Denny Hamlin paints bleak picture for NASCAR Cup field catching up to Shane van Gisbergen

Denny Hamlin painted a bleak picture for the NASCAR Cup Series field on the latest episode of his Actions Detrimental podcast. He doesn’t believe they’ll catch up to Shane van Gisbergen on road courses in the near future.

Perhaps they should’ve realized it sooner, as SVG did come in and win his first race back in 2023. Still, Hamlin and company never expected the dominance they’ve seen in 2025, and that’s a harrowing feeling for them.

“Not the domination that he’s had,” Hamlin stated, regarding whether he could’ve seen this coming back when SVG won his first race at Chicago. “We all thought, I think, the sentiment from everyone who talked about his first win back in 2023 was, ‘Well, it was a street course. That’s his thing. That’s his groove.’ We were on a kind of a wet track, and he’s got the most experience doing that. Things worked out perfectly. There were some timely cautions and whatnot.

“You’re trying to come up with all these reasons and justification as to why he won that race versus just saying, ‘Oh, he’s just better than everyone else.’ That’s what we’re finding out now.”

Quite simply, Hamlin doesn’t believe there’s anyone near SVG’s level on road courses at the moment. There’s ways to beat him, but it’s going to take a perfect stroke of luck. Not going at him one-on-one one the track.

“I think that it’s factual at this point,” Hamlin added, confirming SVG is the best road course racer the Cup Series has ever seen. “I don’t know how we can say otherwise, because these races aren’t close. They’re not close, if that makes any sense. … The only way (to beat him) is when the field has a caution with 12 laps to go, and everyone behind him gets to pit and he stays out. That was the only shot. I think you could get him then. That’s where he’s going to be vulnerable.

“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.”

Moving forward, it’ll be fascinating to see if any driver is able to break through and defeat Shane van Gisbergen at a road course. It won’t be easy, and Denny Hamlin isn’t confident, but he’s laying out a blueprint. We’ll see if anyone can come through over the next couple of months.