Shane van Gisbergen's V8 Supercars team would not stand in way of a move to NASCAR in 2024

Triple Eight would not keep van Gisbergen from accepting a potential NASCAR offer after his win at Chicago

Last weekend in Chicago, Shane van Gisbergen proved that there is a place for him in NASCAR. After a dramatic march to the front of the field in the closing laps, the three-time V8 Supercars champion became the seventh driver in history and the first in NASCAR's modern era to win in his Cup Series debut, instantly propelling the New Zealander to a niche in stock car racing history and opening the door for more to come.

In the immediate aftermath of his win, van Gisbergen committed to one more year of racing V8 Supercars in Australia before exploring a potential future in NASCAR. But if NASCAR comes calling in 2024, his Triple Eight race team back in Australia has given him their blessing to pursue an opportunity to race in the United States should one arise.

"He's only contractually bound to us for next year," Jamie Whincup, managing director for T8, told Fox Sports Australia. "Of course I'm trying to run the business as well as a 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', I'm not going to stand in their way.

"I want to open up opportunities for all my staff. No doubt we're going to have some discussions in the next month or so and work out what he wants to do. He's certainly got my praise whatever he wants to do, and we're going to support him all the way."

Although his racing resume in V8s includes three championships and 80 career victories, van Gisbergen had expressed frustration with the politics of Supercars and admitted that he was thinking about other classes of racing. While van Gisbergen remains at the top of his game in Australia -- he's won the Supercars championship the past two seasons -- his current contract with Triple Eight only runs through the end of the 2024 season.

And if an expanded or even full-time opportunity to run NASCAR arises, Triple Eight did not rule out the possibility of letting their driver out of his contract early.

"I certainly wouldn't stand in his way, no," Whincup said. "Of course there are 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."

By winning at Chicago, van Gisbergen became the second driver to go from V8 Supercars stardom to winning in NASCAR. Two-time Supercars champion Marcos Ambrose competed full-time in the Cup Series from 2009 to 2014, earning two career wins at Watkins Glen.