The immediate future of the three-time Supercars champion is subject to fevered speculation following his stunning win on debut in the NASCAR Cup Series earlier this month.
He has now locked in a second Cup start at Indianapolis next month and is widely expected to make a full-time move into the NASCAR system next year.
Should he head Stateside, it will require a contract release from Triple Eight, which has a claim to the Kiwi for next year.
According to Whincup the team is open to that – but wants to know if it’s in the driver market sooner rather than later.
In fact, there is a soft deadline in place with Whincup wanting an answer before van Gisbergen’s next NASCAR start in a fortnight.
“We’d all like to make a decision before then,” said Whincup.
“It’s late in the day. It’s the 12th hour, really. It’s past the 11th hour trying to work out who your drivers are for 2024. We want to make a call sooner rather than later.”
When asked if that deadline had been communicated to van Gisbergen, Whincup said: “Yes. We are both on the same page, for sure.
Shane van Gisbergen, Triple Eight Race Engineering Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
Photo by: Edge Photographics
“We haven’t set a deadline, it’s not a line in the sand. But in both our interests, we want to make a decision sooner rather than later so we can both move forward.”
Whincup said that, as it stands, he rates the chances of van Gisbergen departing a five out of 10.
“I think it’s a five at the moment,” he said. “There’s not much for me to do until he says, ‘hey, I really want to go to the US’. But he hasn’t made that call yet.
“I think he’ll make that shortly and once he makes that call, then I’ll start the process of working out who goes in that car.
“We’re looking around. I wish I wasn’t. I had both drivers contracted to 2024. But there could be a curveball there. There’s nothing more to add than what we already know.”