SHANE van Gisbergen will carry the colours of Kubota on the sides of his number nine JR Motorsports Chevrolet in this weekend’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Watkins Glen International.

In two starts with the squad this season, SVG has finished first on the streets of Chicago and a close second at Sonoma to teammate Connor Zilisch.

JR Motorsports has proven to be the team to beat to date in the 2025 Xfinity Series, having won 12 of the 21 races contested.

Currently, all four of its regular drivers are sitting in the top ten in points, with Connor Zilisch leading, followed by Justin Allgaier, with rookie Carson Kvapil sixth, and Sammy Smith tenth.

All told, Zilisch has collected five wins for the season to date, from Allgaier’s three, with Smith, Kyle Larson (subbing for Zilisch at Texas), Daniel Suárez and van Gisbergen each with one apiece.

Suárez, van Gisbergen and fellow Trackhouse Cup Series driver Ross Chastain have been sharing the outfit’s fifth entry in a part-time capacity to date this year.

This weekend will be an interesting one for van Gisbergen, with his main rival set to be Zilisch, who won at the venue on his Xfinity Series debut last year, after finishing second in his maiden ARCA Series start 12 months prior.

The 19-year-old is set for triple duty in all three main races over the weekend.

Van Gisbergen, meanwhile, finished fifth in the Watkins Glen Xfinity Series last year, before placing second in the Cup Series race, after being passed by Chris Buescher on the final circuit.

The New York venue, however, has been a happy hunting ground for Antipodeans in the past, with Marcos Ambrose claiming his pair of Cup Series wins at the venue in 2011 and 2012, while on four occasions he came out on top in the Xfinity Series races.

Coincidentally, Ambrose raced with the number 9 for both of his Cup wins, and 09 for his 2014 Xfinity Series win.

While there are no road course ringers of note entered for the Cup Series race, the Xfinity Series race will feature Michael McDowell and Riley Herbst, and the Truck Series’ entry list includes Kyle Busch, Ross Chastain, Zilisch, Christopher Bell and Chris Buescher.