“Such a great place to race”- Trackhouse’s Shane van Gisbergen pumped on his return to Sprintcar with a podium finish

NASCAR Cup Series driver Shane van Gisbergen returned to dirt racing at Western Springs Speedway in Auckland on December 14.

The New Zealander, who drives for Trackhouse Racing in NASCAR, competed in the dirt race in his home country for the first time since moving to the US. He drove the No. 97A United Truck Parts Sprintcar and finished in the top three in two heats and the feature race.

Afterwards, van Gisbergen called Western Springs "a great place to race" in a post on Instagram. He started racing Sprint Cars in late 2022.

"Awesome first night in the sprint car at the springs. Got 2nd in the first heat crashing across the line going for it and it was awesome everyone coming together to get us back out for the 2nd heat. Started pole for the feature and faded back to 3rd. Awesome night at such a great place to race. See ya’s on boxing night," van Gisbergen wrote.

Shane van Gisbergen attempted for the lead in Heat 2 and collided with Ryan Berry but still made it to the podium. In Heat 3, he started seventh and worked his way up to third place, behind Jonathan Allard and Michael Pickens.

The 35-year-old will return to Western Springs for the Boxing Day races on December 26.

Van Gisbergen will drive full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series with Trackhouse Racing next year.

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"This is a dream come true" - Shane van Gisbergen on driving at Daytona with Scott McLaughlin and other teammates

Shane van Gisbergen, who has won three Supercars titles will drive the Trackhouse Corvette at the 2024 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona. He will race with IndyCar star Scott McLaughlin, Connor Zilisch, and Ben Keating at the race in January.

"This is a dream come true to get to drive alongside Scotty, Connor and Ben. "I love the 24 Hours of Daytona and it’s awesome to do this with this team. Justin, Chevrolet and TF Sport have done a great job putting this all together," Van Gisbergen said (via supercars.com).

Van Gisbergen won the Chicago Street Course race during his NASCAR debut season in July 2023. He became the first New Zealander to win in the Cup Series.

This year, he raced full-time in the Xfinity Series with Kaulig Racing and won three races but missed out on the playoffs. He also raced select Cup Series races, earned pole position at Charlotte, and finished second at Watkins Glen.