Van Gisbergen has often cited his father, Robert van Gisbergen, as the original custodian of the number – but how did that come to be?

‘Cheese’ was a speedway racer and rally driver, and it was on the dirt ovals racing Sprintcars that the elder van Gisbergen came to run #97 on his car.

“It was the Lighting Direct team run by Roger Davis. They had 96, 97 and 98 later on, and he was the 97 car,” said van Gisbergen on KTM Summer Grill.

“My first year of speedway in quarter midgets, we painted the car up the same, so I just started with that number, and it was on in the year ‘97 as well. So it worked out pretty cool.”

Van Gisbergen is best known for the number, but began his Supercars career in the #021 car with Team Kiwi Racing.

When it began, the Supercars team was sponsored by Vodafone – and the #021 was a reference to the telco company’s mobile phone number prefix.

After Team Kiwi Racing van Gisbergen moved to Stone Brothers Racing he races for several years with #9 – a number he would reunite with in 2025 in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with Jr Motorsports.

However, the #97 is what van Gisbergen is best known for, and one he holds close for its association to his family.

Van Gisbergen will switch to the #97 in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2026, while newcomer Connor Zilisch takes over the #88.

It’s a move that drew an emotional response.

“That Trackhouse video they put out summed it all up,” said van Gisbergen.

“It was amazing when Justin [Marks, Trackhouse CEO] texted me that a couple of months ago.

“They wanted to change a little bit. Daniel Suarez was the first driver at Trackhouse, and the #99 became his number. It was good to have a good refresh.

“When Justin first mentioned it to me, and he sent me a text about it and a picture attached with the car in Red Bull and WeatherTech colours with the #97 on it, I was pretty speechless.

“He knows how much it means to me. It’s cool to tell that story and to have that privilege, you know.”

Van Gisbergen said he is proud to have become synonymous with the number.

“I said this a couple of times lately, people get to know you as the number. You think #46 you think Valentino Rossi, #24 Jeff Gordon, and in Australia, it’s #88, you think of Jamie Whincup.

“So hopefully people think of #97 as me. It’s great to have that as my identity. It’s been my family race number since I started racing. So it’s very, very special to have that.

“It’s been on so many cars that I’ve raced. When you see people with #97 merch. It means a lot to me.”

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