NASCAR Cup Series star Shane van Gisbergen has revealed the key reason he never pursued a career in open-wheel racing and ultimately, F1.
The Kiwi has taken NASCAR by storm in recent seasons, switching over from the Supercars Championship in Australia, where he was a three-time champion.
Van Gisbergen's winning ways have continued stateside, dominating his rivals on road courses in both the Xfinity and Cup Series in recent seasons, and making a marked improvement on the ovals in the latter in 2025.
Ending 2025 with five race victories to his name, van Gisbergen was bettered by only Denny Hamlin in this regard, and he won more races than eventual Cup Series champion Kyle Larson (4).
SvG quizzed on chasing F1 career
Long before he made the switch to NASCAR, however, van Gisbergen had to make the decision on whether to pursue racing in open-wheel cars and try to make it to F1, or head down the touring car route.
In an interview with Red Bull earlier this year, the Kiwi revealed that his physicality was a key reason he never targeted F1.
I was halfway decent at open wheel, but I've always been a pretty big guy," van Gisbergen admitted.
"Most of those open-wheel guys look like they should be 14 years old.
"When I was in Toyota Series, I was overweight and struggling with speed because I was so heavy.
"So, I ended up going more in the touring-cars direction, which was exactly where I wanted to be."
How did SvG get NASCAR call up?
In the same interview, van Gisbergen also touched on how he got his big chance in NASCAR, revealing it was an unexpected call with Trackhouse Racing team owner Justin Marks that got the ball rolling.
"I followed NASCAR a bit when [Aussie Cup driver] Marcos Ambrose was racing, but when he stopped, I didn’t really pay much attention again until Trackhouse co-owner Justin Marks launched Project 91 in 2022, with the goal of letting the world's best driver have a go in NASCAR," van Gisbergen continued.
"When they kicked off the cultural exchange with 2007 F1 champion Kimi Räikkönen, I wasn't sure I’d ever have a chance to do it, but I put out feelers through former NASCAR Cup driver Boris Said. Boris knew Justin and sort of started the conversation."
SvG continued: "To my great surprise and joy, Justin reached out and told me, 'There’s a new race happening in 2023 on a street track that I think you'd be perfect for. Give me a few months to find some sponsors and partners.' That was an awesome conversation, just because I didn't go into it thinking something would come of it.
"A few months later, Justin called and said, 'Yeah, this is going to happen', and it ended up being on a weekend where I didn't have a Supercars race. Pretty epic how it all worked out."
