Comments made by Triple Eight Race Engineering managing director Jamie Whincup have revealed the team won’t stand in Shane van Gisbergen’s way should an opportunity in NASCAR present itself for as early as next year.
Where the Kiwi heads next has been a topic of discussion for some time and his shock NASCAR win in Chicago on Monday has only further fueled the fire.
While it was announced in April that he had re-signed with Triple Eight Race Engineering on a multi-year contract, it has since been revealed only one year of that is guaranteed, with an out clause available for the second should he sign abroad.
Now, however, Whincup suggests that they would be willing to release van Gisbergen earlier if it would allow him to pursue a dream elsewhere.
“He’s only contractually bound to us for next year,” Whincup said to Fox Sports. “But me sitting here right now, of course I’m trying to run the business as well as I possibly can, and I need the best drivers – but if any driver, engineer, employee came to me and said, ‘hey, my dream is to go to the other side of the world and do something else’ then I’m not going to stand in their way, am I?
“I want to open up opportunities for all my staff, so we’ll see. I’m sure SVG is just on a wave right now. I need him to dial in to this weekend because we’re racing at Townsville for Round 6 of our [Supercars] championship so let’s focus on that first.
“But no doubt we’re going to have some discussions the next month or so and work out what he wants to do. He has certainly got my praise, whatever he wants to do, and we’re going to support him all the way.”
Whincup was asked to elaborate whether that meant van Gisbergen was free to leave his contract early and said “I certainly wouldn’t stand in his way, no. Of course there’s contractual things we need to work through but if someone really wants to go do something else, then I’m certainly not going to stand in his way, that’s for sure.”
Comments made by van Gisbergen following the race indicated a move away from Supercars may be on the cards at the conclusion of his 2024 contract.
“I’m doing one more year in Oz and then I’d love to come over here,” he said track-side following the race. He did, however, reaffirm his passion for the Australian series in the post-race press conference by saying “I still love Supercars.”
