Shane Van Gisbergen Bio
Shane Robert van Gisbergen, born on 9 May 1989 in Auckland, New Zealand, is a professional racing driver known by his initials SVG and his nickname “The Giz.” He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 97 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Trackhouse Racing, and part-time in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, driving the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro SS for JR Motorsports. Standing 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighing roughly 176 pounds, van Gisbergen built his fame in the Supercars Championship before crossing the Pacific to take on stock car racing in the United States.
Before joining NASCAR, van Gisbergen established himself as one of the most successful drivers in Australian touring car history. A three-time Supercars Champion, he captured the driver’s title in 2016, 2021, and 2022 while racking up 80 wins and 46 pole positions, placing him fourth on the all-time wins list in the series. He is also a three-time winner of the Bathurst 1000, taking the crown jewel event in 2020, 2022, and 2023. His transition to NASCAR in 2023 turned heads when he won his very first Cup Series start on the streets of Chicago.
Early Life and Background
Shane Robert van Gisbergen was raised in Auckland, New Zealand, by his parents Robert van Gisbergen and Karen Wallace. Like many young racers from his part of the world, he began his competitive life well before he ever sat in a touring car. From 1998 through 2004, he competed in motocross, quarter midgets, and karts, building the reflexes and race craft that would later define his career on the international stage.
As a teenager, van Gisbergen earned a Speedsport Star of Tomorrow Scholarship, a launch pad that opened doors to single-seater racing. He placed third in the 2004 and 2005 New Zealand Formula First Championship and collected the Rookie of the Year award in that series. The following season, he captured the 2005 and 2006 New Zealand Formula Ford Championship title and added another Rookie of the Year honor, signaling to the local racing community that a new talent had arrived.
In 2014, van Gisbergen branched into the BNT NZ Supertourers Hankook Super Series, co-driving with primary driver Simon Evans to win the Endurance championship. He swept the Fuchs 500 weekend at Pukekohe Park Raceway, including a comeback victory from a lap down that hinted at the resourcefulness he would later show in NASCAR. In 2021, he added a New Zealand Grand Prix victory to his resume, entering the Toyota Racing Series event as a wildcard during the COVID-19 restricted era.
Path to NASCAR
Van Gisbergen’s path to NASCAR began with one headline-grabbing afternoon in Chicago. On 18 May 2023, Trackhouse Racing announced that he would pilot the No. 91 Chevrolet in the inaugural Grant Park 220 on the Chicago Street Course as part of the team’s Project 91 program. The plan was simple: put a world-class road course ace into a stock car for a one-off race and see what happened.
What happened was history. Van Gisbergen led late, survived a NASCAR Overtime restart, and won his first Cup Series start, becoming the first driver in the modern era to win in his Cup Series debut and the first New Zealander to take a checkered flag in the series. He followed that with a top-ten run at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, joining Terry Labonte as only the second driver in NASCAR history to begin a Cup career with two top-tens in his first two starts.
On 14 September 2023, Trackhouse announced a development deal that would see van Gisbergen compete part-time across all three of NASCAR’s national series in 2024. A few months later, on 13 December 2023, Kaulig Racing revealed that the New Zealander would run the full NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule in the No. 97, setting the stage for his full-time move to Cup competition.
Shane Van Gisbergen Career
Early Career (2007-2015)
Van Gisbergen debuted in the Supercars Championship in 2007, driving for Team Kiwi Racing at the Jim Beam 400 at Oran Park Raceway. His rookie start made him the 200th driver to begin a race in a V8 Supercar. Impressed team owners took notice, and in 2008 he signed with Stone Brothers Racing, where he would spend the next five seasons developing his craft and posting a career-best fourth in the championship standings in 2011.
After a brief legal dispute related to his contract with Erebus Motorsport, which had purchased Stone Brothers Racing, van Gisbergen landed at Tekno Autosports for the 2013 season. The move paid off quickly, as he finished runner-up in the championship in 2014. During this period, he also dabbled in GT racing, finishing second in the GTD class at the 2015 24 Hours of Daytona, a sign of the versatility that would later help him adapt to NASCAR’s road courses.
