NASCAR insider predicts where Shane van Gisbergen will land in 2025 season

Shane van Gisbergen is currently in his first season in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, but could he make the jump to the Cup Series full-time in 2025?

Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports addressed van Gisbergen’s future Tuesday and said he would lean toward the New Zealand native getting the nod to drive a third Trackhouse Racing car next season over Zane Smith, who is also under contract with the race team.

Trackhouse currently operates as a two-car race team, with Ross Chastain in the No. 1 and Daniel Suarez in the No. 99. The team is expected to acquire one of Stewart-Haas Racing’s charters, meaning one of van Gisbergen or Smith will be left out.

van Gisbergen has impressed on road courses in the Xfinity Series this season, winning at Portland, Sonoma and Chicago. He also won in his Cup Series debut in the inaugural Chicago Street Race last season. His performance on ovals has been a mixed bag, something van Gisbergen is working to improve on. He’s gotten two starts on ovals in the Cup Series this season, finishing 28th at Talladega and Charlotte.

Trackhouse Racing has decision to make on Shane van Gisbergen

“I want to get better at the ovals,” van Gisbergen recently said, via Alanis King of Motorsport. “It’ll be definitely awesome to win [an oval] race one day. But I know I’m a long way from that—winning one on merit. I know that I’m always going to be good on a road course. That’ll just come naturally. It’s the ovals I need to keep getting better at.”

Should van Gisbergen get the final Cup Series seat at Trackhouse, Smith could be loaned out to Kaulig Racing or return to Front Row Motorsports. Smith, who is driving for Spire Motorsports this season as part of an alliance with Trackhouse, currently sits 34th in the points standings. He did, however, finish a career-best P2 at Nashville on June 30.

“Trackhouse has two drivers under contract and one car,” Pockrass wrote last week. “It still must decide whether it feels Shane van Gisbergen would be better off with another season in Xfinity. That would leave Zane Smith in that car. But the more likely scenario is van Gisbergen in a Cup car. And Smith either looking for a ride while under contract. Or loaned to another team like he is this year with Spire.”