NASCAR rookie Shane van Gisbergen on how he’s revving up for his new career

Shane van Gisbergen is what you’d call a fast learner, especially when it comes to motor racing. He was obsessed with cars growing up in New Zealand, forsaking other childhood hobbies, TV time or even hangouts with friends to turn laps around the family farm on a Suzuki quad bike. His dad taught him how to drive at age nine, just in time for him to start racing go-karts.

In his early teens, van Gisbergen began his career climb, racing the little open-wheel Formula Vee series, winning the rookie of the year award in 2005. Three years later, at just 18, he reached the big time for racers in Oceania – V8 Supercars. He’d go on to win 80 races and three championships there, distinguishing himself as one of the best drivers ever at that level.

Still, it wasn’t until 2023 that 35-year-old van Gisbergen landed on the radar of American stock-racing fans, when he stunned the field at a NASCAR Cup race on the streets of Chicago. There he survived wet and wild conditions en route to grabbing a shock win – the first by a debuting driver in 60 years. After spending last year cramming in all the NASCAR racing experience he could get – from the entry-level ARCA Series to the triple-A-level Xfinity Series, where he finished 12th in the standings – van Gisbergen (or SVG, as he’s come to be known in the United States) will now compete in his first full-time NASCAR Cup season with Trackhouse Racing, an upstart franchise part owned by the performer Pitbull.

The road ahead won’t be easy; IndyCar’s Sam Hornish Jr. and F1 great Juan Pablo Montoya are two in a number of proven winners who’ve struggled to find similar success in NASCAR. But van Gisbergen, who comes to NASCAR better equipped than most would-be crossover stars thanks to his experience in Supercars, could well set a new standard – not that he’s making any bold predictions for himself or anything. “I’m learning so much and having so much fun doing it,” he says. “I’ve found my place to be.”

On his way in to work – on this day a virtual reconnaissance mission inside a racing simulato – the easygoing Kiwi reflected on the effort to launch his racing career from New Zealand, his epic victory in Chicago and why it pays to set modest expectations.