Van Gisbergen was always expected to star on the limited run of road courses and won at Mexico City. However, it has been a tough slog on speedways. The #88 Chevrolet Camaro driver has a season-best oval finish of 14th.
The conversation comes at a time when van Gisbergen’s stablemate Daniel Suarez in the #99 car is off-contract and winless in the Cup Series for more than 50 races.
Suarez faces an imminent threat from Connor Zilisch, who took his first Xfinity Series victory at Pocono Raceway with JR Motorsports.
That prompted suggestions that the 18-year-old is ready to step up to the Cup Series.
Zilisch is something of an anomaly in so much that he is versatile on ovals and road courses, making him an attractive all-rounder.
Hamlin, a veteran of more than 20 years in the Cup Series, said Zilisch is more prepared to step up than van Gisbergen was, but cautioned against an early graduation.
“I would say he’s more prepared for Cup than what SVG was entering this season. I think SVG is getting better on the ovals, certainly, it’s starting to show over the last four or five weeks or so,” Hamlin said on his podcast Actions Detrimental.
“He’s had some good, legitimate runs. I would say that his performance is also connected to the uptick in Trackhouse performance, but generally speaking I think Connor is having more success in Xfinity.
“The two are not the same because SVG was driving for Kaulig, Connor is driving a JRM car, which are the best cars on the race track.
“As far as being ready, I didn’t think SVG was ready and short of his Mexico win, that’s proving to be true. Yet, he’s getting there.
“He’s proving that he’s getting better. He’s starting to get the hang of this, and as he goes to the tracks for a second time he’s going to get better as well. That’s going to continue to progress.
“Connor, I think, would perform maybe not as good as SVG on the road courses right away but has the potential to be there pretty quickly and probably perform a little better on the ovals.”
Van Gisbergen contested one season in the Xfinity Series before moving into the Cup Series.
He went winless on ovals but scored a season-best third at Atlanta Motor Speedway in just his second start.
The Kiwi has noted that the shift from the Xfinity Series to the Cup Series is night and day, with a lot of his habits in the traditional Xfinity stock car thrown out in the Supercars-style Cup car.
Hamlin said that Zilisch would suffer the same results slump that van Gisbergen has endured, due largely to the significant step up in competition level.
“What kind of result would you have? The difference is winning an oval race in Xfinity and winning an oval race in Cup, I can’t even tell you the differences,” said Hamlin.
“It’s not even Major League Baseball to Triple-A (Minor League Baseball). What’s below that? It’s such a huge jump. These guys are fast. It’s hard.
“Ask any Xfinity guy over the last five to six years that won like eight races and has struggled to get top 15s, top 20s in Cup.
“The step up in competition is pretty huge — but, if there’s ever a prospect that’s going to be able to do it, I think that Connor is showing enough to me to garner that.”
As for Suarez, the Mexican driver said his future was up in the air but that his future was months away from being decided.
“It’s going to be a few months,” said Suarez on the Dale Jr. Download.
“We’ll see what happens. There are still a lot of things [up] in the air, right now.
“There are just some things that I’m just uncomfortable in a few areas, and a few things, but I love Trackhouse and I love this team.”
“This team, for me, has been my best home. I want to have more success with this team, and I want to see this team successful regardless of if I’m in it or not.
“Honestly, right now, everything is an option.”
Atlanta Motor Speedway hosts the NASCAR Cup Series on Sunday, June 29 (AEST).
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