Who is Shane van Gisbergen? - The New Zealander in the NASCAR Cup Series.

This article covers the sensational career of Shane van Gisbergen, who is one of the most sensational talents, currently racing in the NASCAR Cup Series.

(Image credits to Formula Scout)

Shane Robert van Gisbergen was born on 9 May 1989 in Auckland, New Zealand. “SVG” or “The Giz” as he’s also known, is one of New Zealand’s biggest motorsport talents, recently racing in the Supercars Championship in Australia and New Zealand and currently racing for Trackhouse Racing over in the US in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 97 car.

His early racing starts

Raised on the rural fringe of New Zealand's largest city, Auckland, Shane spent his formative years racing ATVs on natural terrain Motocross tracks and a Quarter Midget on speedway ovals before a brief but typically successful dalliance with karts and a year in the Formula First class, courtesy of New Zealand's SpeedSport magazine Scholarship programme, saw his focus turn to tarmac. Since then, he has been on a fast track to major league Australasian success, winning the New Zealand Formula Ford championship in 2006 and finishing a close second to teammate Daniel Gaunt in the Toyota Racing Series in 2007.

Shane’s Supercars Championship career

Shane started his Supercars Championship career by making his debut at the 2007 Jim Beam 400 at Oran Park Raceway, racing for Team Kiwi Racing. In 2008, he made the move to Stone Brothers Racing, before then making the shocking move to manufacturer rival Holden and Tekno Autosports. In his second season with the team, he managed an impressive 2nd in the standings. In 2016, he signed with Triple Eight Race Engineering and finished 2nd in “The Great Race” - the Bathurst 1000 - but still managed to secure the title over teammate and Supercars legend Jamie Whincup.

From 2017 to 2020, Shane didn’t manage to win the Supercars Championship title, with 2 very disappointing 2nd places in 2018 and 2019.

But in 2020, Shane finally won that all-time wanted “Great Race”, the Bathurst 1000, making it onto the list of few drivers who won that race at the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia.

Van Gisbergen managed to win that race again in 2022 and 2023, along with 2 more Supercars Championship titles in 2021 and 2022, still driving for Triple Eight Race Engineering.

SVG making the move to NASCAR

After his great performances in the Supercars Championship, Shane got the opportunity to race for Project 91 at the 2023 Grant Park 165 in Chicago. And he delivered and won, mainly because of his experience from the Supercars Championship. You see, the Chicago Street Course is a very tight street track, and Shane was used to this because the Supercars Championship also races on a lot of Street tracks, like Surfers Paradise, Townsville, or Bathurst.

In 2024, Shane raced full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series (now NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series). Despite his inexperience on the Ovals, Shane got a respectable 3 wins during the season (Portland, Sonoma, Chicago).

In 2025, he stepped up, racing full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR’s highest division, driving the No. 88 for Trackhouse Racing. SVG got 5 wins that season, all on road courses, with his last one being the race at the Charlotte Roval.

2026 will be Shane’s second year in the Cup Series, driving after extending his contract with Trackhouse Racing. But the Giz won’t drive the No. 88 car anymore, which has been given to Connor Zilisch, who gets promoted to the Cup Series.

But instead, Shane will drive HIS number, the No. 97. The number, he won in the Supercars championships, he also won in his early days with the No. 97.

But we’ll see how his season will go, if he’ll win some races next season.

Article written by Philipp Gappmayr