“It was really cool to get a top-10 finish at Kansas Speedway. I feel like we’re getting better and better at these tracks,” an excited Shane van Gisbergen said after the Hollywood Casino 400. For a driver known for dominating road courses with four wins this season, this oval result stands out as a personal milestone. Even without taking the checkered flag, finishes like this can define progress in a career, especially when overcoming early setbacks like having a penalty issue and starting a lap down. And that’s where insights from seasoned pros like Denny Hamlin come in, highlighting what it truly means for long-term success.
Hamlin, with 59 Cup Series victories and sitting strong in the playoffs at fourth place after Kansas, knows the grind of consistent performance across all track types. His own oval dominance, including multiple Daytona 500 and Southern 500 triumphs, underscores the value of adaptability. SVG’s journey from Supercars champion to NASCAR rookie has drawn attention, particularly as he tries to crack ovals amid playoff pressures. With Hamlin not one to hold back opinions, his view on this top-10 offers a fresh perspective on what’s next.
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Denny Hamlin praises Shane Van Gisbergen’s Kansas turnaround
Denny Hamlin didn’t hesitate to acknowledge Shane van Gisbergen’s achievement on his Actions Detrimental podcast, saying, “Listen, I don’t know the circumstances of it. I don’t know was he running the top 10 the whole race or was it a restart chaos. Either way, accomplishment is the accomplishment. I don’t think we should nitpick that.” This came after SVG’s gritty drive at Kansas, where he started from the rear due to an unapproved adjustment penalty that ejected his crew chief and forced a pass-through, putting him a lap down early.
Drawing from his own experience as a three-time Daytona 500 winner, Hamlin noted SVG’s clear step-up on ovals is essential since ovals make up most of the schedule, and SVG’s prior Cup oval best was 12th at Martinsville last year. “The guy starts somewhere, and clearly, he’s starting to step up his game on ovals. Which, realistically, is his or justin’s long-term goal for his team. You’re gonna need SVG to not just win one of the road courses, especially if you know that when they change the playoff format, you’re going to have to definitely put the whole package together,” Hamlin added.
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This accolade is a part of the overall story of adaptation of SVG, from his days as the champion of nine Supercars to his current full-time Cup ride with the Trackhouse Racing team as the driver of the No. 88 Chevy. Although it is four road course wins that put him in rookie records, his ills on ovals kept him out of the playoff positions, ending up out of the top 12, but this Kansas comeback, digging his way back into pace all day, according to interim crew chief remarks, a glimpse of the entire package Hamlin believes is essential in making the championship runs.
This isn’t Hamlin’s first nod to SVG’s oval efforts; back at Richmond in August, where SVG notched a 14th-place finish, Hamlin remarked, “That’s cool to see. Usually, when you’re trying to learn, you just kind of well, I just kind of run behind everyone else and kind of figure this thing out. And he figured out pretty quickly that, ‘I’m just going to go somewhere else.’ Very innovative of him.”
At Richmond, SVG tested new lines on the short circuit, to the astonishment of old-timers, running deeper grooves, threatening to blow out the tires, but making passes, an attribute Hamlin has been known to learn quickly. Hamlin, being a co-owner of 23XI Racing in partnership with Michael Jordan, makes comparisons with developing versatile drivers, which justifies why such innovation can bring SVG to the successful stage of performance outside the road tracks.
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While Hamlin celebrated Shane Van Gisbergen’s progress, the Kansas race also put a spotlight on tough decisions on track. That intensity carried over to another moment involving Hamlin himself, drawing scrutiny from a fellow veteran.
Kevin Harvick gives his take on Denny Hamlin’s unwritten racing rule break
Kevin Harvick weighed in on Denny Hamlin’s aggressive battle with Bubba Wallace at Kansas, noting the complications of Hamlin’s dual role as a Joe Gibbs Racing driver and 23XI co-owner. “I’ve been in a position where Denny Hamlin is in currently where you drive for another team and you own cars. And it’s really, really difficult because if he doesn’t drive in there and try to win the race and do what he did, his team is gonna be mad,” Harvick said on his Happy Hour podcast.
This was due to the last restart in which Hamlin and Wallace, both connected to Gibbs by a technical alliance of 23XI, were both banging doors over who could lead, and finally, Chase Elliott managed to thread a pass and claim the victory. Of his own experience in juggling driving and ownership, Harvick, a 2014 Cup champion with 60 wins, emphasized internal friction within the team that develops during high-stakes playoffs.
Harvick pinpointed the core issue, saying, “That’s kind of the unwritten rule, if you’re going to bang doors with your teammate and you’re going to do all those things, you better make sure one of you wins the race. I know they’re not technically teammates, but they might as well be with the way this all goes.”
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During the final laps of the race, the pass by Hamlin made the No. 23 Toyota of Wallace narrower, denying him a chance at winning the race and an essential portion of playoff points, which Wallace found himself below the cutline at the end. This was reminiscent of an earlier event in New Hampshire, where Hamlin caused a wreck with teammate Christopher Bell, amplifying the politics Harvick described, especially as Wallace voiced frustration post-race, calling out the contact that derailed his momentum.