Shane van Gisbergen was initially supposed to make his first start of the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series season in the race at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, but the wheel of the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet ended up going to Daniel Suarez that weekend.
The hometown hero managed to score the victory in Mexico, and when van Gisbergen did eventually get to make his first start of the year for the Dale Earnhardt Jr.-owned team at the Chicago Street Course, he too found victory lane. It was a win-win for all involved, figuratively and literally.
Van Gisbergen returned the following weekend at Sonoma Raceway, where he won last year while competing full-time for Kaulig Racing, but he was outdueled by JR Motorsports teammate, and ironically fellow Trackhouse Racing driver, Connor Zilisch for the victory.
SVG replacement confirmed at Dover
Van Gisbergen is slated to compete in the upcoming Xfinity Series race at Watkins Glen International next month, but the No. 9 Chevrolet is set to be driven by somebody else this weekend at Dover Motor Speedway.
Ross Chastain, another Trackhouse Racing Cup driver, is set to make his fourth start of the Xfinity Series season at the Monster Mile this weekend. He has fared well in the No. 9 car this year, placing eighth at Circuit of the Americas, fourth at Darlington Raceway, and fifth at Nashville Superspeedway.
Beyond this weekend, he is also set to compete in the race at Iowa Speedway two weeks from now. As a full-time Cup driver with more than three years of experience, he is ineligible to run more than five Xfinity races per season.
As for the rest of the season, the only other driver confirmed to drive the No. 9 Chevrolet, aside from van Gisbergen at Watkins Glen, is Connor Mosack, who is set to run the playoff race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval in October.
Though SVG did not win the Xfinity Series race at Sonoma, he did win the Cup race, meaning that he is set to enter Sunday's Cup race at Dover on a two-race winning streak, as he also won the Chicago Cup race, in addition to the Xfinity event.
The CW Network is set to provide live coverage of the BetRivers 200 from Dover Motor Speedway beginning at 4:30 p.m. ET this Saturday, July 19. Start a free trial of FuboTV now and don't miss any of the action from the "Monster Mile"!