Just how big of a deal was Shane van Gisbergen’s NASCAR Cup Series win in Sunday’s Grant Park 220? Here’s some numbers to put things into perspective.
Most notably, van Gisbergen is the first driver of NASCAR’s modern era, and the first since Johnny Rutherford in 1963, to win in his Cup Series debut. The modern era record for quickest Cup win was previously shared by Jamie McMurray and Trevor Bayne, who both won in their second starts.
For now, at least, van Gisbergen also becomes one of two drivers in NASCAR history to have an undefeated record at the Cup level. The other is Marvin Burke, who won his one and only race at Oakland in 1951.
Van Gisbergen’s win is the first by a part-time Cup Series driver since A.J. Allmendinger won the Indianapolis road course in 2021, though Allmendinger has run a number of full seasons in NASCAR. It’s the first win by a true, road course-specializing “ringer” since Mark Donohue won at Riverside in 1973.
Van Gisbergen is the first driver from New Zealand to ever win a Cup Series race, and the second from the continent of Oceania, joining fellow Supercars alum Marcos Ambrose. The Australian Ambrose won twice at Watkins Glen, in 2011 and 2012.
He’s only the sixth foreign-born driver to win in the Cup Series throughout its 75-year history, joining Ambrose, Daniel Suarez (Mexico), Juan Pablo Montoya (Colombia), Mario Andretti (Italy) and Earl Ross (Canada). Suarez was the most recent of those winners, at Sonoma in 2022.
Van Gisbergen drove Trackhouse Racing’s “Project 91” entry to the win in only the third-ever start for that particular car, as Kimi Raikkonen drove it at Watkins Glen in 2022 and Circuit of the Americas earlier this season. The car is designed as an attempt to give drivers from other racing disciplines unique opportunities in NASCAR.
It’s the first win for a No. 91 car since Tim Flock won at Hickory in 1953. Flock was previously the only driver in NASCAR history to win with that car number, doing so 16 times.
And finally, van Gisbergen will forever be etched in NASCAR history as the driver to win the series’ first-ever street course race. This weekend was a wild card race for every driver on the circuit, so it’s perhaps only fitting that the biggest wild card driver was the one who took the victory.
Van Gisbergen made history on Sunday by attaining a number of firsts for the NASCAR Cup Series, and several other first-in-a-very-long-times. However, don’t be surprised if they aren’t lasts for the Kiwi road racing ace.
