Van Gisbergen joins exclusive club with Chicago Cup win

He joins a very small list of drivers born outside the United States who have gone on to win at the Cup level. He also became the first driver to win on debut in over 60 years, a feat last accomplished by Johnny Rutherford at Daytona in 1963.

The three-time Supercars champ made it clear after the race that he wants to return, and even hinted at potentially going full-time by 2025.

In the Xfinity and Truck Series, 24 races have been won by international drivers. But in the Cup Series, it's a far rarer occurrence with just eight victories between six different drivers over 75 years.

The group of international drivers to win at the top level of NASCAR is by no means large, but it does include some very big names.

Mario Andretti - Italy

Mario Andretti was born in a part of Italy that now belongs to Croatia, and his family emigrated to the USA after World War II. He became a naturalized American citizen in 1964, and later got his only Cup win in NASCAR's most prestigious race — the 1967 Daytona 500. Driving for Holman-Moody, he led over half the race en route to a dominant victory.

Race winner Mario Andretti

Photo by: Ford Motor Company

Earl Ross - Prince Edward Island, Canada

Earl Ross was the first and perhaps surprisingly the only Canadian driver to ever win a NASCAR Cup Series race, doing so in 1974. Driving for Junior Johnson, he beat Buddy Baker to win at Martinsville Speedway. The Canadian took the lead on Lap 422 of 500 and never looked back, winning by over a lap.

Juan Pablo Montoya - Bogotá, Colombia

It was over 40 years until another foreign-born driver won again at the Cup level, but the person who did it was one of the most versatile racers of the modern day. Juan Pablo Montoya has proven he can drive just about everything, winning seven Formula 1 races, as well two Indy 500s over a decade apart, and that's just scratching the surface of his remarkable career. He won in his rookie year as a Cup driver, taking the checkered flag at Sonoma Raceway in 2007. Montoya would go on to win one more time at another road course, taking victory for Chip Ganassi Racing at Watkins Glen in 2010.

Victory lane: race winner Juan Pablo Montoya celebrates

Photo by: Todd Corzett

Marcos Ambrose - Tasmania, Australia

The two-time Australian Supercars champion was a force to be reckoned with on NASCAR's road courses, winning five times in the Xfinity Series. As a Cup driver, he came close several times before finally breaking through with a victory at Watkins Glen in 2011. He would go on to take back-to-back victories in the event, winning again at The Glen again in 2012, in what is remembered as one of the most iconic finishes in NASCAR history.

Victory lane: race winner Marcos Ambrose, Petty Motorsport Ford celebrates

Photo by: Adriano Manocchia

Daniel Suarez - Monterrey, Mexico

In 2016, Suarez was one of NASCAR's most promising young stars. He won the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship and was promoted to the Cup Series by Joe Gibbs Racing after Carl Edwards' shocking exit from the sport. However, after many struggles at JGR and later Stewart-Haas Racing, many thought Suarez's chance at a successful Cup career had already passed. But a new team gave Suarez a new opportunity to prove the critics wrong. It all came together at Sonoma Raceway last June, winning in his 195th career start. Suarez led 47 of 110 laps and held off Chris Buescher to take the checkered flag, making history as the first Mexican-born race winner in NASCAR Cup Series history.

Race winner Daniel Suarez, TrackHouse Racing, Onx Homes / Renu Chevrolet Camaro

Photo by: Jasen Vinlove / NKP / Motorsport Images

Shane van Gisbergen - Auckland, New Zealand

One year later, Trackhouse Racing is now established as one of the top Cup teams in the garage. Ross Chastain came just 235 feet shy of delivering them the championship in 2022. But Trackhouse is more than just Chastain and Suarez. No, they have a third car. The Project 91 entry is a program put together by team owner Justin Marks in hopes of brining international racing champions into NASCAR and giving them an opportunity in winning equipment. The team had previously hosted former F1 World Champion Kimi Raikkonen.

But when they announced Van Gisbergen, anyone who knew of him immediately realized that he could be a threat. The Supercars ace is in the prime of his career would be making his NASCAR debut at the all-new Chicago Street Race. It didn't take long for him to show some pace, leading practice and qualifying third on the grid.

The race was unlike anything the sport had ever seen before, starting in wet conditions on a street course and transitioning into drier conditions all while under green-flag running. SVG hung around the top-five all day, but when the race was shortened by 25 laps due to impending darkness, he was one of the drivers caught out by it. Undeterred, he sliced through the field, driving from 18th to second without much contact at all.

He caught race leader Justin Haley with five laps go, and after a brief battle he was able to clear him into Turn 4. There was no further challenge as Van Gisbergen claimed a dramatic victory on debut, becoming the first New Zealander to win in any of NASCAR's three national divisions.