The Supercars to NASCAR crossover began more than a decade before Shane van Gisbergen won the inaugural Chicago Street Race, but the number of drivers moonlighting has significantly increased since 2023.
As it turns out, Supercars executives are very supportive of the drivers heading to the States for some starts in NASCAR.
"I get along very well with the guys at Supercars, and they're actually supporting and sponsoring my endeavor, I guess, to come over there and compete," reigning Supercars champion Will Brown said in response to a question from AltDriver. "So, they've been very supportive of it."
Brown, who made his Cup Series debut at Sonoma Raceway last season, announced on Tuesday that he will return for another go at NASCAR. He will join Kaulig Racing for the July Chicago Street Race.
This is an event that Brown and some of his fellow Supercars competitors wanted to try in 2024, but they did not have the opportunity. The two series had conflicting schedules.
This is one reason why Brown and Cam Waters both headed to a traditional road course in Sonoma while joining SVG and Brodie Kostecki on the list of Supercars drivers who had headed to the States. All of these competitors followed in the footsteps of two-time Supercars champion Marcos Ambrose.
"We were trying to push Supercars last year before the calendar came out to make sure that Chicago isn't a clash," Brown said. "It has been the last two years. It's been a clash with our Townsville Street Circuit race.
"So, when I saw that (that schedule) came out, that it wasn't a clash, it was something straight away that we jumped on and looked that we could do Chicago. How do we make that deal come about?"
Having a series work with its drivers to accommodate them moonlighting could come as a surprise to many racing fans. After all, Supercars and NASCAR have similar cars, and they could view each other as competition despite the differences in track types.
That's not how the Supercars executives approach the situation, according to Brown. These starts in NASCAR are an opportunity for the drivers and series alike.
"I think they want us to go over and show what Supercar drivers are capable of, and also hope that some of your fans over there watch our racing and see how competitive it is over here," Brown said. "So, yeah, it's great to have that alliance with them and great for them to be supporting me."
As someone who has competed on numerous street circuits in his Supercars career, Brown will certainly have a chance to show what he can do during the trip to Chicago. He will also join a team in Kaulig that nearly won the inaugural Chicago Street Race with Justin Haley.