24 Hours of Daytona: Shane van Gisbergen and Scott McLaughlin team up for long drive

Scott McLaughlin and Shane van Gisbergen have a laugh during their Supercars days. Photo / Photosport

Former Supercars combatants Shane van Gisbergen and Scott McLaughlin are teaming up for a change of pace, as teammates for the 24 Hours of Daytona in January.

Van Gisbergen’s Trackhouse Racing Nascar team has joined forces with TF Sport to prepare a Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R in the GT Daytona (GTD) PRO class for the IMSA SportsCar Championship’s race on January 25-26.

The Kiwis will share driver duties with two Americans. One is van Gisbergen’s Trackhouse Racing teammate Connor Zilisch, the other is experienced endurance racer and Le Mans 24-Hour winner Ben Keating.

Endurance racing – and in particular the 24 Hours of Daytona – is familiar to van Gisbergen, who has raced the event five times including a second-place finish in 2015.

“This is a dream come true to get to drive alongside Scotty, Connor and Ben,” said van Gisbergen. “I love the 24 Hours of Daytona and it’s awesome to do this with this team. Justin [Marks Trackhouse owner], Chevrolet and TF Sport have done a great job putting this all together.”

Van Gisbergen’s pedigree in Supercars is undeniable, winning the title in 2016, 2021 and 2022, plus 80 career wins and 47 poles. He also won the Bathurst 1000 in 2020, 2022 and 2023, won his debut Nascar Cup Series race on the streets of Chicago in 2023 and captured three Xfinity Series victories in 2024.

Fellow Kiwi McLaughlin is no slouch either. He also has three Supercars titles, accumulated in 2018, 2019 and 2020, along with a Bathurst 1000 win in 2019. The former tin-top racer has taken to IndyCar with aplomb, winning seven races so far in his short time in the category, and became the 2024 Indianapolis 500 pole sitter with the fastest four-lap qualifying speed in the history of the event.

“When the opportunity came up from General Motors to run with Ben, Connor and Shane, I jumped at it straight away,” said McLaughlin.

“I’ve always wanted to run an endurance race in a Chevrolet Corvette, and I could not imagine a better group to join. I am confident we have a real chance of winning a Rolex with this team.

“Shane and I have so much history racing against each other, including some time as teammates. He is one of the best racers I’ve ever competed against, so it’ll be great to be on his side again for Daytona.

“Connor is a young star who’s going to be around for a long time, and Ben has won Le Mans and a World Championship in a Corvette. We’re going to have some fun.”

While McLaughlin may not have as much international endurance experience as van Gisbergen he’s no stranger to success, having finished third at Sebring and first in the LMP2 class in 2023.

It’s a capacity grid of 61 cars across four categories for the 2025 race and there’s a good chance at least one New Zealander will be on the podium. Along with van Gisbergen and McLaughlin, Brendon Hartley (Wayne Taylor Racing), Earl Bamber (Cadillac Whelen) and Scott Dixon (Meyer Shank Racing) are in the GTP class and Hunter McElrea (TDS Racing) is contesting the LMP2 class.

Fans of the event will get a chance to see how the cars, drivers and teams shake out before the main event at the Roar Before the 24, January 17-19. This year qualifying for the main, which would have taken place on the Sunday at the Roar, has moved to the Thursday preceding race weekend, the first time since 2020.