CONCORD, N.C. (AP) — After making the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs as a rookie, Shane van Gisbergen has earned a multiyear extension with Trackhouse Racing.
The team announced Friday that the Auckland, New Zealand, native will continue “for years to come.” No further terms were released.
With victories from the pole position at Mexico City, Chicago and Sonoma Raceway, van Gisbergen has secured the fourth seed in the 2025 playoffs with three races remaining in the regular season.
“I feel like Trackhouse Racing is my home,” van Gisbergen, 36, said in a release.
After winning three championships in the Australian-based Supercars series, van Gisbergen was hired by Trackhouse two years ago as part of its Project 91 program to showcase international drivers in NASCAR’s premier series.
At the inaugural Chicago Street Race in July 2023, van Gisbergen became the first driver to win in his Cup debut since Johnny Rutherford in 1963.
Van Gisbergen moved to NASCAR last year and made the Xfinity Series playoffs with two victories for Kaulig Racing. He moved up to Cup with Trackhouse this year in the No. 88 Chevrolet and became the winningest foreign-born driver in NASCAR history.
In Sunday’s race at Watkins Glen International, van Gisbergen will seek to join Chase Elliott and Jeff Gordon as the only drivers with four consecutive Cup wins on road or street courses.
“We are getting to watch one of the superstars of racing,” Trackhouse Racing founder Justin Marks said in a release. “What we are asking him to do carries a high degree of difficulty. He’s moved to the other side of the world, learned a new form of racing and at times dominated the competition. He’s one of the greatest.”
No. 1 Chevy driver Ross Chastain and van Gisbergen are under contract for 2026, but Trackhouse has yet to announce who will drive its third car with Daniel Suarez leaving the No. 99 Chevrolet after the season.
Xfinity Series points leader Connor Zilisch, who has five wins for JR Motorsports, will make his fourth Cup start Sunday for Trackhouse Racing and has been mentioned as a prime candidate to fill Suarez’s ride.
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The Associated Press