Triple Eight team principal Jamie Whincup won't stand in Kiwi Shane van Gisbergen's way to make the switch to NASCAR after his stunning debut.
Van Gisbergen made history on Monday by becoming the first driver in 60 years to win their first-ever NASCAR race at Chicago.
The three-time Supercars champion's contract with Triple Eight ends in 2024, leaving the door open to make the switch to NASCAR should an opportunity arise.
Whincup admits while he would prefer to retain the Kiwi's services, he would give van Gisbergen his blessing should he want to end his tenure to pursue other ventures.
"He's only contracted to us for next year, but me sitting here right now, of course I'm trying to run the business as well as I possibly can, and I need the best drivers," he told Fox Sports News.
"But if any driver, engineer, or employee came to me and said 'hey, my dream is to go to the other side of the world and do something else', I'm not going to stand in their way.
"I want to open up opportunities for all my staff. We'll see, SVG is just on a wave right now, I need him to dial in for this weekend because we're racing in Townsville for round six of our championship.
"So, let's focus on that first, but no doubt we're going to have discussions next month or so, and work out what he wants to do and he's certainly got my praise…whatever he wants to do, we're going to support him all the way.
"I certainly wouldn't stand in his way. Of course, there are contractual things we need to work through, but if someone really wants to go do something else, I certainly won't stand in his way, that's for sure."
As team boss and former teammate of van Gisbergen, not even Whinchup foresaw such an incredible performance from his driver on his NASCAR debut.
He likened the result to another cross-code scenario, and was particularly impressed with SVG's composer to weave through the carnage in Chicago.
"It would be like an NFL player coming over to Australia and just rocking up in the frontline of the AFL and actually behind man-of-the-match," he said.
"You [would] think how could that happen, but it did, and certainly, the scenario was a good one. NASCAR generally do a lot of oval racing, but this was the first time in a long time, they've done a fully-blown street track.
"That's something we're familiar with here in this side of the world with Supercars racing, so that was certainly an advantage for SVG.
"The fact there was a little bit of intermittent as well, it rained, it was bucketing down, the start was delayed, and then the track dried.
"But he just put on a clinical performance. Not long before being in front, he was back in P18, and just flew through the field, took his opportunities, and then crossed the line to win. It was an unbelievable feat, I'm so happy for him."
