On Thursday (May 18), Trackhouse Racing officially revealed that it would field an entry as part of its Project 91 promotion for Shane van Gisbergen at the NASCAR Cup Series race in Chicago.
van Gisbergen, a veteran Supercars Championship driver from New Zealand, will be making his NASCAR debut. Driving this season for Triple Eight Race Engineering, van Gisbergen is a three-time and defending Supercars champion, to go along with two Bathurst 1000 wins in 2020 and 2022.
The current series points leader, van Gisbergen is currently fourth on the all-time Supercars wins list with 77 career victories.
The Chicago street course, the first Cup Series race held entirely on public streets, will be the third race for Trackhouse’s Project 91 car.
The No. 91 had been wheeled by former Formula 1 world champion Kimi Raikkonen at Cup races at Watkins Glen International in 2022 and at Circuit of the Americas earlier this year. Darrian Grubb will remain as crew chief for the car.
“I can honestly say I have dreamed about an opportunity in NASCAR, but really never thought it would become a reality,” van Gisbergen said in the press release. “I can’t wait to get to the states to meet everyone and prepare for Chicago. It’s NASCAR’s first time on the streets of Chicago so in some ways everyone will be a rookie like me, but I don’t underestimate that it’s going to be a huge challenge.”
“We have been very pleased with the fan reaction to Kimi’s participation the last two seasons,” Trackhouse team co-owner Justin Marks said. “I’ll concede the American racing fan might not be as familiar with Shane as they are with Kimi but if you talk with anyone in Australia, New Zealand and that part of the world they will tell you he is one of the most talented drivers on the planet. He’s used to street racing in heavy cars and I think everyone will be very impressed with his performance.”
The No. 91 Chevrolet will be sponsored by Enhance Health for the event. Quad Lock, an Australia-based sponsor of van Gisbergen’s, will serve as an associate sponsor.
About the author
Michael has watched NASCAR for 20 years and regularly covered the sport from 2013-2021, and also formerly covered the SRX series from 2021-2023. He now covers the FIA Formula 1 World Championship, the NASCAR Xfinity Series, and road course events in the NASCAR Cup Series.
A daily email update (Monday through Friday) providing racing news, commentary, features, and information from Frontstretch.com
We hate spam. Your email address will not be sold or shared with anyone else.