Shane van Gisbergen makes his “awesome” feelings known by ‘building up’ a new sprint car

NASCAR driver Shane van Gisbergen is back in his home country to compete in local midget races during the off-season. He recently rebuilt his No. 97A United Truck Parts Sprintcar after damaging it in a crash earlier.

Van Gisbergen, who is a three-time Supercars champion, won his first Cup race in Chicago and also made his Truck Series debut in 2023. The Kiwi driver will compete in his first full-time NASCAR Cup Series season next year in Trackhouse Racing's No. 88 Chevrolet.

Van Gisbergen was involved in a crash at the Baypark Speedway this Saturday, December 28. His car flipped after a collision and was badly damaged during the second heat race. In his latest tweet, he wrote about building the new car and winning the first heat at Baypark in Tauranga.

"Decent night at Baypark! Finishing touches being put on our new car all afternoon and we managed to win the first heat race. What an awesome feeling after the last couple of days building up a new car! Thanks to everyone who helped get us back out there," Van Gisbergen wrote.

This win follows his strong performance in the SADDA Round 5 and other local races. He also raced the No. 97A United Truck Parts Sprintcar at Western Springs Speedway earlier this month.

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"My first ever flip" - Shane van Gisbergen reflected on unfortunate crash at Baypark

Shane van Gisbergen started the second heat in third place at Baypark Speedway. He lost positions and collided with Ayrton Hodson’s car in Turn 1 after restarting at the back.

Van Gisbergen's car flew and flipped several times but he escaped from the wreck unharmed. However, his car was too damaged to continue and he missed the feature race, which was won by James Dahm. He later shared the in-car footage of the car flip on X.

"Well that was my first ever flip! Unfortunately got collected by someone and took a bit of a ride. Thanks to the safety crew for doing an amazing job. The United Truck Parts team are having at rebuilding the car and we should be racing tonight at Baypark again," Van Gisbergen wrote.

The 35-year-old raced full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with Kaulig Racing's No. 97 car. He collected three wins and qualified for the playoffs but was eliminated after the first round. Van Gisbergen ranked 12th in the final point standings.

In the Cup Series, he competed in the team's No. 13 and No. 16 cars for 12 races and had one top-five and one top-ten finish.