Red Bull Debuts Shane van Gisbergen’s No. 97 NASCAR Design for 2026

Trackhouse Racing has debuted two brand-new, awesome Red Bull schemes for two of the top-trending drivers in the sport right now. Connor Zilisch and Shane Van Gisbergen, who were both sponsored by the energy drink manufacturer in 2025. And this has fans energized for so many reasons.

What Makes The Schemes So Great?

Last year, while the Red Bull scheme was a hit, mainly because many were so excited to see the energy drink back in the sport. After a brief run in the sport from 2007 to 2011, where they won two races and made the Chase in 2009 with Brian Vickers.

Plus, I recently had a generational run-in with now four-time world champion Max Verstappen. Putting the Red Bull logo front and center, anywhere a motorsports fan would look.

SVG also has a long and proud history with Red Bull. Having been sponsored by them since 2016, when he was driving in the V8 Supercars series. Where he won multiple V8 Supercars titles and Bathurst 1000 wins, Australia’s own Daytona 500.

So, of course, NASCAR fans everywhere were super hyped, but now, not only is this an indication that they’ll invest more in Zilisch and SVG this year, which we’ll get to. But they are also much better as a scheme.

2025 vs. 2026 Red Bull NASCAR Schemes

2025 was the first time Red Bull returned to NASCAR since 2011 and the first time they’ve ever designed a stock car since then, but with one significant difference. A QuikTrip logo on the back of the vehicle as well.

With it being their first time and not a massive investment, given they were only doing limited races, they went barebones the first go. Keep in mind, barebones is not bad but basic, and it’s a good kind of basic.

A single shade of dark blue that’s easy on the eye. The Red Bull logo is prominent and central on the car. The Red Bull is charging towards the number 88 on the car’s side. Or in the case of Zilisch, awkwardly there by the tires for no good reason. While in the front of SVG’s car a stripe of red on the front bumper also for no reason.

Both SVG’s Cup car and Zilisch’s O’Reilly car have a white-and-red sponsor they have to slap on the back of the vehicle. But both go about this in a much better way than others. Zilisch’s car is smoother because it gives the logo more room to breathe while having the white take up a large part of the car.

Making it easier to look at and accept as a design. While the SVG‘s 88 in Cup has a QT logo awkwardly slapped on, only covering the back bumper and a small part of the side of the ride. It clashes more with blue than it does with being its own thing.

A Major Improvement Over Previous Years

While the 2026 scheme doesn’t add much to the formula, what it does is thoughtful and is a significant improvement over last year’s Red Bull scheme. As SVG‘s 88 has a streak of blue coming across its scheme, and Zilisch’s 97 has a streak of red going across his.

This adds character to the basic design the Red Bull cars had last year, as the bright blue and red streak makes it stand out more than the pure dark blue of the previous year. At the same time, it was mostly dark blue all the way around. This takes advantage of that dark body by giving it a bold, bright color that stands out more.

Plus, with the QT logo removed, the color balance is much better. Now, with the predominantly dark blue body and the bright streak, it is much more well thought out than the slapdash-on-white of last year.

Final Thoughts

Very interesting that the QuikTrip is nowhere to be found. Last year, QuikTrip funded the cars as a B2B, increasing the brand exposure of both. But this indicates that Red Bull is funding it themselves this year, showing more confidence in both drivers and NASCAR. Thanks a bunch for reading!