Shane van Gisbergen was announced as a full-time NASCAR Cup Series competitor for Trackhouse Racing in 2025, where he will be piloting the No. 88 Chevrolet entry that starts with the 67th running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.
The news comes as the three-time Supercars champion from Auckland, New Zealand, is currently campaigning in his first full-time season in the NASCAR Xfinity Series division with Kaulig Racing while under a development contract with Trackhouse Racing. Throughout the 2024 season, van Gisbergen has also made four Cup Series starts with Kaulig. He is scheduled to make seven additional starts for the remainder of the 2024 season, beginning this weekend at Daytona International Speedway before returning next weekend at Darlington Raceway.
The announcement of his full-time Cup Series promotion fulfills van Gisbergen’s dreams of accomplishing the feat that started when he leaped into the NASCAR competition by storm in July 2023 when he won in his Cup Series debut at Chicago. The dream grew bigger as he then transitioned from racing in the V8 Supercar Championship Series to NASCAR at the start of this season, where he notched his first three Xfinity Series career victories and is set to compete in the 2024 Xfinity Series Playoffs for a championship. The New Zealander is also vying for this year’s Xfinity Rookie-of-the-Year title.
“This is what I have planned for and I am ready,” van Gisbergen said. “I know there is a tough learning curve ahead, but the best way to learn is to go out and do it. I feel I have made progress running the Xfinity Series this year with Kaulig Racing and I can’t thank everyone there enough. I look forward to the Cup Series. Those drivers and teams are the best in the world and it will be an honor to be part of their races.”
Van Gisbergen’s dreams also mark a milestone moment for Justin Marks, owner and founder of Trackhouse Racing who will be fielding three full-time Cup entries for the first time ever in 2025. He debuted Trackhouse as a single-car team with Daniel Suarez in 2021 before the team expanded to two cars in 2022 with Ross Chastain, both of whom have won and are set to remain at Trackhouse next season.
In 2022, Marks launched PROJECT91 to provide opportunities for international racing stars to compete in NASCAR’s premier series. After debuting the project with former Formula 1 champion Kimi Räikkönen at Watkins Glen International in 2022 before running again at Circuit of the Americas in early 2023, van Gisbergen was named the project’s second competitor for a total of two races in 2023, including his debut victory at Chicago.
“This is a big day in so many ways for Trackhouse Racing, Shane, Chevrolet and race fans around the world,” Marks added. “This is an important step for our organization and it’s a credit to the men and women at Trackhouse Racing whose hard work and success the last few years has led to us expanding to three Cup teams in 2025. It’s also a big step up for Shane who took a chance on Trackhouse Racing, moved here from New Zealand and now joins the most competitive stock car racing series in the world. Everyone will get to watch one of the world’s racing superstars compete in the NASCAR Cup Series next year.”
As part of van Gisbergen’s Cup entry team in 2025, where the No. 88 is set to return as a full-time number for the first time since 2020., Stephen Doran will be serving as his crew chief. Doran, a native of Butler, Pennsylvania, is currently serving as crew chief for Zane Smith and the No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet team in the Cup Series. He previously worked at Petty Enterprises and Stewart-Haas Racing.
Through 232 recorded starts in the Cup Series, Trackhouse Racing has accumulated a combined seven victories, two poles, 41 top-five results, 78 top-10 results and 2,062 laps led with four competitors, including van Gisbergen. The team’s best result in the standings is second place which was posted by Chastain in 2022 as they continue the pursuit for a first championship in NASCAR’s premier series.
With his plans for next season set, Shane van Gisbergen’s part-time Cup Series stint in 2024 continues with the upcoming Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway that will occur on Saturday, August 24, at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC. His full-time Xfinity Series stint with Kaulig Racing continues at Darlington Raceway next Saturday, August 31, at 3:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.
