Kurt Busch spent the first five-plus years of his NASCAR Cup Series career competing for Roush Racing behind the wheel of the No. 97 Ford.
He ran seven of the final eight races of the 2000 season before landing a full-time ride in 2001. Over the next five seasons, he won 14 races and a championship before moving on to Team Penske (Penske Racing South).
Busch missed the final two races of the 2005 season after he was cited for reckless driving and became "belligerent with Maricopa County (Arizona) sheriff's deputies during a traffic stop" near Phoenix Raceway, ahead of the season's penultimate race at the track. Kenny Wallace filled in for him in both that race and the following weekend's race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Since the 2005 season finale at Homestead-Miami, the No. 97 car has made only nine appearances at the Cup level.
Jeff Fuller drove the No. 97 NEMCO Motorsports Toyota at Talladega Superspeedway in 2010 after failing to qualify for the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway in the same car earlier in the year.
Kevin Conway drove the same car at Daytona and Talladega twice in 2011. He also failed to qualify for the "Great American Race". Timmy Hill drove the car at Talladega in 2012, and Bill Elliott drove it at Talladega and Daytona in the same year after failing to qualify for the Daytona 500.
The car number was most recently used in 2018, when Tanner Berryhill made two starts behind the wheel of the No. 97 Obaika Racing Toyota at Phoenix and Homestead-Miami to wrap up the season. David Starr also drove it one race at Texas Motor Speedway, though he failed to qualify at Talladega earlier in the year.
Now the No. 97 is set to be back full-time in 2026.
It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that Trackhouse Racing had Connor Zilisch picked out to replace Daniel Suarez for the 2026 season early on, and that move was indeed confirmed over the summer. What was not initially confirmed was whether Zilisch would be replacing Suarez behind the wheel of the No. 99 Chevrolet.
It has since been announced that Zilisch is set to use the No. 88, just as he did during his 10-win rookie Xfinity Series season with JR Motorsports. As a result, Shane van Gisbergen, who used the number during his five-win rookie Cup Series season with Trackhouse Racing, had to pick a new number, and his new number is not No. 99.
While No. 99 is set to be out of the Cup Series for the first time since 2020 next year, the No. 97 is set to be back full-time for the first time since 2005.
Van Gisbergen is set to drive the No. 97 Chevrolet in 2026. He had great success with the number in Australian Supercars, where he won 80 races and three championships before making the full-time move to NASCAR in 2024. During his rookie Xfinity Series that year, he used the No. 97 with Kaulig Racing and won three races.
Aside from Busch, just two drivers have ever won a race in the history of the No. 97 car, which dates back to 1950. Bill Amick won at Capitol Speedway in 1957, and Parnelli Jones won at both California State Fairgrounds in 1958 and Ascot Stadium in 1959. A total of 72 other drivers made a combined 465 starts using the No. 97 and never managed to find victory lane.
Given the fact that van Gisbergen has won five consecutive road and street course races, he could have a great chance to become the second winningest driver in the history of car No. 97 in his first year using it at the Cup level.
As for the rest of the Justin Marks-owned team, Ross Chastain is set to be back for a fifth year behind the wheel of the No. 1 Chevrolet, which is the one thing set to remain exactly the same in their lineup from 2025 to 2026.
The 68th running of the Daytona 500 is scheduled to get the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season underway on Sunday, February 15. Fox is set to provide live coverage from Daytona International Speedway.