Supercars Championship Breakthrough (2016-2022)
In 2016, van Gisbergen joined the expanded Triple Eight Race Engineering team alongside Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes. He opened his account with a win at the Tasmania SuperSprint and went on to capture his first Supercars title that same year, becoming the first New Zealander to lift the championship trophy. He also won the Enduro Cup with co-driver Alexandre Prémat, sealing the title with three second-place finishes and a victory at the 2016 Castrol Gold Coast 600.
Van Gisbergen won his second Supercars title in 2021 and added a third in 2022, cementing his reputation as one of the most dominant touring car drivers of his era. In between, he expanded his GT resume by winning the 2016 Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour with Álvaro Parente and Jonathon Webb in a McLaren 650S GT3, and he captured the 2016 Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup. The 2022 Bathurst 1000 win with Garth Tander was especially poignant, coming in Holden’s final race before General Motors retired the brand from Australian motorsport.
He completed his Supercars legacy with a third Bathurst 1000 victory in 2023, co-driving with Richie Stanaway for Triple Eight. That triumph made him, along with Paul Morris, the only driver to have won all three major car races at Mount Panorama: the Bathurst 1000, the Bathurst 6 Hour, and the Bathurst 12 Hour.
NASCAR Cup Series Breakthrough (2023-2024)
Van Gisbergen’s 2023 Cup Series debut win in Chicago announced his arrival in stock car racing. With the Trackhouse organization expanding its development role, the New Zealander returned for select Cup events in 2024, this time driving the No. 16 for Kaulig Racing. He came within a single lap of victory at Watkins Glen, only to be passed by Chris Buescher in the closing corners, and later scored his first career Cup pole at the Charlotte Roval while finishing seventh.
Across his twelve Cup starts in 2024, van Gisbergen posted one top-five, two top-tens, and a pole, building a foundation of consistent road course speed that translated from his Supercars and GT background. He was, by the end of that season, widely considered the most formidable road course threat in the Cup garage.
Trackhouse Racing Era (2025-Present)
On 24 August 2024, Trackhouse Racing announced that van Gisbergen would drive full-time in the Cup Series in 2025, taking over the No. 88 Chevrolet. The transition was not without early struggles, and he opened the year with a 33rd-place finish at the Daytona 500 and only one top-ten in his first fifteen races. The breakthrough came in Mexico City, where he won by sixteen seconds and locked himself into the Cup Series playoffs.
Three weeks later, he won again at Chicago, followed by another victory at Sonoma, tying him with Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson for the most wins by a rookie in a single Cup season. A month later, he took his fourth win at Watkins Glen, setting the all-time rookie single-season win record in Cup competition and erasing the memory of his last-lap loss at the same track a year earlier. He closed the regular road course stretch with a fifth consecutive road course win at the Charlotte Roval before being eliminated in the opening round of the playoffs at Bristol.
For the 2026 season, Trackhouse revealed on 7 November 2025 that van Gisbergen would carry the No. 97 for a second full-time campaign. He started the year with a 30th-place finish at the Daytona 500 and soon delivered his first victory of the new season at Watkins Glen, also known as the Go Bowling at The Glen.
Driving Style and Strengths
Van Gisbergen’s greatest strength has always been his feel for road courses, where his Supercars and GT background gives him an edge in braking zones, weight transfer, and tire management. He is a clean, calculated racer who rarely overdrives his car, and he is comfortable running long stints on older tires, an asset on long road course runs. His willingness to defend late in a stint, combined with the engineering depth at Trackhouse Racing, has made him one of the most consistent road course threats in the Cup Series.
