SOME drivers have formed legacies with their racing numbers.
Peter Brock is 05, Dick Johnson 17. In NASCAR, Dale Earnhardt was the 3, and Jeff Gordon 24.
Shane van Gisbergen has made the 97 his own.
From his formative days in the sport, the history book notes that the Kiwi became synonymous with the number in Supercars, and now he is carrying that over into the NASCAR Cup Series.
“I’ve been lucky enough to drive for teams in professional series that let me run that number,” van Gisbergen said.
“And when Justin told me about it last year, you know, and he said Connor wants the #88, what do you think?
“The #99 felt like Daniel (Suárez’s) number for the team.
“Yeah, it was really fitting, it’s pretty proud.
“You know, it means a lot to me.
“It’s also the year I started racing, too.
“So pretty cool to be representing it for, what’s that, almost 30 years now… Pretty amazing to get a win in the Cup Series with it.”
The #97 started with Shane’s father, Robert, with SVG adopting the figure for his formative years in New Zealand, from speedway to quad bikes and circuit racing.
In Supercars racing, he adopted the number from the start of 2013. All told, 344 of his 511 total starts were with the #97; it brought him 47 of his 48 poles and 78 of his 80 wins.
Three Bathurst 1000s, three Supercars Championships.
He truly made the number his own in this corner of the world – the best finish by #97 in ATCC/Supercars, which wasn’t a car SVG raced, or qualified (read: Garth Tander, Race 1, Sandown 2019), was seventh for Barrie Broomhall at Calder in 1970.
In the Bathurst 1000, #97 had three non-SVG attempts – Jason Bargwanna’s non-start in 1997, Dean Canto’s fencing at the Cutting in 1999, and the Tim Sipp/Shane Beikoff 19th in 2000.
Van Gisbergen and #97 proved incredibly successful in Supercars. Pic: Mark Walker
Elsewhere, he won the 2021 Bathurst 6 Hour with Shane Smollen and Rob Rubis in the #97 BMW, the same year he won the New Zealand Grand Prix with it.
The #97 won multiple races in the NZ V8 SuperTourer in 2013.
Van Gisbergen first used the #97 in NASCAR in 2024 in his breakout rookie season in what was then the Xfinity Series.
During that year, he registered three wins, seven top-fives, 10 top-tens, three pole positions, and led 100 laps en route to claiming 12th in the title and a berth in the premier Cup Series.
In Cup, SVG kicked off his career in the Project #91 entry for Trackhouse in 2023, before driving Kaulig Racing’s #13 and #13 and #16 in 2024.
Last year he was aboard the famed #88, a number that had been used over the years by luminaries in the sport, including Tim Flock, Buck Baker, Ralph Earnhardt, Fireball Roberts, Buddy Baker, Tiny Lund, Benny Parsons, Donnie Allison, Darrell Waltrip, Ricky Rudd, Bobby Allison, Geoff Bodine, Rusty Wallace, Dale Jarrett, Alex Bowman, and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Meanwhile, the #97’s biggest claim to fame was a 184 stretch with Kurt Busch at Rousch Racing, which netted 14 wins and the 2004 Cup Series Championship.
Parnelli Jones used the number eight times for two wins, while the aptly named Speedy Thompson took it to victory lane at Memphis-Arkansas Speedway in 1955.
A range of drivers have used #97 for one career NASCAR start, including Mario Andretti, Ned Jarrett, Bill Elliott, and Cale Yarborough.
Now, with his first Cup win on the board for the #97, van Gisbergen has the opportunity to make it his own in stockcar racing.
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