"We don't have four cars" - Trackhouse leadership defends choosing Shane van Gisbergen over Zane Smith for 2025 Cup lineup

Trackhouse Racing's co-owner Justin Marks has defended signing Shane van Gisbergen over Zane Smith for their 2025 Cup Series lineup. Marks believes the New Zealander is a better fit for their third Cup car and has terminated Smith's contract.

Since his NASCAR debut at the Chicago Street Course last year, van Gisbergen has collected numerous triumphs. After bagging the Chicago Cup Series win on his maiden attempt, the 35-year-old exercised dominance in the 2024 Xfinity Series, collecting three wins.

On the other hand, Zane Smith's performance has been poor. From 24 Cup battles this year, he has collected a solitary top-5 and two top-10s.

Trackhouse Racing was running two Cup cars and loaned Shane van Gisbergen and Smith to Kaulig Racing and Spire Motorsports, respectively. The team will be expanding to three full-time cars next year.

Ross Chastain already has a deal until the end of 2025 and Daniel Suarez recently signed an extension. Thus, the team had to choose from van Gisbergen or Smith for their #88 Chevy. They opted for the former.

When asked by Bob Pockrass about the reason for signing the New Zealander instead of the Californian, the co-owner said (via Jeff Gluck on X).

"It's a commercial sport, it's fitting the company, it's personality, all that. We don't have four cars, we have three. We're excited about the decision we made with SVG," Marks said.

In 2023, Smith signed a multiyear deal with Trackhouse and was expected to join their 2025 Cup lineup. However, that didn't happen, leaving him "disappointed."

"I never thought it would happen this quick"- Shane van Gisbergen on his upcoming full-time Cup Series schedule

Before stepping foot in NASCAR, Shane van Gisbergen dominated the Supercars Championship Series and bagged three titles. Moreover, he secured three Bathurst 1000 wins and several touring car victories.

He showcased supremacy in his debut run at the Chicago Street race. The 78-lap battle marked NASCAR's first-ever street racing event in its 75-year history.

After clocking the third-fastest speed during qualifying, Shane van Gisbergen led nine laps and propelled his #91 Chevy to a P1 finish. The next race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway saw him finish tenth.

As a result, he got promoted to a full-time Xfinity Series seat and didn't disappoint his team owners, collecting three wins, five top-5s, and six top-10s.

Thus, he got picked for the 2025 Cup Series calendar instead of Zane Smith. The New Zealander spoke on his "awesome" fast-paced progression in the sport. He said (via NASCAR).

“It’s been a pretty awesome 18 months. Yeah, it’s been a huge life change, as Justin said, and everything he said was going to happen has happened. I never thought it would happen this quick and I’m very glad we’ve done the learning year this year in Xfinity. Kaulig Racing has been great to work with, and then also a lot more races to finish the year now. Been a huge learning experience but just excited to get full-time in the Cup Series next year.”

It will be interesting to see whether Shane van Gisbergen could outperform his teammates in his rookie Cup Series season, starting at the 2025 Daytona 500.