SVG Confesses to the Same Rule Break That Made Denny Hamlin the Talk of the Town

Published 04/06/2024, 1:14 PM EDT

Did Denny Hamlin jump the restart at Richmond? Well, a majority of NASCAR fans were convinced that the JGR driver did flout the rules in claiming his second Cup Series win of the season. Despite the evidence at hand, NASCAR chose to refrain from being involved and stood their ground, claiming that they made the right judgment call. And now, when the dust had just settled on the Richmond incident, Kaulig Racing’s Shane van Gisbergen has a shocking revelation for the NASCAR world.

Hamlin’s antics sparked a huge debate online, prompting experts and pundits in sports to chime in with their opinions. Most of them were quick to deliver their verdict in black-and-white terms, but when Shane van Gisbergen was asked about the same, he gave the podcast hosts more than an interesting opinion.

Shane van Gisbergen shares his honest opinion on Denny Hamlin’s controversial restart

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The Kiwi speedster certainly has been adjusting to his new environment of racing in NASCAR. While he is a seasoned driver himself, there are elements to racing in NASCAR that are fairly new to him. Owing to his limited time in the sport, the Kaulig Racing driver refrained from delivering his strong opinion on the Denny Hamlin saga.

Making an appearance on the ‘Rubbin Is Racing’ podcast, SVG said, “I think he jumped it but I think in every restart I’ve been and everyone’s going before the zone, like at the start of COTA… I went before the zone and jumped everyone, but they didn’t do anything.”

When asked if all this seemed fair to him, the 34-year-old replied, “I don’t really understand the rules yet.”

It’s not just the rules that van Gisbergen is trying to take in but also the style of close-contact racing. He even explained how the Supercar series and NASCAR are different in terms of getting away with bumping and wrecking drivers. “Rubbing is racing here. Every other series I have raced in, you get penalized for hitting or moving each other, here it is kind of have at each other I guess they say.”

Although SVG is still trying to adapt to NASCAR racing, he feels somewhat relieved and free to express himself on the racetrack because of his historic debut win in a Chicago street race.

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SVG isn’t feeling the pressure to perform in his first rookie NASCAR season

A win in the NASCAR Cup Series is a big deal for any driver, especially if it’s your debut run. To further build on that, the Trackhouse Racing phenom has already delivered some impressive performances in the Xfinity Series. And going forward, he is banking on his free run this season to rake in more positive results.

“No one expects me to go on and win on the oval at Richmond or Martinsville on my first time, so that’s kind of good. I can settle in and do my thing, getting a good result. People do get surprised when I got third at Atlanta people were pretty excited about that. That’s awesome, they don’t expect me to come in and be dominant. So it allows be to be under the radar a bit, go at my own pace, with no pressure,” he went on to add.

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With more road course races scheduled ahead in the season, it might not be a surprise if SVG bags a win or two. Many are even considering him to reach the playoffs, so interesting times are ahead for the Kiwi speedster.

Shane van Gisbergen Makes a 7-Word Confession About Intimidating Daytona Superspeedway

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Written by:

Chintan Mahesh Devgania is a NASCAR Writer at EssentiallySports. As someone who likes to dive deep into the sport, he often takes up less explored topics to eventually see them make their way into top stories. His report on Toyota’s young recruit, Jade Avedisian, sharing her thoughts on Late Model Racing, was an example of that.

Edited by:

Ranvijay Singh

SVG Confesses to the Same Rule Break That Made Denny Hamlin the Talk of the Town

Shane van Gisbergen shares his honest opinion on Denny Hamlin’s controversial restart

SVG isn’t feeling the pressure to perform in his first rookie NASCAR season

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