“It’s a commercial sport,” Justin Marks explains why Trackhosue signed Shane van Gisbergen over Zane Smith

Justin Marks and Trackhouse Racing went for the les risky option by signing Shane van Gisbergen over Zane Smith for 2025.

“It’s a commercial sport,” Justin Marks explains why Trackhosue signed Shane van Gisbergen over Zane Smith

Shane van Gisbergen, Justin Marks and Zane Smith (Via IMAGO)

Justin Marks ahead of the Daytona race weekend announced that three times Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen would race for them in the Cup series from next-season. The current Xfinity championship contender with Kaulig Racing, will drive the No:88 Chevy in 2025, with them acquiring a new charter.

The Shane van Gisbergen has cleared the uncertainty that has long been there over what would Trackhouse do with their extended driver line-up. Unfortunately, the SVG announcement also marked the Zane Smith’s Cup stint with the team as a loan driver at Spire Motorsports, where he had one of the worst seasons of career.

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During the driver announcement, Justin Marks was asked why they overlooked Smith, and he gave a proper answer. He pointed out that Shane van Gisbergen was the fitting personality and driver the team needed going into the future. The commercial value the Kiwi driver had gave him an edge over Smith, who was already underperforming, and Trackhouse did what they had to do.

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It's a commercial sport, it's fitting the company, it's personality, all that. We don't have four cars, we have three. We're excited about the decision we made with SVG.
Justin Marks said as reported by Jeff Gluck via X.
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According Jeff Gluck, signing SVG over Smith was the better decision for Trackhosue considering the circumstances. They have a driver in Gisbergen who can win races at road courses given the right car, while Smith’s prowess is now in doubt because of his uneven rookie season with Spire. Trackhosue didn’t want to take an unnecessary risk.

Zane Smith (Credits: NASCAR)
Zane Smith (Credits: NASCAR)
Smith’s future is now unclear, which is unfortunate. At the same time, van Gisbergen is much more likely to immediately win with the team given his road course prowess —  and this is ultimately a business that revolves around winning.
Jeff Gluck wrote on The Athletic.

Though it’s not the end of the road for Zane Smith. He still has time to re-establish himself but it seems staying at Trackhosue the right decision for him since they have tow young development drivers in the line-up as well. It would be interesting to see where he would land next-season.

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