NASCAR Chicago Street Race president: Shane van Gisbergen has 'fan base' in the city after 2023 debut

Shane van Gisbergen made history this past July when he captured the checkered flag in the Chicago Street Race in his NASCAR Cup Series debut.

That race not only changed the trajectory of his racing career but exposed him to race fans all across the United States. And when it comes to Chicago, van Gisbergen is now a household name.

“It’s funny because we get questions about SVG and what he’s doing,” Chicago Street Race President Julie Giese recently said, via Nate Ryan of NASCAR.com. “He has a fan base in Chicago.”

His Chicago Street Race victory made him a hot commodity around the sport, and he eventually signed a developmental deal with Trackhouse Racing. That, however, wasn’t van Gisbergen’s original intention. In 2022, van Gisbergen signed a long-term extension to remain in the Supercars Championship after winning his third title. Supercars then switched to a Gen3 model, which didn’t suit the 35-year-old, and he instead split in favor of NASCAR.

“And then my life’s taken a 180 since,” van Gisbergen said. “It’s been a pretty amazing opportunity and pretty thankful to Justin. I haven’t stopped smiling since Chicago and coming back over here. It’s been awesome. It’s just perfect timing.”

Shane van Gisbergen continuing to make transition to NASCAR

van Gisbergen has been competing full-time in the Xfinity Series this season. Through 17 starts, he sits 13th in the points standings with four top 10s and two top 5s. He secured back-to-back checkered flags at Portland and Sonoma. van Gisbergen has competed in three Cup Series races this season, his best finish of 20th coming at COTA. van Gisbergen has started on the front row in each of the three Xfinity Series race on road courses this season.

van Gisbergen reflected on what has been a “whirlwind” of a year for him.

“When I came for [Chicago last year], it was a one-off race with Project 91 and Trackhouse,” van Gisbergen said, via Kyle Williams of the Chicago Sun-Times. “You always hope that you’re going to win a race, but you never expect to run up front like that and put on the show like we did. Since then, it’s just snowballed. Obviously, the recognition we got for what we achieved has been massive ever since. Everything has been a bit of a whirlwind.”