Shane van Gisbergen pokes fun at Dale Earnhardt Jr. after NASCAR moment

Dale Earnhardt Jr. shared a moment with Shane van Gisbergen following his one-off start in 2024, finishing seventh in Friday’s Xfinity Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
The NASCAR veteran helped make the No. 88 iconic and Van Gisbergen now has the responsibility of carrying it while racing full-time in the Cup Series next season, and the new owner couldn’t help but poke fun at Earnhardt Jr. after showing respect.
Van Gisbergen and Earnhardt Jr. were seen talking following the cool-down lap at Bristol, where the two drivers playfully bumped into each other. Van Gisbergen was asked what the two discussed by reporters, and the new Trackhouse Racing couldn’t help but crack a joke.
“I was helping him out of the car, he’s pretty old you know,” Van Gisbergen said of the 49-year-old veteran. “No, we had a pretty fun race at the start and let him go, then on the cool-down lap, he’s smashing into me. So, a lot of fun, cool to share the track with him and just to race here.”
The driver from New Zealand has been added to the Trackhouse Racing roster for the 2025 Cup Series after the team acquired a third charter. Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez will be his teammates next season and Stephen Doran will be the crew chief.
Van Gisbergen was a major candidate after winning three Xfinity races in 2024, and car owner Justin Marks credited his dedication as the reason for being selected. “The reason we chose to go with Shane for this third car is that, yeah, there’s not a lot of experience in the Cup Series,” Marks said.
“There are some unknowns, can be a lot of hard work, but Shane checks a lot of boxes for a really, really compelling story and building a great business in this sport. He’s incredibly talented. He’s incredibly dedicated.”
Marks also acknowledged that the No. 88 has a lot of history, and even spoke with Hendrick Motorsports, Earnhardt Jr., and Kelley Earnhardt Miller before making the announcement. “Numbers are important. They’re a big part of the branding in the sport,” Marks added.
“Numbers represent history and they represent legions of fans and historic drivers and historic moments in the sport. We don’t take our number choices lightly. There are some amazing drivers attached to that number, so it is a lot of responsibility and we certainly accept that.”

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After Trackhouse Racing made the announcement, Earnhardt Jr. gave Van Gisbergen his blessing and wished the driver well next season. “I was lucky to run a few numbers with so much rich history,” Earnhardt Jr. wrote on X. “Excited to see @shanevg97 and @TeamTrackhouse add a new chapter to it. 88 will have a good home there.”
Earnhardt Jr. is edging closer to a complete retirement, as his run of racing once at Bristol each year seems to be coming to an end. The 49-year-old continues to rule out quitting racing for good, and is keen to help JR Motorsports in any way he can.
“I’ll be foolish to say I’m never going to run again because I don’t know well enough to stay away from it, and I’ll probably miss it next year and be absolutely willing to sign up because of anything that might be beneficial to JR Motorsports,” Earnhardt Jr. said after Friday’s race. “I have to remind fans and people that follow us that I run this race and have ran this race over the last several years because of the big benefit that it is to JR Motorsports.”