NASCAR Cup Series veteran Denny Hamlin said that he believes Shane van Gisbergen is beginning to race aggressively enough that some competitors may eventually decide to pay him back on the track, during the latest episode of his podcast.
This past weekend, at Nashville Superspeedway, road course ace Shane van Gisbergen scored his first-ever top-five finish on an oval racetrack, SVG continuing his recent run of strong oval performances, and, most notably, surviving a race that was particularly challenging for Trackhouse Racing.
While teammates Ross Chastain and Connor Zilisch were eliminated early after suffering brake rotor failures, SVG managed to avoid the same fate despite some concerns from fans and the broadcast booth.
As the race went on, SVG spent much of the afternoon inside the top ten and even led 12 laps, the highest total he has ever led in a NASCAR oval race, surpassing the 11 laps he had led only a week earlier at Charlotte, which is proof of how quickly he is adapting to stock-car racing’s oval racing.
Still, the drama came through later during the event.
A caution created a strategic gamble, and SVG stayed on older tires while many others pitted for fresh rubber. That decision left him vulnerable during the final restart, but it also gave him a chance to fight for a strong finish, battling door-to-door with Chase Elliott.
The two raced side by side, and on the final lap, SVG drifted up the track and made contact with Elliott as they fought for position.
The contact opened the door for Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Tyler Reddick to join the battle, turning the finish into a three-wide scramble to the checkered flag. Moments later, Elliott and Reddick collided after crossing the finish line, though SVG escaped the incident and later spoke amicably with Elliott on pit road.
Still, SVG’s aggressive racing style has now caught attentiont the attention of Denny Hamlin, who on his podcast Actions Detrimental, noted that SVG has been placing his car deep into corners and forcing rivals into uncomfortable situations.
“SVG had another good race, I tell you, he’s putting himself in some spots, though,” Hamlin said. “He’s also sticking it in there like late on corner entries, where he’s putting his competition in some not great spots.”
While Hamlin did not accuse SVG of intentionally wrecking anyone, he suggested that NASCAR drivers have long memories and that if a driver repeatedly puts others in difficult positions, competitors may eventually decide to respond in kind.
“I saw him and Chase [Elliott] on the last lap, I think he ran into him two or three times, I would just give warning that like eventually, they’re not going to let you just keep doing that without retaliating on you. Maybe they won’t say it on the radio, but just be careful of that SVG.” — Denny Hamlin
Elaborating on why the race was so aggressive, Hamlin said that it’s because of Nashville Superspeedway itself.
According to him, in Nashville, the passing opportunities largely exist during the first few laps after a restart. Once the field spreads out and settles into single-file racing, gaining positions becomes extremely difficult.
Because of that, drivers feel enormous pressure to attack immediately after a restart, often going three-wide or four-wide into corners. Those situations naturally create contact and squeeze drivers into tight spaces.
He indirectly pointed out that SVG is learning in an environment where everyone is already desperate to gain track position, making aggressive moves even more noticeable.
Also, about the widespread brake problems that affected several teams, Hamlin explained that tracks with long, high-speed straightaways followed by slow corners place tremendous stress on braking systems.
With NASCAR’s higher-horsepower, lower-downforce package, cars travel faster on the straights but must slow down more dramatically for the turns. That larger speed difference means drivers have to apply greater braking force, generating extreme temperatures.
According to the Joe Gibbs Racing driver, the real issue is not simply heat, but the constant cycle of cooling and reheating. As cars race down the lengthy straights, brake rotors cool significantly. Then, when drivers slam on the brakes as they enter a corner, temperatures spike almost instantly.
Repeating that cycle lap after lap can distort brake components and create what drivers call “brake shake,” a vibration that signals the rotors are no longer behaving normally.
Teams try to manage this by adjusting brake cooling. In some cases, they even add tape to reduce airflow, keeping the brakes hotter more consistently so they do not cool too much between corners. The trade-off is that excessively hot brakes can suffer from brake fade, in which stopping power diminishes.
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