Supercars star Shane van Gisbergen will drive for Trackhouse Racing at the NASCAR Chicago Street Race in a special one-off occasion.

The three-time Supercars Championship winner, who has admired NASCAR from a distance for several years, was delighted to have scored the “unbelievable” opportunity.

“It’s [NASCAR] one of the biggest motor racing series’ in the world,” van Gisbergen said.

“To get an opportunity to be part of it and jump straight into the top level in America, it’s unbelievable.”

The Chicago event will take place on Monday July 3 (AEST) and will be van Gisbergen’s only NASCAR drive this year.

Trackhouse Racing is co-owned by Justin Marks and world-renowned rapper Pitbull and boasts a driver line-up of Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez.

But the most intriguing part of the team is their initiative titled Project91 which gives international drivers a chance to get behind the wheel in NASCAR.

Ex-F1 superstar Kimi Raikkonen was the first beneficiary of the project when he raced at Watkins Glen in 2022 and also drove at the Texas Grand Prix earlier this season.

Van Gisbergen believes he actually raced against Marks several years ago at a Daytona 24 event and knows of the American in racing circles.

However, the Kiwi is under no illusion that racing in NASCAR is a totally different world to the one he knows in Supercars.

“I guess you come in through the window, you don’t open the door,” van Gisbergen said.

“Obviously you’re on the left hand side of the car as well but I’m used to that with the rally car and GT cars.

“It looks like a completely different way of racing and style of racing with the yellows, the green-white checkers and the way they run the pit stops.

“It’s very different to anything I’ve done before so I really have to study and make sure I’m sharp when the time comes.”

Thankfully, a two-time Supercars champion has made the leap from the Australian racing circuit to NASCAR previously.

Marcos Ambrose, who was the cream of the Supercars crop in 2003 and 2004, raced in 227 NASCAR events over a seven-year period.

And the Australian racing great was the first person van Gisbergen phoned for advice on what to expect.

“Marcus was one of the first guys I rang for advice,” van Gisbergen said.

“He helped me out a lot, just gave me a lot of basic pointers really and how to approach the weekend.”

The Chicago event is sandwiched in between the Supercars races at Darwin and Townsville, but the 34-year-old will still compete in all three.