Denny Hamlin claims ‘there is no way’ Shane van Gisbergen will be ready to race full-time in the Cup series in one year
Denny Hamlin insists that SVG needs more time to match his rivals in the Cup series despite his superior talent.
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Shane van Gisbergen and Denny Hamlin (Via IMAGO)
Three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin has ruled out the possibility of Shane van Gisbergen getting ready for a full-time Cup ride in one year. The three-time Supercars champion sent shockwaves in the NASCAR garage by winning the inaugural Chicago Street race on his debut with Trackhouse Racing.
Seeing SVG’s impressive debut, Trackhouse co-owner Justin Marks has decided to give the Kiwi driver a development contract. He will drive part-time in all three tiers of NASCAR and adapt to racing in Oval, which he has never done the debut in a Truck Indy race. He will make consistent starts in the bottom tiers and occasional Cup starts.
While talking about the challenges that are ahead of SVG during the development side, his dream Cup series move, Hamlin pointed out that the Supercars driver is a racer with tremendous talent but won’t be ready to run full-time in Ovals with just a one-year development program. He added that Trackhouse needs to give him at least a year to progress to Cup naturally.
“I don’t think there’s any secret that the SVG thing is more of an experiment than anything. I really look forward to SVG running in multiple series next year… Think he’s a great dude and tremendous talent, obviously. But that experiment could take some time,” Hamlin said in the Action Detrimental podcast (H&T: ProTalk)
Hamlin added, “Would he be ready to run Cup full-time in ovals in a year? No way. Just no way. I mean, these guys are just too good, but you wanna see him have a steady progression of it. So, if Trackhouse can keep him under contract for a few years, maybe you see the progression that you like after a year or two, and then you move him up to Cup if the opportunity presents itself.”
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Trackhouse has also made another great signing
SVG isn’t the only impressive signing made by Trackhouse. They have also announced a unique signing of former Truck Series champion Zane Smith. Spire Motorsports purchased BJ McLeords’ charter for $40 million and has supposedly leased it to Tracklhoue, which they will use to field cars for Smith from 2024.
Hamlin believes the new signing is a great sign of what is ahead for the team that made its Cup debut the same year as his team, 23XI Racing. He claims that Smith deserves his Cup shot and says it is a move for the future of the team.
“This is a great sign for Trackhouse… Zane is certainly deserving of this opportunity. Every time he’s had the opportunity to compete in the Cup, he’s done a great job. Got great results. This is great forward thinking by Trackhouse and Justin [Marks] for his team to look towards the future,” Hamlin said.
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Justin P Joy
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