Scott McLaughlin reflects on teaming up with former Supercars rival Shane van Gisbergen

During their years in Supercars, Scott McLaughlin and Shane van Gisbergen were tough rivals. Both are three-time champions, too. In January, the IndyCar driver and NASCAR driver will be on the same Trackhouse Racing by TF Sport team for the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

When it comes to touring series, Supercars is up there with the best of the best. Drivers like Scott McLaughlin and Shane van Gisbergen have been able to ascend the sport in Australia and parlay their success into rides in America.

Just a few years ago, these two Kiwis were going at it in Australia. How does McLaughlin feel about teaming up with SVG now with the history between the two? He looks forward to it.

“He’s a little bit older than I am, but I’ve known Shane since I was probably 15,” McLaughlin said to Marshall Pruett of RACER.com. “I started at Stone Brothers Racing, and he was the main driver there, and I was in the Dunlop Series, the development series below V8s. We were pretty good friends, and when he was growing up, I was right there. And then I moved to Melbourne in 2013 and he went and did his thing with another team. But I moved to Melbourne to be in Supercars, and that’s when we really started banging doors for the first time.”

McLaughlin added that he was always friendly with van Gisbergen. The two would share a beer after races and generally get along. But then things changed.

Shane van Gisbergen rivalry driven by owners, not drivers

For Scott McLaughlin and Shane van Gisbergen, the Supercars rivalry wasn’t personal. These were two highly talented champions trying their best to one-up each other and win races and championships.

But once McLaughlin signed his Penske deal, things changed. SVG was at Triple 8, not a team that saw eye-to-eye with Roger Penske and Tim Cindric.

“It was things that he did to me and I did to him just because we’re either pissed off or trying to get in each other’s heads. But that was all part of it, and it was probably more awkward, because our teams really disliked each other. It wasn’t rude between the people, but the powers that be, the Penskes and Tim Cindric and then Triple 8 and Roland Dane didn’t really get along. We were the Ford team. They were the Holden team, and it was always just a little awkward.”

It is going to be awesome to see these two team up. Scott McLaughlin, Shane van Gisbergen, Connor Zilisch, and Ben Keating is an All-Star team if I ever saw one. Will these former Supercars rivals come together to win something bigger?