After a stirring victory by Shane van Gisbergen in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Grant Park 220 on the streets of Chicago, many wondered if Trackhouse Racing could add additional races to the schedule for its No. 91 PROJECT91 entry in 2023.
As of now, no.
“We don’t have anything else on the board this year,” Trackhouse team owner Justin Marks said on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on Thursday.
While Sunday’s win probably won’t lead to us seeing the No. 91 car for a larger slate of races, Marks did say he has seen a lot of buzz in the wake of his team’s win in Chicago.
“I think the fact the have the performance that team put on at Chicago and the fact that we won and it was a great moment for motorsports globally, there’s been a lot of engagement the last 24 hours for the world of motorsport,” Marks explained. “Formula One, endurance sports car racing, IndyCar. All over the world, people have been blowing my phone up, Shane’s phone up and Ty Norris’ phone up.”
While Marks initially said no other starts are currently planned for the No. 91 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in 2023, he would admit that there is room for that to change if it makes sense for the Trackhouse organization as a whole.
“I think anything is possible,” Marks said of additional races being added later. “I remain very, very committed to making sure that PROJECT91 is not a drain on what we’re doing on the No. 1 and No. 99. I think the diminishing returns happen after two or three races a year. It’s not impossible that we wheel that thing out again this year at Watkins Glen or the Roval, but as of right now, I’m happy just watching the replays from Chicago.”
Here is a piece of the Marks interview from SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on Thursday:
.@JustinMarksTH says that there aren't any more @THProject91 races planned for this season but isn't ruling anything out.
? "It's not impossible that we wheel that thing out again this year, maybe at Watkins Glen or the ROVAL or something." pic.twitter.com/h3f6w2w3wK
— SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch. 90) (@SiriusXMNASCAR) July 6, 2023
While it is unknown if we will see the PROJECT91 team hit the track again this season, what is known is that van Gisbergen is an interesting name to keep an eye on as we approach the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season.
SVG has been given the nod by his Australian Supercars team Triple Eight Race Engineering to pursue NASCAR opportunities if he would like despite having an additional season remaining on his Supercars contract.
With Sunday’s win, SVG became just the seventh driver in NASCAR Cup Series history to score his first career win in their debut race. The New Zealander is the first driver since Johnny Rutherford in 1963 to pull off the feat.
