Bobby Travis · NASCAR/IndyCar Correspondent
Trackhouse lures Alex Bowman’s crew chief away from Hendrick. Stephen Doran, who won seven Cup races with van Gisbergen, moves to Spire.
The season was not even 24 hours old in the books when the carousel on pit road started spinning. On November 9, Trackhouse Racing made official what RACER had reported three days earlier: Blake Harris will be crew chief of the No. 97 in 2027, and with that of Shane van Gisbergen. Harris comes from Hendrick Motorsports, where he led Alex Bowman‘s No. 48 for four seasons. The same day, Spire Motorsports announced where his predecessor is headed: Stephen Doran takes over Michael McDowell‘s No. 71.
Seven wins and still a split
At first glance the split is a surprise. In two seasons together, van Gisbergen and Doran collected seven Cup wins and five poles. In 2026 the New Zealander won at Sonoma and Watkins Glen, bringing his Cup Series total to eight victories. With six top-five and ten top-10 finishes he set new career highs, and his average finish improved from 21.0 to 18.9.
It still was not enough for the Chase. Seventeenth in the final standings is the best spot outside the 16 Chase drivers, exactly one position too far back. The three-time Supercars champion scored all eight of his wins on street and road courses. He clearly made gains on the ovals this year, but not yet enough to run with the front group there. Van Gisbergen himself saw the season in two halves on Saturday at Homestead. “We started the year pretty average as a team,” he told NASCAR.com. The middle of the season had been average too, he added, and only in the last couple of months did the team turn it around.
What Harris brings
Harris has one Cup win as a crew chief, and it fits the picture: in 2024 he led Bowman to victory lane on the Chicago Street Course, exactly the kind of terrain where van Gisbergen is at home. 2024 was also his strongest year, with eight top-five and 17 top-10 finishes plus the pole at Bristol. Before joining Hendrick, he ran Front Row Motorsports’ No. 34 with McDowell in 2022, posting 11 top-10 finishes in 32 races.
His time at Hendrick ends after a difficult season. Bowman missed four races early in the year with vertigo and finished the season 26th. After a mechanical failure at Charlotte, driver and crew chief argued over the radio about whether parts had broken or whether Bowman had broken them. Bowman denies any rift between the two. “I’ve really enjoyed working with Blake, and as I said, I am super happy for him,” he said in Miami. Hendrick has not yet announced who will be on his pit box in 2027.
A swap across three teams
Spire is not new territory for Doran, who already worked for the team in 2024. With McDowell he replaces Travis Peterson, who worked with the veteran for four years, two at Front Row and two at Spire. According to the team, Peterson has been offered a lead engineering role. McDowell finished the season 20th, the only Spire driver without a win and without a Chase berth.
On the other side of the Trackhouse garage, nothing changes: Connor Zilisch is set to keep working with crew chief Randall Burnett. For van Gisbergen, 2027 starts with a new man on the pit box who still has to get to know him. Whether Harris can help him take that last step on the ovals will ultimately decide whether the No. 97 is in the Chase next year or lands in 17th place again.
