Sonoma Raceway (Sonoma, Calif.) — Shane van Gisbergen needed a few days to get over being wrecked out of the street course race at Naval Base Coronado last week.
He indicated that anger was fueling him this week to focus and not make any mistakes. The Trackhouse Racing No. 97 car driver led 74 of the 110 laps in taking what his team felt wasn’t a dominant car and winning for the second time this season.
It marked his second victory at Sonoma (where he won in 2025) and his eighth Cup victory — all on road courses, where he has now won half the races he has run on road/street courses.
“I was pretty pissed for a couple of days, and then switched my attention to this race,” said van Gisbergen, who also won the O’Reilly Series race Saturday at Sonoma, in his postrace news conference. “We did pretty well all weekend and to get both races certainly makes up for it a little bit.”
Here are my takeaways:
1. SVG Has To Work For Expected Win
Having qualified sixth, van Gisbergen wasn’t entirely happy with his car the day before the race as he said: “My car was pretty subpar to put it nicely.”
And while it wasn’t really a great car Sunday, the three-time Australian Supercar champion used his mastery in braking and saving tires to control the race.
“He was grumpy all weekend,” van Gisbergen crew chief Stephen Doran said in his postrace news conference. “Grumpy with the car all day today even.
“I have to say it wasn’t a good car we gave him today. Luckily, we had him driving it.”
New Zealander Shane Van Gisbergen celebrates by kicking a rugby ball after winning at Sonoma. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)
2. Briscoe Rues Miscue
Chase Briscoe felt he was gaining on van Gisbergen late in the race but a mistake with about four laps to go he felt ruined his chances. He rallied but still crossed the line 0.357 seconds behind van Gisbergen.
“Getting into [Turn] 1, I just mistimed my downshift and about spun out and went off the racetrack — and I went from being within five car lengths to 20 back, and I was able to obviously run him right back down,” Briscoe told me and other reporters after the race.
“And if I don’t make that mistake, I feel like I definitely pass him. I just messed up. You’ve got to be perfect against him, and I wasn’t perfect. That one is on me.”
Chase Briscoe had to settle for a second-place finish at Sonoma. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
3. Hamlin Now Points Leader
Denny Hamlin got turned as drivers behind him appeared to bump into each other, pretty much ruining Hamlin’s day. He finished 26th, but there was something positive for Hamlin — Tyler Reddick had a power steering issue, which allowed Hamlin to gain nine points on him and take over the series lead.
Hamlin enters the final eight races one point ahead of Reddick in the standings. So does Hamlin now control the battle for the regular-season title against the driver of a car he co-owns? Ryan Blaney is 103 points behind Reddick in third place.
“I don’t control anything,” a frustrated Hamlin told me and other reporters after the race. “As we see, things can happen.”
Denny Hamlin is not the series points leader despite a frustrating day at Sonoma. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)
4. Bell Finishes Big Day
Christopher Bell, who got out of his car at the first caution a week ago at Coronado because of a broken wrist suffered a couple of weeks earlier, ran the entire race at Sonoma and finished fifth.
He also finished second in each stage and jumped from 60 points above the current Chase cutline to 83 points ahead. So for what has been a bad month, it ended in good fashion for the Joe Gibbs Racing driver.
“My wrist is definitely tender right now,” Bell told me after the race. “I just can’t wait to get this cast off. … That was great. That’s what we needed. I feel like we had a great points day today, could have had one last week and we’ll move on and try and make the most of it.
“And whenever I get this thing off, those guys better watch out.”
Christopher Bell isn’t letting an injured wrist slow him down. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)
4 ½. What’s Next: Chicagoland
NASCAR makes its first visit to Chicagoland Speedway since 2019 as the track in Joliet has been relatively dormant the last six years. NASCAR had raced in the Chicago market for the three previous years, competing on a street course in downtown Chicago.
The 1.5-mile oval has a worn out surface, which should produce a solid race as the Next Gen car has proven to be highly competitive on fast, relatively flat ovals.
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