal with the team.[38]
On 13 December 2023, Kaulig Racing announced that van Gisbergen would compete full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series driving the No. 97 car.[39] Van Gisbergen also had to run the ARCA race at Daytona in order to receive approval to compete at superspeedway events in NASCAR.[40] On 2 January 2024, it was announced that van Gisbergen would be competing for Pinnacle Racing Group in the race.[41] On 31 January, he signed with KHI Management.[42] Van Gisbergen started the season with a 12th-place finish at Daytona. He scored his first two Xfinity Series wins on back-to-back weeks at Portland and Sonoma.[43][44] After retiring at Iowa and scoring two top-20 finishes, the New Zealander took his third victory of the season on his return to Chicago.[45] SVG would unfortunately be knocked out of the first round of the Xfinity Series playoffs.
On 24 August 2024, it was announced that van Gisbergen will drive full-time in the Cup Series for Trackhouse Racing, driving the No. 88 Chevrolet in 2025.[46]
SVG also ran some select Cup Series races during the 2024 season this time with Kaulig Racing driving the No. 13 for only one race and the No. 16 for the rest of the races. During the 2024 Watkins Glen race, van Gisbergen led the field with one lap to go, looking for his second Cup win, however, Chris Buescher took the lead after the exit of the "Bus Stop", he ultimately finished second after two failed overtake attempts prevented him from taking the lead.[47] In his only race in the No. 13 at the Charlotte Roval, van Gisbergen would score his first career Cup Series pole while also leading 21 laps and finishing in 7th place. SVG ran 12 Cup Series races that year scoring one top five and two top tens along with one pole with an average finish of 22.8.
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