Shane van Gisbergen becomes most successful non-American in NASCAR Cup history

Shane van Gisbergen was again unstoppable on the streets of Chicago.

Shane van Gisbergen
Shane van Gisbergen
© NASCAR Media

Shane van Gisbergen has become the most successful foreign-born driver in NASCAR Cup Series history following an impressive victory in Sunday’s Chicago street race.

The Trackhouse Racing driver started from pole and overcame a chaotic race marked by multiple caution periods to score his third win in NASCAR’s top tier. After losing track position early on, van Gisbergen regained the lead on Lap 65 and controlled the race to the finish, holding off Joe Gibbs Racing’s Ty Gibbs by under a second as the race ended under yellow.

The result capped off a perfect weekend for the three-time Supercars champion, who also won Saturday’s Xfinity Series race. In doing so, he became only the second driver to win both a Cup and Xfinity race from pole on the same weekend.

More significantly, van Gisbergen’s Chicago triumph adds to his wins in last year’s Cup debut at the same venue and at Mexico City earlier this season, taking his Cup victory tally to three. That moves the Kiwi past Marcos Ambrose, teammate Daniel Suarez and former Formula 1 star Juan Pablo Montoya for the most Cup wins by a non-American driver.

Very few international drivers have succeeded in NASCAR, with motorsport legend Mario Andretti and the late Earl Ross being the only other non-US-born drivers to win a race in the Cup Series.

While proud of the milestone, van Gisbergen reiterated that his primary goal remains improving on ovals, with his experience on road and street courses giving him a natural advantage at places like Chicago and Mexico City.

“That’s a very special stat. That’s why I’m here, I guess. [Trackhouse owner] Justin [Marks] took a massive chance on me to bring me over,” said the three-time Supercars champion.

“As I’ve said many times, these races are like a holiday to me. It’s the ovals where I’m really focused on getting better and better.

“I come here and there’s no stress. People probably think there’s more stress and expectation on us, but I kind of just get excited by it and love driving.

“But yeah, to be a foreigner here — there’s not many of us who have broken into the sport and stayed here for too long — and pretty cool to be here, that’s for sure.”

Van Gisbergen’s second Cup victory of 2025 elevates him to 27th in the overall standings and essentialy guarantees him a spot in the playoffs.

He will have another opportunity to shine on a road course this weekend, with NASCAR heading to Sonoma for Round 20 of the season.

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