"We've got a lot of great talent coming": Justin Marks makes opinion clear on Trackhouse's expansion with Shane Van Gisbergen

Justin Marks is expanding his NASCAR Cup Series team, Trackhouse Racing, to a three-car team in 2025 with the arrival of Shane van Gisbergen moving up to the series on a full-time basis. The New Zealand native formally drove for the team on a part-time schedule.

Trackhouse emerged onto the Cup Series scene in 2021 as a one-car team and eventually expanded to a two-car operation in 2022. Since day one at Trackhouse, Marks said he knew he had to become part of a three-car operation at some point. In an interview via EPARTRADE, Justin Marks said:

"The sweet spot from a competition standpoint in the NASCAR Cup Series is three cars. Three cars is always really where I wanted to go and so that opportunity came for 2025 and we jumped at it." [19:38 onwards]

In 2025, Trackhouse Racing will field Daniel Suarez's #99 car, Ross Chastain's #1 car, and the newly added #88 car driven by Shane van Gisbergen. The opportunity came about after Trackhouse purchased a charter from Stewart-Haas Racing, an organization that ceased operations at the conclusion of the 2024 season.

Justin Marks recalled having a conversation with Tony Stewart, retired Cup Series champion and former owner of SHR, and expressed that although he's disappointed to see the latter's team shut down, he sees it as an opportunity for others, like himself, in the sport. Marks said:

"I called Tony Stewart and I said, 'Look, it's not lost on me that when teams expand and when teams grow and make their way up through the sport, it comes at the cost and the expense of other teams and you hate to see a legendary team like Stewart-Haas go away, but what's great about it is that it's just new opportunities for people in the industry.' We've made a lot of great hires from Stewart-Haas, so we've got a lot of really great talent coming into the building and growing to three teams I think is incredibly exciting for us." [19:59 onwards]

This past season, van Gisbergen piloted the #97 car in the Xfinity Series, winning three races and qualifying for the playoffs. However, he failed to make it out of the first round and finished 12th in the points standings.

Shane van Gisbergen opens up on the 'pressure' of driving the iconic number 88

Shane Van Gisbergen during the Championship race at Phoenix Raceway. - Source: Imagn

Shane van Gisbergen will pilot the #88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet in 2025. Carrying a number that was once driven by many NASCAR legends, like Hall of Famers Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Dale Jarrett, van Gisbergen admits there's some pressure to perform based on the number.

"It's pretty cool," Van Gisbergen said via Speedcafe TV. "The other one who was before Dale Earnhardt Jr. was Dale Jarrett, so that's two pretty big drivers. Having Dale Earnhardt Jr. text me the day before we announced it about how cool it was and how he hopes we represent it well and stuff, nothing like a bit of pressure there, but pretty cool to have that. Obviously, would've loved to have raced with 97, but 88 is a special number." [17:00 onwards]

Prior to NASCAR, van Gisbergen was a three-time titlist in the Supercars Championship, winning titles in 2016, 2021, and 2022. The now-35-year-old quickly made an impression in NASCAR by winning the 2023 Chicago Street Race in his first Cup Series career start.