Notable Races and Milestones
Beyond his debut win in Chicago, van Gisbergen’s road course sweep in 2025 stands as a defining stretch, with victories at Mexico City, Chicago, Sonoma, Watkins Glen, and the Charlotte Roval. He is the winningest non-American driver in NASCAR Cup Series history, the first New Zealander to win in the Cup Series, and the winningest rookie in a single Cup season. His three Bathurst 1000 wins and his three Supercars Championships rank among the most decorated resumes in touring car history.
Shane Van Gisbergen Career Wins
Across all major series, van Gisbergen has accumulated more than 90 verified victories. In the Supercars Championship, he sits fourth on the all-time wins list with 80 wins, and he has added NASCAR Cup, O’Reilly Auto Parts (Xfinity), and international GT wins to that total. His win collection spans three continents and a wide range of machinery, from Holden and Chevrolet touring cars to McLaren GT3 cars and NASCAR stock cars.
Supercars Championship Highlights
Van Gisbergen’s 80 Supercars wins include three championship titles in 2016, 2021, and 2022, and three Bathurst 1000 victories in 2020, 2022, and 2023. His first race win for Triple Eight came at the 2016 Tasmania SuperSprint, and he added the Enduro Cup that same year. Among his most memorable single-race performances was his 2018 Sydney SuperNight 300 win, where he benefited from a late safety car, and his stirring comeback at Pukekohe Park Raceway in the 2014 BNT NZ Supertourers finale, where he drove from a lap down to win.
NASCAR and Other Wins and Performances
In the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, van Gisbergen has earned multiple wins, including his first two Xfinity victories on back-to-back weekends at Portland and Sonoma in 2024, followed by a third at Chicago that same year. He added a Cup Series win at Chicago in 2023 and four more in 2025 at Mexico City, Chicago, Sonoma, and Watkins Glen, plus a sixth at the Charlotte Roval. In GT racing, he co-drove the McLaren 650S GT3 to victory at the 2016 Bathurst 12 Hour and the 2016 Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup. He also won the 2016 Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour and finished third in the 2016 Intercontinental GT Challenge.
| Series | Wins | Top Tens | Poles |
|---|---|---|---|
| NASCAR Cup Series | 7 | 15 | 6 |
| NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series | 5 | 14 | 5 |
| Supercars Championship | 80 | 176 | 46 |
Shane Van Gisbergen Family
Family Background and Racing Lineage
Van Gisbergen was raised in Auckland by his father, Robert van Gisbergen, and his mother, Karen Wallace. His family supported his early move from karts and motocross into single-seater racing, and his father has been a steady presence in his career. Through his career, van Gisbergen has also become closely tied to the family that runs Triple Eight Race Engineering, the team where he built his Supercars legacy.
Personal Life
In 2025, van Gisbergen married Jessica Dane, the program manager at Corvette Racing. Jessica is the daughter of Roland Dane, co-owner of Triple Eight Race Engineering, making the marriage a personal link between the New Zealander and the team where he won three Supercars titles. The couple shares a life that bridges his native New Zealand with his racing base in the United States.
2025 Season Performance
Van Gisbergen’s 2025 Cup Series season was a tale of two halves. He opened with a 33rd-place finish at the Daytona 500 and managed only one top-ten through the first fifteen races, a stretch that tested the patience of the Trackhouse organization. The tide turned at Mexico City, where he won by sixteen seconds and secured a playoff berth, validating the team’s full-time investment in the New Zealander.
He then went on a road course rampage, winning three of the next four races at Chicago, Sonoma, and Watkins Glen, with the Watkins Glen victory giving him a record-breaking fourth win as a Cup rookie. A fifth consecutive road course win at the Charlotte Roval made him the winningest non-American driver in Cup Series history and the winningest rookie in a single season. His playoff run ended at Bristol in the opening round, but the season cemented his status as the premier road course talent in NASCAR.
For 2025, van Gisbergen also ran a part-time schedule in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series for JR Motorsports in the No. 9, winning his first start for the team at the Chicago street course and adding a runner-up finish at Sonoma. Off the track, he married Jessica Dane, and the two settled into a routine that bridges his life in New Zealand with his racing commitments in the United States.
