Denny Hamlin Brands Shane van Gisbergen as the Best NASCAR Road Course Ever

Joe Gibbs Racing veteran Denny Hamlin has shared his thoughts on Shane van Gisbergen’s dominant Cup win streak.

Denny Hamlin Brands Shane van Gisbergen as the Best NASCAR Road Course Ever

Denny Hamlin and Shane van Gisbergen (Via IMAGO and @Trackhouse/X)

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The NASCAR Cup garage never expected the dominance Shane van Gisbergen has shown in the road courses in his rookie season. The ex-Supercars champion has sued his superior road course racing experience and skill to his advantage to secure three wins in 2025. This supremacy has inspired JGR veteran Denny Hamlin admits SVG is the greatest road course racer the sport has seen.

In the latest episode of his podcast, after Shane van Gisbergen’s impressive win at Sonoma Raceway, Denny Hamlin shared his thoughts on discussion around if the Kiwi is the greatest road course drivers ever. He believes there is genuine case to be made for the ex-Supercars champion, considering the 90’s ringers he is being compared to had cad advantage.

I think there’s certainly a real discussion to be had on the best road course racer that NASCAR has seen. I saw Mike Joy mentioned like Dan Gurney. That’s all he did. The other guys were not — they didn’t run but a couple of road courses a year. These guys are all in the same cars now.

Denny Hamlin said via Actions Detrimental.

The likes of Dan Gurney and most recently Marcos Ambros are the ringers that has showed dominance close to that of SVG’s. But in their time in the sport, they had the car advantage as unlike in then 90’s the drivers now are more competitive and the new Next-Gen Cup car has made racing closer than ever.

Back then, anything like from 90s and earlier, the advantages you had with your car far exceeded anything talent level that you could bring to the racetrack. I just feel like it’s apples and oranges trying to compare what someone did 40-some years ago, because there was not that many competitive cars.

Denny Hamlin asserted.

He pointed out that in the past, if there was ringer looking to enter a race with a good team, he could have easily won more than 50% of the races. But now with the current spec-cars, it’s really tough for drivers to win, unless they are really good compared to rest of the field like SVG. This factor alone makes the ex-Supercars champion one of the greatest road racers ever NASCAR has seen, compared to the likes of Dan Gurney.

If you had someone that was specific in road racing, they could come out here and win Riverside five of nine times, or whatever it might be. But not someone that’s coming in with spec-cars and more competitive drivers. I don’t think the two are the same.

Denny Hamlin added.

Denny Hamlin confesses Shane van Gisbergen is unbeatable

In the same podcast, Denny Hamlin shared his thoughts on the pure dominance of Shane van Gisbergen in road courses. He pointed out that no-one in the current grid can match the Kiwi one lap pace and the only way to overtake him in the races in a Cup car is to use proper strategies in the right moment.

Shane van Gisbergen (via NASCAR)
Shane van Gisbergen (via NASCAR)

You’re going to have to put him at a disadvantage on tires or strategy to, I believe, overtake him. If it’s straight lap time, I don’t see anyone having enough. … That’s why I’m confident in saying, I don’t think you’re going to beat him straight up in a Cup car right now. There’s nobody that can run with him.

Denny Hamlin said.

But having this advantage isn’t easy considering the massive experience he has racing in Supercars and the fact that Trackhosue Racing has a great team behind him. The Chevy side’s road course program were race winners, even before SVG came in and now it has evolved into another level, it would be interesting to see how the No:88 team perform in the remaining races of the season.

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