Trackhouse Racing is out with big news for the upcoming season. Shane van Gisbergen has been handed a full-time NASCAR Cup Series seat by the team that brought him in for a one-off project two years back. All that effort and hard work will now be tested as Trackhouse will field SVG in the 2025 season of the top series through a new charter.

Not only will the gifted driver from Auckland, New Zealand, drive full-time for Trackhouse, but SVG will don the historic #88 car through the season. Dale Earnhardt Jr. congratulates the driver and the team on a power-packed season and is happy that the car he once drove and won multiple races in has found a worthy home.

Trackhouse’s third charter specifics

After successfully fielding two exceptional drivers for three-odd years, it is now welcoming yet another extraordinary driver to its 2025 lineup. The team must have spent around $30 million on this charter acquired from SHR, as estimated by Adam Stern. Investing such a hefty amount for adding SVG to the team is a huge bet from Trackhouse. But it is pretty confident that it has made the right move. The sponsors for the #88 are yet to be announced.

“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,”  remarked the owner of Trackhouse, Justin Marks. He is certain that it is a move in the right direction. “This is a big day in so many ways for Trackhouse Racing, Shane, Chevrolet and race fans around the world,” further adds Marks.

The choice of the #88 car is also a bold one given the car has been driven by legends such as Dale Earnhardt Jr., Darrell Waltrip, Dale Jarrett, Donnie Allison, Ricky Rudd, Rusty Wallace, and Buddy Baker throughout its history. “I was lucky to run a few numbers with so much rich history. Excited to see @shanevg97 and @TeamTrackhouse add a new chapter to it. 88 will have a good home there,”  tweeted Dale Jr. in response to the announcement. The car has witnessed 76 victory lanes so far and counting.

Dale Jr. switched to Hendrick Motorsports in 2008, leaving Dale Earnhardt Inc., and drove the #88 for 10 years. He won nine odd races in that lucky car, which was also driven by his grandfather, Ralph Earhardt, back in 1957. When Dale Jr. was at the end of his full-time racing career, two drivers substituted for him in the no. 8 car, Alex Bowman and Jeff Gordon. Later, as Dale Jr. announced his retirement post the 2017 season, he gave his blessing to Bowman to drive the car that was more than a lucky charm. Bowman continued the legacy of Dale Jr. and the no. 8 car as he won two races and led 911 laps in it.

The car is an icon in itself, and will now be honorably embraced by a rising NASCAR driver.

It is a match made on victory lanes

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The NASCAR world noticed SVG when he won the inaugural NASCAR race in Chicago. “He took advantage of his opportunity and that experience in Chicago launched a whole new chapter in an already successful story,”  commented his newfound team owner.

The Kiwi driver is equally elated to get the opportunity to race in NASCAR. His dream when he moved from New Zealand two years ago is finally coming true. “Shane is the type of driver we had in mind when we created PROJECT91,” Marks exclaimed.

The team has chosen Stephen Doran as the crew chief for SVG. It will be his second year as chief in NCS, as he is currently working with Zane Smith in his #71. Doran has also worked with Kevin Harvick as lead engineer at SHR for a decade. It is going to be an eventful NCS season next year with such an amazing new driver on the grid.