Shane Van Gisbergen won his first career NASCAR race in his first career start on Sunday. Wow, that is still crazy to write/read. Regardless, rumors have begun swirling about what he could do in 2024. SVG himself said after the race that he would run one more year in Australia before potentially moving on, but his team owner said that he would not stop SVG from pursuing NASCAR in 2024. So, where could SVG go?
This is probably the most likely of all scenarios. The connection is already there as Van Gisbergen won with Trackhouse this past weekend. Of course, Trackhouse does not have a third car currently in the stable, but did anyone expect Justin Marks to buy out Chip Ganassi?
Marks is obviously passionate about bringing some of these other drivers to NASCAR to run, hence Project 91. What if he maybe brings in Van Gisbergen on a part-time basis for 2024 before going full-time in 2025. It’s a possibility.
Stewart-Haas Racing is in a strange situation. Aric Almirola’s future plans are still undetermined, and SHR is at the beginning of an obvious rebuild. Why not build around a driver like SVG?
It would definitely be a difficult transition for both sides as SHR is not what it once was. That being said, it is not out of character for Tony Stewart to hire the more oddball, off-the-wall type drivers. Think of drivers like Kurt Busch, Josh Berry, Clint Bowyer, and the like.
23XI Racing has been a candidate to expand to three cars next season. They have sort-of done that with Travis Pastrana driving in the Daytona 500 in the 67 car for the team. Denny Hamlin has also been notably aggressive when it comes to acquiring driver talent.
He hired Tyler Reddick away from Richard Childress Racing, and he found a way to get Reddick out of that contract a season early. Hamlin would receive far less hostility if he tired to hire away SVG.
Kaulig Racing is a team that is just missing something. They have a young driver who has talent in Justin Haley, and A.J. Allmendinger is a nice veteran presence. However, the results thus far have been mixed.
It’s tough to say whether or not SVG would make Kaulig work for him, but he could be an intriguing prospect for them. It’s tough to say who he could replace, but could Kaulig try to open up a third car for him. Could they maybe give him an full-time Xfinity/ part-time Cup type of ride for a season?
Team Penske offers SVG something interesting, options. Does he want to go sports car racing, IndyCar Racing, or full-time in NASCAR? SVG has avenues to do all of that if he were to fun for Team Penske.
Add to that Roger Penske has a history in the V8 Supercars Championship. IndyCar driver Scott McLaughlin ran for Penske in that series before moving over to IndyCar. No matter what SVG wants to do, Penske can give him the avenue to do it.
Is next year the right year for Van Gisbergen to make the jump? That is hard to say, but it’s safe to say that his options are open to run in NASCAR again at some point.
