Shane van Who? Was he really that much better than our NASCAR boys?

Shane van Gisbergen was obviously impressive in downtown Chicago, and made quick work of Chase Elliott and Justin Haley in the closing laps, but much fresher Goodyears played a role.

Here’s another however, this one in Shane’s favor: He was fast in practice, fast in qualifying, and running near the front through two stages (third and fourth). Yes, near the front — Christopher Bell had run off and hid, only to be dumped by his horrible break on the timing of pit stops and the decision to shorten the race.

But from any angle, it’s clear that whichever Cup team eventually signs van Gisbergen will immediately be a threat to win six times each season, assuming six remains the road-course number going forward.

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So you’re certain we’ll see the name “Shane van Gisbergen” written over a driver’s side window in the near future?

“Near” is relative, but by 2025 it seems to be a lock.

Van Gisbergen is signed through 2024 with his Australian Supercars team, and since a NASCAR team’s ’24 plans need to be locked up soon, it’s probably too late to navigate a contract escape and new-team alignment in time for next February.

But it sure seems likely after that. Turns out, Shane is no fan of the new generation of Supercar (they’re on Gen 3 over there … I mean down there), and he wants to race more than Supercars’ current 12-race schedule.

Imagine that, a racer saying “give me more working weekends!” And as for the name over the window, I'm thinking they'll settle with SVG.

ON THE POLL Shane van Gisbergen won inaugural Chicago Street Race but was it good? Vote!

Turns out, it wasn't his first time racing in the U.S.?

Between 2014-2020, van Gisbergen made seven starts in IMSA, NASCAR's sports-car division.

Five of those came in the season-opening Rolex 24 at Daytona, where his best finish among GT cars was a runner-up in 2015 while co-driving a Porsche for Alex Job Racing.

He's had one start each at Sebring and Watkins Glen.

So no, it wasn't his first U.S. race. And won't be his last.

Any final thoughts on the Chicago experiment?

To state the obvious, it's a damn shame the flooding rain short-circuited the Xfinity Series race and washed out much of the entertainment. It also did a gray muting of the famed and familiar Chicago skyline during the NBC broadcast, though Chicago blanketed by low cloud cover has its own kind of old-world charm.

As for the racing, something I feared didn't pan out, except for that one big tangled mess of machinery on Jackson Drive in the late laps. I thought there'd be more of that but glad there wasn't.

What I never expected to see, however, were several drivers run head-on into tire barriers and end up underneath, wearing the tire wall like a blanket. A tad amusing, I'd say.

The inherent drama of slicks versus grooves as the track began drying was something NASCAR fans aren't accustomed to seeing. It was a neat element, especially given how one specific area of the track remained under puddles while everywhere else seemed to be dry or drying.

NASCAR and the city of Chicago have a three-year contract for the race, but the city now has a six-month contractual window to pull the plug if it chooses. Judging from the visuals and the reviews, it's hard to imagine that happening, but stranger things have happened.

And it's Chicago, after all.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR QNA: Shane van Gisbergen cooks up a Chicago (under)dog victory