According to Andrew Clarke of the Australian racing magazine, Auto Action, current Australian Supercars championship contender Brodie Kostecki is rumored to run a Chevrolet in his first career Cup Series race at Indianapolis in August. Clarke reports that nothing has been announced or confirmed, but he does mention that there is a relationship between Kostecki’s team, Erebus Motorsports, and Richard Childress Racing. Adam Stern retweeted the story earlier as well.
Nothing has been officially announced, corroborated, or confirmed, so this remains a rumor for now. However, Kostecki is more familiar with NASCAR than many might think, and the context is even more interesting given the recent performance of Shane van Gisbergen.
So who is Brodie Kostecki?
Brodie Kostecki was born in Perth, Western Australia, but his first taste of professional racing actually came in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, now the ARCA Menards Series East. He ran in the series while still a teenager running in 16 races between 2013 and 2014 for his father, Andrew.
In 2013, he struggled with three finished outside of the top-20 in combination races between the East and West at Richmond, and Iowa. In 2014, he ran in 13 races in the 43 car for his father, Andrew, once again. This season was more successful as Brodie won two poles at Iowa and Watkins Glen and four top-10s.
His best finish came in the last race he entered at Dover Motor Speedway, where he finished fifth. According to Racing Reference, his crew chief for that race was Corey LaJoie, and yes we mean THAT Corey LaJoie. However, despite his move to supercars, Brodie Kostecki has hinted at a NASCAR return before.
In June of 2022, Simon Chapman of speedcafe, reported that Kostecki had made trips to the 2022 Indianapolis 500 and the Cup Series race at Gateway with the goal to go NASCAR racing in 2023. Kostecki specifically mentioned the Next-Gen car to Chapman as a reason for why he is looking at NASCAR.
NASCAR has been on Kostecki’s radar for a while now, but he has still remained busy in the meantime. He is currently in the midst of his best season running Australian Supercars.
In 2019, Kostecki made the move up to Supercars for Kostecki Brothers Racing at the prestigious Bathurst 1000, finishing in 24th. He got his first top-10 in the series later that year at Sandown Raceway in Melbourne, finishing eighth.
He made the move to Erebus for one race in 2020, with his first full-time season coming in 2021. Kostecki has steadily improved since that season. He got his first podium in the sport in Melbourne in 2021, and 2023 has been his breakout season.
He won his first two races at the Formula One Grand Prix circuit in Melbourne earlier this season. He now sits second in the season standings, only losing the points lead after a difficult weekend in Townsville. He trails his teammate, William Brown, by only seven points.
Nothing has been officially announced yet, and this is not the first time that rumors have surrounded Kostecki. With the recent success of Shane van Gisbergen at the Chicago Street Race, it opens up the argument about the success that Supercars drivers can have in NASCAR.
