Shane van Gisbergen explains how he got started in racing, origin of his No. 97

Shane van Gisbergen has taken NASCAR by storm since his incredible victory at last season’s Chicago Street Race.

Since that moment, fans and media members alike have been obsessed with learning more about the New Zealander, and he’s been learning more about NASCAR as a whole. He moved his focus over to eventually competing full time in the Cup Series, but he’s currently running an Xfinity Series schedule.

As the wheelman affectionately known as SVG broadens his horizons, he took some time to join the Harvick’s Happy Hour last week, where he elaborated on how he got his start in racing at a young age.

“Dad was a rally driver, which is, which is pretty cool. I’ve always been into rally. But when I started racing, I was seven or eight. My neighbors had quad bikes. So I got a quad bike, and I started racing them. But also dad was racing Sprint Cars, at the speedway. Western Springs was the main track. I went there every week watching, and they had a kids class. I started in the quarter midgets there on dirt. So yeah, came all the way through. That was 1997. So awhile now. Dad’s race car was No. 97, so that’s where that comes from. So I’ve tried to keep that for all of my racing career,” van Gisbergen explained, regarding how he got his start, and the number he races with in the Xfinity Series.

“Just came through the ranks in New Zealand. Went go-karting when I was 12 or 13. And then into single seaters, and then SuperCars in 2007. And kind of did that ever since.”

Alas, it’s been a journey for van Gisbergen that nobody could’ve ever predicted, as he added that he thought the Chicago Street Race was just going to be a one-off, but obviously it’s turned into so much more.

“I thought it would just be a one-off, but obviously it went pretty well,” van Gisbergen noted. “We came back a month or two later and did Indianapolis. I thought I thought it’d be one more year in Australia. I’ve just signed a one year extension. But then things just snowballed. And it’s been a crazy whirlwind.

“… Now, it’s full Xfinity and up to eight Cup, maybe some more. It’s crazy how stuff snowballed, and how it just keeps happening and the way people have got on board and supported us. It’s been amazing. It’s pretty wild to just see the brand grow.”

Since entering the NASCAR world full time, Shane van Gisbergen has been nothing short of impressive, both on and off the track. We’ll see how far he can climb, but nobody is going to put any boundaries on his potential moving forward, that’s for sure.