Shane van Gisbergen reveals his true feelings on the Las Vegas livery that promotes the sponsor of his ‘dream’ moment

Shane van Gisbergen recently opened up on reuniting with Red Bull for his upcoming Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. His Trackhouse Racing Chevy will flaunt the same iconic red-and-yellow livery that he drove previously in the Australian Supercars Series.

Red Bull was his primary sponsor when he won the series championship in 2016, 2021 and 2022. Recalling his first year with the famous energy drink brand during an interview, Gisbergen said,

“2016 was my first year with (the) Red Bull team in Australia with Super Cars. They won all the races, all the championships the years previous so that's all I wanted to do is to drive that car. Joining that team and winning the championship the first year was a dream come true.”

Gisbergen has the opportunity to take his partnership with Red Bull to the next level. The upcoming event at LVMS will mark his first race with Red Bull since he left Supercars. Gisbergen has won a Cup Series race before but never as a full-timer.

“To continue my story with them over here in the States...I'd love to represent them personally on my helmet now to be on a car and have a full Red Bull livery. Unreal to have them back in the sport. Hopefully, we can have some fun together and tell some pretty cool stories,” the driver added.

This is going to be his second race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway following last year’s guest appearance in the South Point 400 where he finished 29th. Currently, Shane van Gisbergen sits 22nd in the driver standings with 69 points to his name.

Former Daytona 500 winner lauds Shane van Gisbergen’s improvement on ovals

There’s no debating the fact that Shane van Gisbergen is a master at road courses. All his wins as an Xfinity Series rookie last year came at street circuits which further proves his expertise. But how good is he on the ovals?

The New Zealander ran just eight races on NASCAR’s ovals before moving to the Cup Series in 2025. That being said, Gisbergen drew eyeballs during the second points-paying race of the season (at Atlanta), running up front before getting sidelined due to a last-lap wreck.

NASCAR Cup Series regular Denny Hamlin was impressed with Gisbergen’s oval development. Recalling how the Kiwi star managed to hold himself in the draft, Hamlin said (via Actions Detrimental),

“I thought he just did a phenomenal job. Just with the little experience that he has doing that, he was holding a pretty damn steady line. I was behind him quite a bit.”

Hamlin then remembered something that his father used to say.

“Elite drivers can drive anything and they will find a way to adapt to racing the machine that they’re in."

Denny Hamlin will also race his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota at LVMS alongside teammates Chase Briscoe, Ty Gibbs, and Christopher Bell. The 267-lap showdown will kick off 3:30 pm ET onwards and will be televised on Fox Sports 1. Fans can also listen to radio updates on PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.