Shane van Gisbergen forces Denny Hamlin to change – Sports News
Denny Hamlin has admitted he was “worried” racing behind Shane van Gisbergen in tight traffic at Atlanta – but has quickly changed his mind on the Cup Series rookie.
Van Gisbergen lit up the Cup Series to win his debut in a huge shock at the Chicago Street Race back in 2023 before making the jump to full-time stock car racing.
He cut his teeth in the Xfinity Series last year before making the move to the top table in the No.88 car for Trackhouse Racing this season.
While his road course expertise given his years of V8 Supercars experience is not up for debate, Van Gisbergen remains a relative novice on ovals.
As a result, Hamlin had some fears that Van Gisbergen could cause an incident when they were punched in the pack at drafting track Atlanta in the second race of the season.
“I was behind him quite a bit and self-admittedly, I’m a little worried. It’s like, ‘oh gosh, he’s getting crammed on both sides, this is typically where people panic and make mistakes when you’ve not done this a long time’.
“But I just think he is rapidly gaining some really good experience and really getting quite a bit better on ovals quicker than what I was anticipating.”
Van Gisbergen finished 23rd at Atlanta after finishing 33rd in the chaos at the Daytona 500 the previous week. After a sixth place finish at COTA, he will now aim for another step forward on a different type of track at Phoenix this weekend.
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