Trackhouse Racing is preparing a significant change to Shane van Gisbergen’s No. 97 Chevrolet, and the move reaches straight into one of NASCAR’s biggest organizations. Blake Harris, who has spent the last four seasons working with Alex Bowman at Hendrick Motorsports, is set to leave the No. 48 team and become van Gisbergen’s crew chief for the 2027 Cup Series campaign.

The change was reported by RACER’s Kelly Crandall on X, who cited multiple people familiar with the situation. It has not yet been presented as an official team announcement, but it would give Trackhouse a new voice atop the No. 97 pit box while bringing an experienced Hendrick crew chief into its competition group. For Bowman, meanwhile, it means the end of a four-year partnership that produced one Cup victory together.

That win came at the Chicago Street Course in 2024, where Bowman converted a strong weekend into his eighth career Cup triumph. It was also a result that underlined the potential of the Harris-Bowman combination. Hendrick’s own account of their first three seasons together credited the pair with three playoff appearances, four poles, 17 top-five finishes, and 50 top-10 finishes. Harris helped guide Bowman to a ninth-place points finish in 2024, followed by a 13th-place finish in 2025.

Their final season has been more difficult. Bowman has made 31 starts in 2026 and sits 26th in the standings, with no wins, four top-five finishes and eight top-10s. Six DNFs have also interrupted the No. 48 campaign.

Those numbers underline the difficult year for the team, but there has been no public explanation tying Bowman’s results to Harris’ departure. The confirmed development is the crew chief’s move; Bowman’s next crew chief’s identity remains unsettled.

For Trackhouse, the attraction is clear enough without pretending that the change guarantees an immediate leap in results. Van Gisbergen has become one of the Cup Series’ most dangerous drivers on road and street courses, and his 2026 campaign includes two victories, nine top-10 finishes, and five top-five finishes through 34 starts.

His latest Cup win came at Sonoma in June. He has also shown that his racing instincts translate from Supercars to NASCAR, after arriving in the United States with three Australian Supercars titles and a reputation as an elite road racer.

Harris will not be walking into a blank slate, however. Stephen Doran has overseen the No. 97 for the past two seasons, and RACER reports that he and van Gisbergen have combined for seven race wins. Doran was part of the arrangement that originally connected Trackhouse and Spire Motorsports around Zane Smith before van Gisbergen’s move to the Cup Series altered those plans. He then became SVG’s in-house crew chief, helping manage the steep transition from Supercars to the demands of NASCAR’s top level.

The timing of Harris’ arrival is also notable because Trackhouse leadership has already hinted at a broader competition-side reset. After the Martinsville race, van Gisbergen told reporters that “big team changes” were coming for 2027. Team founder Justin Marks then confirmed that changes were on the way within the organization’s competition department.

The crew chief switch now gives those comments a clear shape, although neither Marks nor the team has publicly detailed the full scope of the changes.

Harris brings more than his recent work with Bowman. Before joining Hendrick in 2023, he served as Michael McDowell’s crew chief at Front Row Motorsports in 2022. Earlier in his career, he worked at Evernham Motorsports, Furniture Row Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing, including time in the orbit of Martin Truex Jr.’s championship-winning operation.

NASCAR’s announcement of his Front Row appointment noted that he had been part of more than 25 Cup wins and the 2017 championship team. It is a résumé built across organizations with very different resources, which should serve him well as he takes on a new project at Trackhouse.

The No. 97 change is not expected to disrupt Trackhouse’s other young driver pairing. Connor Zilisch, who will enter his second Cup season in 2027, said he plans to continue working with crew chief Randall Burnett next year. That would leave Harris focused on van Gisbergen as Trackhouse reshapes one of its central competition relationships.

Hendrick’s next decision will be watched just as closely. RACER reported that Adam Wall is among the names being discussed for Bowman’s crew chief position.

Wall currently works with Corey Day on Hendrick’s No. 17 O’Reilly Auto Parts Series team, and splitting that pairing would carry its own cost: the duo has won four races and is entering the series finale with a championship opportunity. No replacement has been confirmed, and Hendrick has not indicated whether Wall or another candidate will take over the No. 48.

For van Gisbergen, the key question is how quickly he and Harris can establish the working rhythm that a driver-crew chief pairing needs. The No. 97 has already had success under Doran, so this is not a rescue operation. It is a significant personnel change at a team that believes there is more to unlock from its fast-rising driver.

Harris leaves a familiar environment at Hendrick for a different challenge at Trackhouse; Bowman must now prepare for a new voice on the radio. The move could shape both organizations’ 2027 campaigns well before the cars reach Daytona.