The next chapter of the fast-moving Shane van Gisbergen experiment will be a full-time NASCAR Cup Series season in 2025.
The New Zealander will be in a third Trackhouse Racing car as the organization expands its footprint. It was a move that Justin Marks had been eying for some time, but van Gisbergen unexpectedly claimed the seat when he won in his Cup Series debut in Chicago last year.
That triumph changed everything for van Gisbergen, who was, at the time, committed to another year in Australia, where he is a three-time Supercars champion. And it also changed everything for Trackhouse Racing, which suddenly found itself with more drivers under contract than seats available.
But van Gisbergen being the chosen one was the only real option. Before he had even run a lap in a Cup Series car, van Gisbergen was being asked about possibly doing an oval race or something more in stock cars. His contract situation didn’t matter; nor did the fact that he hadn’t given any indication he would ever make a career change.
Since May of last season, when the announcement was made that van Gisbergen was com ing to the United States to compete in the Chicago race, he has been one of the biggest attractions in the sport. He has spent this year getting his feet underneath him in the Xfinity Series, where he already has three victories and will be in the postseason.
“It’s been a pretty awesome 18 months,” van Gisbergen said. “It’s been a huge life change and everything said was going to happen, has happened. I never thought it would happen this quick, and I’m very glad we’ve done the learning year this year in Xfinity; Kaulig Racing has been great to work with, and then also have a lot more races to finish the year. It’s been a huge learning experience, but excited to get full-time in the Cup Series next year.”
At 35 years old, van Gisbergen is the guy. Consequently, it means 25-year-old Zane Smith is not.
Trackhouse Racing and Smith will part at the end of the season. The decision came less than a year into the partnership between the two sides, which was expected to be long-term.
The harsh reality or perhaps more accurately, the harsh nature of the racing business, is how things have unfolded for Smith. There was no foreshadowing that van Gisbergen was coming or how improbably things would turn out with him when Trackhouse Racing eyed Smith as the company’s future.
“I think when we decide the drivers, it’s a big picture and we cast a wide net of certain qualifications,” Marks said. “It’s a commercial sport, it’s fit in the company, it’s personality, all that, and we don’t have four cars, we have three. We had to make a decision. We’re excited about the decision we made with SVG.”
The timelines for Smith and van Gisbergen have been remarkable. van Gisbergen’s deal for Chicago was announced in May, and he made his first NASCAR appearance at Nashville Superspeedway in June, where those questions about what the future could look like emerged. His victory in Chicago happened in early July.