Shane van Gisbergen to race familiar No. 97 again in 2026
After a NASCAR season away from it, Shane van Gisbergen will sport a number familiar to his career and status as one of the best drivers in the world.
Shane van Gisbergen will drive the No. 97 Chevrolet for Trackhouse Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2026. It comes after he spent one Cup Series season driving the No. 88.
Connor Zilisch will get the No. 88 he dominated the NASCAR Xfinity Series with in 2025. Zilisch will drive the No. 88 Chevrolet for Trackhouse Racing in his 2026 rookie campaign in the Cup Series.
What’s in a number? A lot to SVG
Zilisch’s attachment to the No. 88 is growing but it doesn’t compare to SVG’s attachment to the No. 97.
“My dad raced a Sprint Car, and when I started racing quarter midgets our cars were painted the same, and his number was 97. So we had the cars painted the same, had the same number and that was how it all started,” SVG told Repco Supercars Championship in 2015. “I was racing quad bikes as well with the same number and always … had that number.”
SVG kept the No. 97 throughout his illustrious Supercars career, earning most of his 80 race wins with the number. He then brought the number to the United States for his first full-time NASCAR season with Kaulig Racing’s Xfinity team.
However, he reverted to another familiar number — No. 88 — for 2025.
Now with five Cup road course wins under his belt in the No. 88, he is back to the No. 97 with an improving track record on ovals.
The final five oval races of 2025 saw him earn three finishes of 14th or better, including a 10th-place finish at Kansas, and a strong top-10 run at Las Vegas before a crash late in the race.
SVG finished 12th in the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series points standings, beating Alex Bowman, Austin Cindric, Austin Dillon and Josh Berry.
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com