“He was very meticulous.” When veteran crew chief Darian Grubb praised Shane van Gisbergen for his work ethic back in 2023, he was not wrong. The Kiwi speedster came to NASCAR and breathed fire – winning on his Cup Series debut at the Chicago Street Race. From there on, he has rocketed through three more road-course race wins in the Xfinity Series, while other racetracks remained a weakness.

However, SVG is overhauling his strategy for 2025. The results are visible to his Cup Series competitor Denny Hamlin. As the Trackhouse Racing driver navigates through his full-time Cup career, he is running every race diligently.

Denny Hamlin notices a possible adversary

Well, the signs were visible in 2024. Darian Grubb emphasized how Shane van Gisbergen did “so much studying of his own.” And so, by September 2024, his improvement on oval tracks was reflected in the Xfinity Series. He clinched a pair of top-ten finishes at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Darlington Raceway. So far, however, his average finish at superspeedways is 27.5 while at intermediate tracks, it is 27.7. This still shows the steep learning curve that SVG has in front of him. But according to Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin, the Bathurst champion is advancing quickly.

In the March 3 episode of ‘Actions Detrimental,’ Denny Hamlin mentioned the path left for SVG to cover. “SVG…got some learning to do on the ovals, got some improving to do there.” However, Hamlin observed that his rival already made his jaws drop at Atlanta Motor Speedway. “I actually had it in my notes last week for Atlanta. I forgot to mention how impressed I was with SVG and the draft. He just did a phenomenal job, I mean, just with the little experience that he has done that.” SVG finished 23rd, but his way up to that point was nothing short of amazing.

The Ambetter Health 400 race featured a load of cautions and chaos. However, SVG did a good job of avoiding them and weaving his way through the drafting track. Denny Hamlin continued his praise: “He was holding a…steady line – I was behind him quite a bit. Suddenly I’m a little worried, you know. Oh gosh, he’s getting crammed on both sides. This is typically where people panic and make mistakes when you haven’t done this for a long time. But I just think that he is rapidly gaining some good experience and really getting quite a bit better on ovals quicker than what I was anticipating.” Well, he is correct.

SVG’s pace of progress clearly amazed Denny Hamlin. His amazement will probably grow as SVG is determined to leave a mark in 2025.

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Shuffling his strategy to advance

Until the 2024 season, NASCAR knew the Kiwi to be a road course phenom. According to reports in September last year, Shane van Gisbergen was the most feared competitor on road courses. He hauled up wins in Portland, Sonoma, and Chicago and was 194 percent better than an average driver. However, SVG cannot keep basking in the same glory in 2025. Van Gisbergen’s solitary season in the Xfinity Series was a learning experience focused on succeeding on non-ovals. However, in the new season, the New Zealand native has adjusted his goals.

Shane van Gisbergen’s move up to the Cup Series as a full-time driver came with a desire to perform better on ovals. So that means he would not enjoy finishing mid-pack any longer – delivering more food for thought to Denny Hamlin. SVG said so back in 2024: “Obviously, you can’t just be having fun. I need to start getting results on the ovals and I really felt like we were getting better and better. We were on a real upward trajectory. And then we had a crew chief change and some other things and we sort of plateaued a lot, or even went backwards. But yeah, eventually I’ve got to stop having fun and start trying to push forward. That’s what I think the second half of next year [2025] will be like.” Evidently, the Trackhouse Racing driver is on an upward climb to stardom.

It would not be surprising if SVG shocks Denny Hamlin further with his race results in the upcoming weeks.