Speaking after his Watkins Glen win, the Trackhouse Racing driver let the news slip in a video talking about life away from the track.
While van Gisbergen was driving for Triple Eight Race Engineering in Supercars, he and Dane began dating in 2022 while she was still a shareholder of the team.
Van Gisbergen and Dane lived together briefly in Australia and adopted a Rhodesian Ridgeback called Ronald before moving to the United States.
Van Gisbergen took up stock car racing with Trackhouse Racing while Dane moved out of her role at Triple Eight to join General Motors, first as its motorsports integration manager and then as the Corvette Racing program manager.
Midway through 2024, Dane sold her 30 percent stake in Triple Eight to Steve Blackmore (Southern Cross Truck Rentals) and Earl Evans (Shaw & Partners).
Van Gisbergen and Dane have kept their relationship relatively low-profile, and Speedcafe understands the wedding was a low-key affair.
Australia has been good to us, looking forward to what’s next 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/ociKBF6X7k
— Shane van Gisbergen (@shanevg97) December 10, 2023
In the video, van Gisbergen opened up about Ronald and his Australian Red Heeler, Steve.
Ronald has been a regular trackside, and made his first appearance in Victory Lane at Watkins Glen.
“We got him at the start of ‘23 in Australia and got him that year. He was five or six months old when we got him,” van Gisbergen said.
“We were looking at getting a dog for a while. We didn’t plan to move to the States at that point.
“So yeah, got him, loved him, and thought we can’t leave him behind, so we brought him with us.
“He’s an amazing dog. He’s almost three now. Really cool. We take him to quite a few races and that was the first time him in Victory Lane. Really, really cool to have him there.
“Jessica, my wife, she seems to have a thing for human names. All our animals seem to have human names. It’s pretty funny, yelling out. It suits him.”
Asked whether Steve would be making a trackside appearance, van Gisbergen laughed.
“Just a little guy. We rescued him last year. Had him about a year now,” said SVG.
“He doesn’t travel. He’s a little menace. We can’t take him anywhere.
“They’re opposites, those two dogs.”
Fun night at the Clash last night! Thanks @WWEXRacing for having us 😀 pic.twitter.com/Dyl9HpMliG
— Shane van Gisbergen (@shanevg97) February 4, 2024
Van Gisbergen built on his comments about having his father Robert trackside for his latest win, which ended a long spell for ‘Cheese’ watching from home in New Zealand.
“He’s had some health problems, so he hasn’t been able to fly,” said van Gisbergen.
“I think, last year he did two or three trips. He wanted to come earlier this year but couldn’t.
“He’ll do the next three. Richmond and Daytona as well and then probably come back later in the year for the last couple.
“It’s always cool to have him here. He used to come to a lot of races when I was in Australia.
“He’d fly over for the weekend. It’s a bit harder now. It’s so cool to have him here and also to have a win too, it’s pretty special.
“[The United States] is a bit far. He loves home, as well.”
Van Gisbergen’s next NASCAR Cup Series race is at Richmond on Sunday, August 17 (AEST) at 9:30am AEST.
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