The three-time Supercars champion shocked the racing world by winning the Chicago street race as a ring-in for Trackhouse Racing on Sunday – marking the first victory for a debutant in NASCAR's modern era.
While there was an expectation that van Gisbergen would be competitive given his vast street circuit experience in Australia, a victory on debut was still thought to be unlikely.
However, he charged to a fairytale win after running down Chase Elliott and Justin Haley before surviving overtime in fading light.
Leading van Gisbergen's victory was renowned crew chief Grubb, who has worked with the likes of Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin and Carl Edwards.
When asked post-race to compare working with van Gisbergen to those greats, Grubb said: "I'd just say the professionalism and everything else, he's very similar to all those.
"I've been extremely fortunate in my career to be able to work with some of the names like you said, Jimmie Johnson, Casey Mears. All those guys had different qualities, and I think Shane has definitely got some of those qualities himself. He's just a leader.
"He came in very studious. He wanted to know. He was excited about Nashville. Like the commitment level he had, they left early from the Nashville race even though the #1 won. [He] didn't do the party because he knew we had to do the Roval test the next morning. He wanted to be back and be fresh for that.
Source: Autosport