Here is a major garage shakeup for the NASCAR Cup Series. Trackhouse Racing announced on Monday that Blake Harris will take over the pit box as crew chief for Shane van Gisbergen and the No. 97 Chevrolet starting in the 2027 season.
Harris makes the move to Trackhouse after spending the last four seasons leading the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports outfit alongside driver Alex Bowman. He steps in to replace Stephen Doran atop the No. 97 pit box. Doran, meanwhile, is off to Spire Motorsports to crew chief the No. 71 car and driver Michael McDowell for 2027.
We started the year pretty average as a team. Middle of the year was average, and I feel like we really sort of turned it around the last couple of months. So hopefully that keeps going.
Looking back at his resume, Harris boasts one win in the NASCAR Cup Series, having guided Bowman to Victory Lane on the Chicago Street Course in 2024. That run marked a career-best year for Harris as a shot-caller, with the No. 48 team securing eight top fives, 17 top 10s, and a pole-position effort at Bristol Motor Speedway. Before his stint at Hendrick, Harris worked with McDowell as the crew chief of the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports team in 2022, where they pulled off 11 top 10s and a 15.8 average finish across 32 races.
Admittedly, the 2026 campaign was a tough battle for Harris and the No. 48 squad. The team had to navigate losing Bowman for four races early in the year while he dealt with vertigo. Between the combined efforts of Bowman, Justin Allgaier, and Anthony Alfredo, the No. 48 outfit ultimately landed 24th in owners’ points for the season, with Bowman himself taking 26th on the back of four top fives and eight top 10s.
Now, Harris is paired with a certified beast in van Gisbergen—a three-time V8 Supercars champion and absolute maestro on road courses whose transition to full-time NASCAR Cup Series racing took a massive step forward on ovals in 2026. The New Zealand native finished the 2026 regular season just outside The Chase presented by Mobil 1, racking up a career-high six top fives and 10 top 10s in his second full campaign. That improved his average finish from 21.0 in 2025 to 18.9 in 2026. Van Gisbergen took two wins in 2026 at Watkins Glen International and Sonoma Raceway, bringing his career total to eight wins. That puts him tied for 71st all-time alongside Bowman, Chase Briscoe, and former driver turned television analyst Kyle Petty.
Speaking about the trajectory at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Saturday, van Gisbergen offered a clear-eyed view of their progress. “Feel like we made good strides this year, and it’d be good to get some momentum going,” Van Gisbergen said. “We started the year pretty average as a team. Middle of the year was average, and I feel like we really sort of turned it around the last couple of months. So hopefully that keeps going.” Van Gisbergen ultimately wrapped up the 2026 points standings in 17th, claiming the highest available position outside of the 16-driver Chase field.
