Shane van Gisbergen may have arrived on ovals, but Denny Hamlin is sounding an alarm. Not to the grid, but to him instead.

SVG is "really enjoying" his oval progress as he secured his best-ever finish at Nashville (5th), including leading his best laps (12) there. But in order to do that, he had drive a bit aggressively, which is why Hamlin, a veteran of the sport and Nashville's race-winner, is warning him of consequences.

On the latest episode of Actions Detrimental, Hamlin said, “I saw him and Chase [Elliott] on the last lap, I think he ran into him two or three times. I would just give a 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.” 

The Kiwi driver is known for his aggressive driving style, and during the race at Nashville, SVG ran door-to-door with Chase Elliott. During which he slid up on the Hendrick Motorsports car, giving way to Ricky Stenhouse Jr and Tyler Reddick a chance to get through. 

This gave way to the three-way battle between them. Eventually, Elliott and Reddick collided just as they crossed the finish line, but SVG managed to escape the collision. After the race, Gisbergen addressed the incident with Elliott with whom he spoke on pit road later. 

"Yeah I got a little bit loose when he put it on my door and at the bottom of (Turns) 1 and 2, I kind of slid and then we both got tight. Neither one of us wanted to lift, I guess. Last lap, and Ricky got us. And then coming to the flag battling, and, I tried to stay to the bottom. I don't know what happened. I was trying to look and see how close it was."

But Hamlin noted that SVG went deep into corners that put his rivals in uncomfortable situations, and that's where the problem lies.

"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.”

Gisbergen started the race in 10th and finished the race in fifth, his best one on an oval, beating his 6th place finish at Atlanta this year. However, amidst all of the chaos, it was the Joe Gibbs Racing driver who stole the spotlight. 

Denny Hamlin on how he battled his fellow JGR teammates at Nashville

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver put up a spectacular performance in the race. Beginning from the pole, he was sent back after jumping the start, and he charged back from there to take the checkered flag, making a 1-2-3 sweep for JGR.

Hamlin won the race by 0.115 seconds after holding off his teammates, Christopher Bell and Chase Briscoe. During his post-race interview, the No 11 driver explained how he was able to them off.

“The 20 (Christopher Bell) and 19 (Chase Briscoe) were battling so hard in that first corner, it let me get to the inside of the 20 in the first corner there after the restart.

"And from there, side by side with the 20, and he drove in so deep on that last lap into (Turn) 1, it allowed me to just barely clear off (Turn) 2. But man, what an unbelievable day. Starting first, going to last, and then back to first.” 

This victory not only marked Toyota’s first win at the oval but also marked Hamlin’s 62nd victory, just one short of tying the late legend Kyle Busch's all-time Cup wins.

Read more at the RFK Racing Digest!

Written by

Chionia Libania Colaco

Edited by

Suyashdeep Sason