DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — When Shane van Gisbergen began his transition to NASCAR a little more than a year ago, his goal was to eventually earn a full-time spot in the premier Cup Series. That goal is now set to become a reality in 2025.
On Saturday, Trackhouse Racing named van Gisbergen, a native of Auckland, New Zealand, as driver of the third full-time entry the team will field beginning next year. Van Gisbergen will drive the No. 88 Chevrolet. Team owner Justin Marks announced the move at Daytona International Speedway, the site of that night’s Cup race.
When van Gisbergen, 35, initially joined Trackhouse last summer it was planned as a one-off opportunity for him to get the chance to compete in the inaugural Cup race on the downtown Chicago street circuit, then he’d return to Australia to continue as a full-time competitor in the V8 Supercars series where he was a three-time champion.
But after van Gisbergen had a debut where he dazzled by convincingly winning the weather-hampered event — making him the first driver to win in their Cup debut since Johnny Rutherford at Daytona in 1963 — both he and Marks began having conversations about making a full-time switch to NASCAR.
From those talks a plan was laid out with the intent of getting van Gisbergen to Cup sooner rather than later.
With the wheels in motion, Trackhouse struck a deal with Kaulig Racing that allowed van Gisbergen to race full time this season in NASCAR’s second-tier Xfinity Series where he could gain experience on ovals, something he’s done only on a limited basis. The partnership included van Gisbergen driving a Kaulig entry in select Cup races.
By any measure, van Gisbergen has acclimated well to NASCAR. He has won three times in 22 Xfinity starts this season — all on road courses — plus two scored other top-five finishes, both of which came on ovals.
“What I’ve seen out of SVG is how much he’s pushed us to be better, even on ovals,” Kaulig president Chris Rice said on Friday. “He’s learning the cars. … And what I’ve learned is that he’s a quiet guy, but he also knows what he wants. He’s evolved by knowing what he needs.”
Van Gisbergen joins a Trackhouse team that also fields cars for Daniel Suarez and Ross Chastain. Suarez recently signed a contract extension to return to Trackhouse for the 2025 season.
The team announced Friday it was parting ways with Zane Smith at the end of the 2024 season. Smith, 25, signed a multi-year contract with the team last year to much fanfare and has been farmed out this season to Spire Motorsports with the expectation he’d join Trackhouse full time in 2025.
But lacking a spot for Smith on its Cup roster, Trackhouse made the decision to effectively release him. Corresponding with Trackhouse adding a third car, Marks has acquired a third charter, NASCAR’s equivalent of a franchise that guarantees the holders certain monetary rewards.
Marks confirmed Saturday he acquired the charter from Stewart-Haas Racing, though he declined to name the purchase price. The team co-owned by Tony Stewart and Gene Haas had announced in May it was disbanding at the end of the 2024 season and would sell three of its four charters.
