With just a few hours left before the Cup Series race at Circuit of the Americas, drivers are afraid of a glaring issue. Goodyear’s decision to introduce softer tires is pushing the Cup drivers into a domain they are not that familiar with. Now that their cars are running 750 HP, Denny Hamlin singles out a crucial factor that is going to be their best friend during the race.

Denny Hamlin has an off-track solution

In Denny Hamlin’s eyes, the best way to prepare for COTA is not through emulation of other drivers. He knows that the absence of practice sessions could turn the race around. But he already knows what’s the next best thing to utilize in such a scenario. In his interview, Denny Hamlin advises the drivers to rely more on data and simulation for the race.

“You can do things. There are still things in the simulator that you work on. There’s so much data out there nowadays that there are things you can look at, the kind of change. But it is a little different. Used to not really worry about tires running out on road courses and NASCAR, and Goodyear made a really good push to get softer tires.

“We are seeing more than a second falloff, so it’s part of the equation more now than it really ever has been as far as I can remember.”

The next races will also utilize the high-horsepower engines, which produce up to 750 hp. In other drivers’ eyes, this is another prevalent issue that will make them struggle throughout the race. In theory, the car is going to produce more power and lead to more tire degradation. It will also force drivers to adapt their throttle modulation to prevent spin-outs and going off track.

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While this issue does seem like a grave factor, Hamlin is not too worried about it for now.

“Yeah, I didn’t notice it. I didn’t notice the horsepower as much, but the throttle modulation is just so different from other racetracks. There’s so much going on that you can’t—it’s hard to focus on engine power. It’s a factor; there’s no doubt that you are going to have cars that really drive off the deep end after 10 laps or so.”

If you ask any driver about their biggest fear at COTA, they will reply–Shane van Gisbergen and tire management struggles. The softer tires are forcing NASCAR drivers to adapt aggressively at COTA. The ovals do not pose too much of a threat when it comes to tire management. But COTA is vastly different.

There are corners that need perfect throttle response. There are corners that drop the cars to second gear and accelerate aggressively. Moreover, there are the tire packs beside the turns, which punish the drivers immediately without giving them any respite for committing mistakes.

That’s exactly where the Kiwi shines. His experience in racing traditional circuits gives him the much-needed experience to handle these tracks effectively. His heel-toe braking technique puts the NASCAR veterans in awe of him as he casually nurses his tires to victory with superior management skills.

As a result of his amazing skill set, Shane van Gisbergen won the race for Trackhouse Racing in the O’Reilly Series this Saturday. Now that he finally conquered the one road course that was bringing him trouble, SVG is looking forward to making another record on Sunday.

Shane van Gisbergen looks forward to equaling NASCAR legend

In the last two races he has competed in at COTA, Gisbergen was unable to display his true caliber. In his stunning road course appearance, SVG could not conquer COTA. It is a regret that is still stuck with him, but he understands the implications of being new to the series and losing out by small margins.

“I like the place. I just haven’t managed to put a full race together. I think every race I’ve done here in the NASCAR series, I’ve been reasonably quick, but for one reason or another, I haven’t managed to get it done. Last year, it was the third race again, so we were very new with Trackhouse. I made some mistakes, and we weren’t really there yet as a team early in the year. Hopefully, that compounds, and we’re a bit stronger this year.”

But he is ready to set aside his disappointment from 2025. SVG is on a streak of five straight road course victories. With that, he is only one race behind Jeff Gordon‘s record of six consecutive road course victories. Not only that, but he is also en route to becoming the fastest driver to reach 7 Cup Series victories at 53 starts. And SVG is more than ready to fight for these records.

“It would be pretty cool. Kevin Harvick, I did an interview with him the other day, and he brought that up. It’s a very different time with a lot more races per year, but as a crew last year, we had an amazing year, and it would be awesome to carry that on into this year.”

He has the momentum from Saturday and the racecraft from his entire career. Will SVG manage to make it a double win on Sunday?