DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Trackhouse Racing has acquired a third contract, adding Shane van Gisbergen to its Cup roster for 2025, the team announced Saturday at Daytona International Speedway.

Van Gisbergen, 35, will drive the No. 88 Cup car for Trackhouse Racing next year. He will join Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez as teammates next season. Stephen Doran will be the crew chief. Sponsors will be announced at a later date.

Car owner Justin Marks confirmed Saturday that Trackhouse is purchasing one of the Stewart-Haas Racing charters. Front Row Motorsports already confirmed It had acquired one of the three Stewart-Haas Racing charters that were available after this season.

Saturday’s news was expected given van Gisbergen’s success in Xfinity – three wins this season – and Trackhouse’s announcement on Friday that it would part ways with Zane Smith after this season.

“The reason we chose Shane to drive this third car is because he doesn’t have a lot of experience in the Cup Series, there are some unknowns and a lot of hard work, but Shane checks a lot of boxes for a really, really compelling story and building a great business in this sport,” Marks said. “He’s incredibly talented. He’s incredibly dedicated.”

Zane Smith, a Trackhouse driver, was loaned to Spire Motorsports this Cup season.

Commenting on the choice of number 88, Marks said: “Numbers are important. They are an important part of branding in the sport. Numbers represent history and they represent legions of fans and historic drivers and historic moments in the sport. We do not take our number choice lightly.”

Trackhouse Racing spoke with Hendrick Motorsports, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kelley Earnhardt Miller about the number before making the announcement on Saturday.

“There are some great drivers riding on that number, so it’s a big responsibility and we certainly accept it,” said Marks.

Trackhouse Racing has loaned van Gisbergen to Kaulig Racing for this season because Trackhouse does not have an Xfinity program.

For van Gisbergen, this season was an opportunity to familiarise himself with oval track racing, as he has experience of road and street circuits in the Australian Supercars Series, where he won the championship three times.

“It’s hard not to think and be negative right now, and I’m living in this moment,” Denny Hamlin said Friday in Daytona.

van Gisbergen will take part in seven of the last twelve Cup races this season. He will contest these races with Kaulig Racing.

He will compete in:

Saturday — Daytona

1 September – Darlington

September 8 – Atlanta

September 15th – Watkins Glen

October 6 – Talladega

October 20 – Las Vegas

November 3 – Martinsville

Marks also said he plans to continue the team’s Project 91, the program that led to van Gisbergen making his Cup debut at the 2023 Chicago Street Race, which van Gisbergen won.

“I think I would 100% like to continue Project 91,” Marks said Saturday. “It’s been difficult this year because we’ve been so busy supporting other drivers and other programs. We’re just working on a lot of business development stuff.”

“I expect Project 91 to be back sooner rather than later.”