“I Was Pretty Speechless”: Shane van Gisbergen Cherishes Justin Marks’ Gesture Around New NASCAR Number

Three-time Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen received a big surprise back in November 2025, at the end of his full-time rookie season in the Cup Series, when Trackhouse Racing unveiled its 2026 driver lineup in a video posted on X. Each driver read a letter revealing their car number for the upcoming season, and for the New Zealander, what he received meant a great deal.

SVG’s new ride will be the No. 97, a sentimental paean to his Supercars career and his father, Robert, who once raced with the same number.

The announcement featured a voiceover from his dad, Robert, himself. He expressed how proud Shane’s late mother would have been, which left him quite emotional. In his December conversation with Speedcafe, SVG reflected on the moment once again, noting how much he cherished his team owner Justin Marks’s gesture, which sought to honor not just him but his father as well.

“I think that Trackhouse video they put out summed it all up. It was amazing,” van Gisbergen stated. “Amazing when Justin texted me that a couple of months ago. Daniel Suarez was the first driver at Track House, and the 99 became his number. So, I think it was good to have a good refresh, and obviously, Connor was the #88 this year and Xfinity.”

“When Justin first mentioned it to me, and he sent me a text about it and sent a picture attached with the car in Red Bull and WeatherTech covers with the 97 on it, I was pretty speechless. He knows how much it means to me,” he added.

Van Gisbergen considers it meaningful to tell that story and to hold that privilege, believing that people come to know a driver through their number. For example, fans think of No. 46 and immediately recall Valentino Rossi, No. 24 conjures Jeff Gordon, and in Australia, No. 88 brings Jamie Whincup to mind. Van Gisbergen hopes people will associate No. 97 with him, as he feels privileged to claim it as his identity.

No. 97 has served as the 36-year-old’s family race number since he began racing, making it even more special for him to carry it forward from Supercars to NASCAR. It has adorned many of the cars he has piloted throughout his career.

Although in the early days of his Supercars career, SVG drove the No. 9 Ford BF Falcon for Stone Brothers Racing, from 2013 onward, he was assigned the No. 97 Holden VF Commodore. He wheeled that car for Tekno Autosports from 2013 to 2015, reaching as high as second in the driver standings during that stretch.

When he transferred to Triple Eight Race Engineering to drive their No. 97 Holden ZB Commodore, and later their Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in 2023, Van Gisbergen won three championships in 2016, then in 2021 and 2022. Across his eight-season stint with Triple Eight Race Engineering before departing for NASCAR, the Trackhouse Racing driver never finished below third position.

Beyond that, his father, Robert, helmed the No. 97 car during his sprint car racing career. Robert was not assigned the number for any specific reason, other than Roger Davis’s team running cars numbered 96, 97, and 98, with Robert receiving No. 97. Given that SVG was following in his father’s footsteps, his car was painted identically during his first year in speedway racing and quarter midgets.

He simply started with that number, and it happened to coincide with the year 1997 as well, making it work out remarkably well for him. Now competing in NASCAR’s premier division, SVG carries that legacy forward, hoping American audiences will forge the same association between driver and digits that Australian fans internalized over more than a decade of dominance.

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