Trackhouse and Kaulig Racing today announced an alliance that will feature Shane van Gisbergen in seven NASCAR Cup Series races in the No. 16 Chevrolet Camaro this season.
The three-time Supercars champion won in his NASCAR Cup Series debut in Trackhouse Racing’s PROJECT91 entry at the Chicago Street Race in July, then moved to the United States in December after signing a driving contract with Trackhouse that will launch a full-time career in NASCAR.
Trackhouse turned to Kaulig Racing to field a full-time NASCAR Xfinity Series entry in 2024 for the 34-year-old Auckland, New Zealand native, and now will work in full collaboration with Kaulig’s Cup operation preparing the No. 16 Chevrolets for SVG’s limited Cup Series schedule.
“When I first started talking with Trackhouse about moving to the U.S., we had no idea how many races we could secure but I knew I wanted to be with that team and organization,” said Van Gisbergen whose resume also includes 80 Supercars wins and three victories in the Bathurst 1000, the premier race in Australia.
“There has been a lot of hard work to get to this point and I could not be happier to know that I get to race for an Xfinity Series championship and then get a proper go at the Cup Series on road courses and ovals.
“Kaulig is a proven winner in both the Xfinity and the Cup Series, and I know with the alliance with Trackhouse, this will be an incredible first year for me in NASCAR.”
As previously announced, Van Gisbergen will participate in the following Cup races in 2024:
Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin on March 24
Talladega Superspeedway (Ala.) on April 21 and October 6
Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 26
Chicago Street Race on July 7
Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International on Sept. 15
Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Oct. 20.
Van Gisbergen, universally known as SVG, joins a Kaulig Racing organization that has won two Cup races and 23 Xfinity races since the team’s inception in 2016. The Welcome, North Carolina team won the 2023 Bank of America ROVAL 400, as well as four Xfinity races with a variety of drivers. Van Gisbergen will join Kaulig teammate Daniel Hemric, driver of the No. 31 in the 2024 Cup season.
“I’m excited to work with Trackhouse and have Shane join our Cup program this season,” said Chris Rice, President of Kaulig Racing. “When we locked in SVG for the Xfinity Series, it just became a natural next step on the Cup side since we have all the existing infrastructure and a relationship with the pit crews. Remember, SVG had to pass our car to win the Chicago race. We finished second. So, now we get to race with him which is kind of awesome.”
Trackhouse founder and owner Justin Marks, who brought Van Gisbergen to NASCAR and Trackhouse last year as part of the team’s PROJECT91 program created to give international stars a chance to compete in the sport, is excited to see Van Gisbergen take on this new challenge in 2024.
“Shane is one of the best talents I’ve ever seen.” said Marks. “We know he will be competitive on the road courses, so we needed to challenge him and ourselves on oval tracks against Cup Series drivers. This is a big freshman season for Shane, and I really appreciate Matt Kaulig and Chris Rice for helping us bring this to life.”
About Trackhouse Racing
The addition of van Gisbergen is the latest chapter in the Trackhouse Racing story that began when Justin Marks retired from a full-time driving career in NASCAR and sports car racing to create Trackhouse Entertainment Group in 2020 with the goal of creating a racing brand that transcends the sport. Marks formed Trackhouse Racing which took to the track in 2021 with Suárez behind the wheel. In January 2021, the team announced a partnership with international superstar entertainer Pitbull who has been a frequent guest at NASCAR races and elevated Trackhouse’s presence through inclusion in several of his songs, music videos and named his current album “Trackhouse.” Midway through the 2021 season, Trackhouse Racing bought the NASCAR assets of Chip Ganassi Racing and began the 2022 season as its own two-car team with Suárez and Chastain as drivers. Chastain gave the organization its first victory at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas and won again at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. Suárez became the first Mexican (Monterrey) driver to win a Cup race when he dominated the Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway race that year. Chastain returned to victory lane in 2022 when he won at Nashville Superspeedway in June and at Phoenix Raceway in November. In December, Trackhouse announced its entry in the FIM MotoGP World Championship motorcycle racing series.
About Kaulig Racing™
Kaulig Racing™ is a full-time multi-car NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) and NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) team, owned by award-winning entrepreneur, Matt Kaulig. Established in 2016, Kaulig Racing™ has made the NXS Playoffs consecutively each season since the playoff system started and won back-to-back regular-season championships in 2021 and 2022. Before becoming a full-time NCS team, Kaulig Racing made multiple starts in the 2021 NCS season and won in its seventh-ever race with AJ Allmendinger’s victory at “The Brickyard” for the Verizon 200 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The team expanded to a two-car, full-time NCS team in 2022 and added a third, part-time entry during the 2023 season. In 2024, the team will once again field two full-time entries in the NCS and continue to field three full-time NXS entries. To learn more about the team, visit kauligracing.com.
TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!
