Shane Van Gisbergen triumphs at Sonoma Raceway for his third 2025 NASCAR Cup Series victory in the Toyota Save Mart 350.
SONOMA, Calif. – On Sunday, Shane Van Gisbergen proved that it’s impossible to keep a road course superstar down for more than a brief interlude.
Shane Van Gisbergen Triumphs at Sonoma
After finishing second to Connor Zilisch in Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race, Van Gisbergen was back at the top on a pleasant Sunday afternoon in wine country. Van Gisbergen was victorious in the Toyota Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway.
As is his custom of late, the New Zealander reached a trio of milestones, winning his third straight road/street course race from the pole position to equal Jeff Gordon’s feat from 1998 and 1999.
The victory was Van Gisbergen’s third of the season in his first trip around the 1.99-mile, 12-turn circuit in a NASCAR Cup Series car. SVG won for the fourth time in 34 starts, becoming the quickest to four wins since Parnelli Jones won at Riverside in 1967 in his 31st Cup start.
His 97 laps led are the most by a Sonoma winner, eclipsing Jeff Gordon’s high-water mark of 92 set in 2004.
“We had an amazing car,” Van Gisbergen said. “Chase Briscoe, what a great racer and gave me respect. Jumped the last (restart) a little bit, and it was pretty tense, but amazing. So stoked for Red Bull, Trackhouse, Chevy. I believe we had a really fun weekend here, some great races, and I hope everyone enjoyed that.”
The Best Road Course Racer in NASCAR History
The winner of 81 Australian Supercars races on the way to three championships in the series, Van Gisbergen, is already being touted as perhaps the best road course racer in NASCAR history.
“I had an amazing time in Australia, and then to come here and the last couple weeks or years actually has been a dream come true,” said the 36-year-old driver of the No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet. “I’ve really enjoyed my time in NASCAR. Thanks, everyone for making me feel so welcome. I hope I’m here for a long time to come.”
Van Gisbergen won the second stage despite short-pitting to preserve track position. He advances to third on the Cup Series Playoff grid with 17 playoff points. Van Gisbergen was 1.128 seconds ahead of Chase Briscoe at the checkered flag. But the win was far from guaranteed with the chaos of the final 15 laps.
SVG had to survive three cautions and subsequent restarts in the late stages of the race to seal the win. Cody Ware’s No. 51 Ford jettisoned a tire and caused a yellow on lap 97. Consequently, a large group of drivers on better tires chased those who stayed on the track (including the race winner).
Chase Briscoe and Chase Elliott are Happy with Their Effort
Briscoe qualified second and finished where he felt he deserved.
“The only opportunity I had was on the restarts,” Briscoe said. “I never played basketball against Michael Jordan in his prime, but I feel like that’s probably what it was like. That guy is unbelievable on road courses. He’s just so good. He’s really raised the bar on this entire series.
“Proud of the effort. I thought there was one restart I was maybe going to get clear of him, but truthfully, even if I cleared him, he was probably going to pass me back by the end of the lap. Yeah, proud of the effort. We were a second-place car all day and obviously ended up second with it.”
“It was nice to be on offense and give ourselves a shot,” Elliott said. “I wish I could have made it happen there. I was trying, but I just couldn’t get going like we needed to there at the end.”
Chase Elliott pitted on lap 97 for fresher tires and came home third after restarting 14th on lap 100. Michael McDowell was on the same strategy as Elliott. MicDowell climbed to fourth at the finish, while Christopher Bell held fifth on older tires.
Tyler Reddick, Ty Gibbs, William Byron, Joey Logano, and Kyle Busch completed the top ten in a race that featured six cautions for 17 laps.
The Toyota Save Mart 350 Results
In-Season Challenge Round 4 Qualifiers
The action on the final few laps was attributable in part to battles within the NASCAR Cup In-Season Challenge. Sonoma was the third round on Sunday. 32nd seed Ty Dillon bumped the No. 48 Chevrolet of Alex Bowman out of the way on the final lap to finish 17th. Bowman finished 19th and kept Dillon’s hopes for the $1-million prize alive.
Dillon will face John Hunter Nemechek next Sunday in the semifinals at Dover Motor Speedway. Nemechek finished one spot ahead of LEGACY Motor Club teammate Erik Jones (28th and 29th) to advance to the fourth round.
“It was a rough couple of laps there.” Dillon acknowledged. “Alex and I race really clean. I told him, ‘Man, if it wasn’t for the million dolloars, I probably wouldn’t have done that.’ but, I had to. It’s been an incredible run for this No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet team. We’ve worked so hard for this opportunity…
“We’re going to give it all we’ve got at Dover; put pressure on the guys. I think you’ve seen through this that our team doesn’t quit. I saw the No. 48 there at the end, and I knew it was our opportunity to race hard and go get him. Just proud of this team’s effort.”
Ty Gibbs moved into the tournament semifinals with a seventh-place finish to Zane Smith’s 27th. Tyler Reddick ousted Ryan Preece with a sixth-place run to Preece’s 12th. Gibbs and Reddick will face off at the Monster Mile for a trip to the finals.
The NASCAR Cup Series Point Standings
William Byron now holds a 14-point advantage over second-place Chase Elliott. Completing the top five are Kyle Larson, Tyler Reddick, and Denny Hamlin.
Shane Van Gisbergen, with three wins, is part of the 16-driver playoff field. Austin Cindric and Josh Berry have put themselves into the playoffs as well with one victory apiece.
While Bubba Wallace sits three points above the cutline, Ryan Preece is three points below the line.
Next Up
Round 4 of the In-Season Challenge continues next week at Dover Motor Speedway on Sunday, July 20th. The AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 starts at 2 pm ET on TNT, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, and HBO Max. Denny Hamlin is the defending winner.