In the NASCAR races with the most circuitous sequences of turns, Shane van Gisbergen has shown a remarkably sublime sense of direction.
However, the driver of the Trackhouse Racing No. 88 Chevrolet still needs help navigating his new life in the United States — such as the recent announcement of a 2026 street race on a military base in San Diego.
“I don’t even know where that is,” the driver known as SVG — a 36-year-old native of Auckland, New Zealand — said with a laugh regarding the Southern California city. “I had to find it on a map. It’ll be cool to go. I’ve never been there and get to experience all new things.”
The Cup Series rookie is an old hand on road courses, which he mastered with 80 victories and three championships from 2007-22 in Supercars (the top racing series in Australia and New Zealand). Those results caught the eye of Trackhouse founder Justin Marks, who took a flier on putting van Gisbergen in a part-time Cup Series entry for NASCAR’s inaugural Chicago street race in July 2023.
After blowing NASCAR away in the Windy City as the first driver to win his Cup Series debut since Johnny Rutherford in 1963, then turning in another top-10 result for Trackhouse on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway a month later, SVG made the move to NASCAR last year with Kaulig Racing. He ran a dozen races on the top-tier Cup Series and the complete schedule for the second-tier Xfinity Series.