Kiwi Supercars king Shane van Gisbergen has confirmed he'll make his NASCAR debut later this year.
The three-time champion and two-time Bathurst winner will race a Project91 Chevrolet Camaro run out of Justin Marks' Trackhouse squad at Chicago on July 2.
He'll then return to Australia to race his Red Bull Ampol Supercar at the Townsville 500 a week later.
Van Gisbergen says he's chomping at the bit to get a taste of "one of the biggest motor racing series in the world".
"To get an opportunity to be part of it and jump straight into the top level in America, it's unbelievable," said van Gisbergen.
"Getting people from all around the world to come and try NASCAR, it's really cool. My family’s pretty excited, my father’s going to go over and watch."
Exploring opportunities during gaps in the Supercars calendar is nothing new for van Gisbergen, who has proven to be one of the most adaptable drivers on the planet. He won Formula Ford in 2006 and finished runner-up in the Toyota Racing Series in 2007, both in single-seaters.
The 34-year-old follows in the footsteps of 2007 Formula One world champion driver Kimi Raikkonen and former Supercars champion Marcus Ambrose, who relocated to the US to pursue a NASCAR career.
Van Gisbergen has leaned heavily on Ambrose for advice on how to adjust to the stock cars and the new format of racing.
"He helped me out a lot, just gave me a lot of basic pointers and how to approach the weekend," he added.
"You come in through the window, you don’t open the door. Obviously, you’re on the lefthand side of the car as well, but I’m used to that with rally and GT cars.
"It looks like a completely different way of racing - yellows, green-white-checkers, the way they run the pitstops.
"It's really different to anything I've done before. I really have to study and make sure I’m sharp when the time comes."
The current defending Supercars champion sits third in the standings heading into this weekend's SuperSprint in Tasmania.
