Shane Van Gisbergen has been making great progress, and that was on show when he won stage one at Daytona, his first stage win at an oval course. Despite the stage win, SVG finished 28th and out of Chase contention after Ryan Preece secured a crucial first career victory, knocking SVG down to 17th in points.
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The Trackhouse 97 Chevrolet driver finished the season with two victories at Watkins Glen and Sonoma and racked up five top-five finishes to no avail. Now SVG is looking at a detour which will put him in a car unlike anything he’s raced in before.
The CARS Tour will be visiting Florence Motor Speedway for its 11th race of the season on Friday, September 4. Back in 2024, the former Supercars driver was at the same track in South Carolina to watch a Late Model race, and he was left in awe. Even back then, SVG had expressed his interest in competing in the series.
“What I remember is that I walked across Turn 1 and there were no walls. There’s like a banking and then trees and stuff. It was pretty eye-opening to see they raced at a track like that,” said SVG, according to Short Track Scene.
“But yeah, I thought it was a fun night. I stayed in the infield for the races and thought it was awesome,” said the 37-year-old Kiwi diver. “I watch the races every now and then and thought it would be cool to do it. It didn’t take a lot of twisting my arm for me to want to.”
Zilisch and Dale Jr. get SVG on board
While the Trackhouse driver is excited to make his Late Model debut, the story of how he got the opportunity is an interesting one.
Van Gisbergen and his Trackhouse Racing rookie teammate Connor Zilisch were presented with the opportunity together on a group chat by Dale Earnhardt Jr., co-owner of the CARS Tour.
Dale Jr. offered both Trackhouse drivers the drive, and Zilisch said that he would only do it if his veteran teammate said yes as well. Dale Jr. asked the duo, who are sponsored by Red Bull, if they would like to drive Late Model stock cars with Red Bull liveries, and both agreed.
Zilisch will get to drive Dale Jr.’s 8 JR Motorsport car while SVG will drive the 51 Hettinger Racing car, and both cars will feature their sponsor, Red Bull.
The logistics of getting both drivers as well as Red Bull on board wouldn’t have been too much of a hassle; after all, Justin Marks, the owner of Trackhouse Racing, also has a stake in the CARS Tour ownership.
As SVG gears up to make another debut, he said he isn’t entering the race with any expectations.
“No, I never have any,” said SVG. “But yeah, I know the team is pretty good and the team’s actually only a couple minutes from home. So it’s been pretty easy to go and get sorted in the car and hang out with those guys. So yeah, just looking forward to a fun couple of days with them.”
Zilisch’s return to Late Model racing
It may be a debut for the senior Trackhouse driver, but for the rookie Zilisch, it’s a return to familiar territory. Zilisch has a Late Model victory at Hickory back in 2024 and has raced in the CARS Tour on 14 occasions previously.
“I’ve won in the CARS Tour and Late Model Stocks before. No doubt, it took me a while to get there,” said Zilisch, excited about his return. “When I started racing with PRG and their Late Model, I really started to run a lot better, and we won our first race together. We almost won our second race together at Orange County. I felt like I had figured it out, and that was about the time when I stopped racing Late Model Stocks. I’m really excited to get back into it and recalibrate myself to that feel.”
SVG said that his Trackhouse teammate hasn’t given him any tips yet, and the 20-year-old has been hyping up SVG by telling him to get ready for a drive unlike anything he’s done before.
“Late Model Stocks are the furthest thing from what he’s used to,” said Zilisch on what he expected to see from SVG. “ I’m excited to see what he thinks of it. And also the racing is really high level and competitive, and it’s not easy. He knows that. He’s watched it. He’s seen it firsthand, and I’m sure he’ll prepare himself for that, but I’m excited to see how he does and how he learns.”
The Chase may not have worked out for SVG despite his best efforts and a sustained increase in performance and pace on oval tracks. While he waits for a shot at the championship until next year, a new challenge may be exactly what the Kiwi needs to bounce back from shattered dreams.