Rookie Shane van Gisbergen comes 100% clean on his chemistry with teammates Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez

Cup Series rookie Shane van Gisbergen recently shared his thoughts on his relationship with his Trackhouse teammates. van Gisbergen, along with Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez, completes Trackhouse Racing Team's Cup Series lineup for this season.

Shane van Gisbergen, a three-time Australian Supercars champion, is behind the wheel of the #88 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Trackhouse Racing’s third entry. He made an instant splash in NASCAR by winning his debut at the 2023 Chicago Street Race. However, while his road course skills are elite, the Kiwi driver is still adapting to the challenges of oval racing in the Cup Series.

In an interview with Speedway Digest, the #88 driver shared that everyone at Trackhouse functions as a unit, and he 'leans' on his teammates to prepare better for races.

“I think that the dynamic in Trackhouse has changed a little bit, which for me is good. Everyone works a lot closer together. At the simulator, all our driving notes are open. I lean on those guys as much as I can. Daniel and Ross are very different in the way they think and describe things. It’s paying back at the moment because I help them on the road course stuff. It’s pretty cool dynamic at the moment and I’m enjoying that.”

Shane van Gisbergen's rookie season in the Cup Series has not been an easy ride in the first ten races. The Kiwi has secured only one top-ten finish, which came at the Circuit of the Americas early during this year's campaign. He is currently ranked P35 on the leaderboard, having clocked three DNFs and an average finish of P28.

Veteran JGR driver sounds the alarm on Shane van Gisbergen

Three time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin, who is in his 20th full-time season in the Cup Series, recently expressed his belief in seeing Shane van Gisbergen in the playoffs this season. Although SVG has not delivered commanding results to back Hamlin's claims, the #11 Toyota driver thinks that van Gisbergen's road course expertise could land him a seat in the playoffs.

In a recent episode of the Actions Detrimental podcast, Denny Hamlin said:

"We had this whole Harrison Burton discussion last year on a car being 30 something in points and winning and being part of the playoffs. When Shane Van Gisbergen wins a road course this year and has run almost last in all the other races, just prepare yourselves for that's coming." [31:20 onwards]

"I think yes, you'll see a few in there that you probably would consider underdogs or surprise winners, but it's going to be because something wacky happens," he added.

Meanwhile, the next Cup Series race is scheduled to be held at Texas Motor Speedway on May 4. Catch the action live on FOX Sports 1 at 3:30 Pm Eastern time.