Denny Hamlin Declares Shane van Gisbergen as the “Best Road Course Racer Ever”

Joe Gibbs Racing veteran Denny Hamlin shared his thoughts on Shane van Gisbergen’s absolute dominance on road courses.

Denny Hamlin Declares Shane van Gisbergen as the “Best Road Course Racer Ever”

Shane van Gisbergen and Denny Hamlin (Via IMAGO)

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The NASCAR Cup Series race last Sunday at Watkins Glen International witnessed another dominant run from Trackhouse Racing’s Shane van Gisbergen. He won his fourth race of the 2025 season, with a 11+ seconds lead over second place Christopher Bell. It seems highly unlikely his rivals can beat the Kiwi racer under fair circumstances.

Shane van Gisbergen won four of the five road course races of the 2025 season, with the only negative of the season being his oval racing developing slower than his fans expected. But Justin Marks didn’t sign him to win at ovals and Joe Gibbs Racing Denny Hamlin words explains it perfectly, SVG is the best road course racer ever.

Talking about the three times Supercars champion in the latest episode of the Actions Detrimental podcast, Denny Hamlin declared that other than an ill-timed caution or wrecks, SVG is unbeatable on road courses. He then called the No:88 Chevy driver the best ever, highlighting how even Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon couldn’t match that level.

On the road courses, it’s a little more straightforward. As long as there’s not an ill- timed caution. … There’s no doubt the guy can go through traffic. Zero doubt on my mind. Is he the best road course racer I’ve ever seen? Absolutely. I competed against the Tony Stewarts, the Jeff Gordons — all those guys. He’s better than all of them.

Denny Hamlin said on Actions Detrimental.

Further talking about the point, he asserted that for the rest of the garage of get the best of out of Gisbergen in the one remaining road course race of 2025, as well as the six non-oval race of 2026, they have to put him in some wacky situations or just fix the road course races in their favor. In the same podcast he also highlighted that only a conspiracy can beat the ex-Supercars champion.

But the only thing you’re going to have to mix this up, to keep him from winning every single road course race is — it’s going to have to take something wacky. Or else you can just go ahead and write the script for the next foreseeable future.

Denny Hamlin said.

Denny Hamlin explains how tough it is to win at Ovals even for elite racers  

Earlier in the conversation on the podcast, Hamlin highlighted how hard is going to be for SVG to be better at ovals and finally win a race. He asserted that with the parity of the Next-Gen cars, even elite drivers can’t win races. He gave William Byron as an example of the tough challenge ahead.

Shane van Gisbergen and Denny Hamlin (via Getty)
Shane van Gisbergen and Denny Hamlin (via Getty)

When you start at the front of a road course, there’s not much chaos to mix up the field and all those things. On an oval, if William Byron has the fastest car and he starts on the pole, he’s got to go through eight pit stops, something like that, on any given day.

Denny Hamlin said.

Later he highlighted how even the best in the business can’t get over the traffic and secure a win over the rest in the oval, even with the fastest cars. That’s how close the racing is in the Next-Gen era, unlike when it comes to road course racing.

If he gets put back to 15th, do we ever see him again? That’s what we’re fighting for the other 30 weeks of the year. ‘Wait a minute, William Byron, he was the best driver, best car on that day. Why is it when we put him in traffic, he couldn’t go anywhere?’ So, that’s where the parity really hurts the stars on the ovals.

Denny Hamlin added.

The comments from the JGR veteran shows it is going to really tough for Shane van Gisbergen to win races in the oval before he eventually retires from the sport. It would be interesting to see how everything is going to playout for the Trackhouse Chevy driver in the coming years.

Also Read: “We Need a Conspiracy!” Denny Hamlin Reveals the Only Way He Could Beat Shane van Gisbergen