Cup Series: Shane van Gisbergen dominates Sonoma

Written by Bailey Defoor

Credit: Brittney Wilbur / NASCAR Digital Media

After leading over 90 laps, Shane van Gisbergen wins back-to-back road courses.

As it unfolded

SVG secured two poles in a row with Chase Briscoe on the outside as they led the field to green. Immediately, SVG clears Briscoe.

A little bit o contact between Bubba Wallace, Carson Hocevar, and Noah Gragson as they went three-wide in turn 4.

William Byron passed Briscoe for second on lap 3, and on lap 4, Ross Chastain passed Briscoe for third.

On lap 12, Briscoe got back around Chastain by sweeping around him at turn 3. AJ Allmendinger and Christopher Bell also had slight contact on lap 12, turn 3, when Bell tried to go around Allmendinger. Bell eventually gets through.

Chastain loses a bit of momentum on lap 14, and Bell gets passed him for fourth. Ryan Blaney also looked to the inside of Chastain, but the door closed before he could get through.

In the closing laps of the stage, nearly 30 drivers pit, including the leader. Chastain takes the lead, and SVG comes out in second. 

Bell got on the inside of Briscoe and took the corner too hard, spinning a bit. Bell almost hit Allmendinger while trying to go the right way, but kept out of him to return to racing without a caution.

Stage 1 Results:

1. No. 1 - Ross Chastain (Trackhouse Racing)

2. No. 88 - Shane van Gisbergen (Trackhouse Motorsports)

3. No. 23 - Bubba Wallace (23XI Racing)

4. No. 47 - Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (Hyak Motorsports)

5. No. 24 - William Byron (Hendrick Motorsports)

6. No. 10 - Ty Dillon (Kaulig Racing)

7. No. 19 - Chase Briscoe (Joe Gibbs Racing)

8. No. 12 - Ryan Blaney (Team Penske)

9. No. 54 - Ty Gibbs (Joe Gibbs Racing)

10. No. 9 - Chase Elliott (Hendrick Motorsports)

Chastain and the couple of drivers that did not pit at the end of stage 1 dart into the pit lane.

Cole Custer and Katherine Legge have to drop to the rear after speeding on pit road.

On lap 30, SVG retakes the lead with Blaney on the outside. Blaney falls down the order as SVG cleared for the lead. Byron, Briscoe, Ty Gibbs, Allmendinger, and Chase Elliott all get through. 

Allmendinger spins off track at turn 2 on the following lap and just loses the back of the car. John H. Nemecheck also got spun out of 16th place at the start of the esses.

On lap 46, Daniel Suárez spins around after contact with Chastain. 

With five laps to go in the stage, SVG stretched his lead to over 3 seconds.

A few drivers start going into the pit lane with four to go. SVG and Briscoe pit with two to go. They come out in second and sixth. Kyle Larson takes the lead.

Fun fact: This is the first time Larson has led laps since the Coke 600 in May.

SVG passed him on the entry of turn 3, and they had brief contact. 

Stage 2 Results:

1. No. 88 - Shane van Gisbergen (Trackhouse Motorsports)

2. No. 5 - Kyle Larson (Hendrick Motorsports)

3. No. 8 - Kyle Busch (Richard Childress Motorsports) 

4. No. 23 - Bubba Wallace (23XI Racing)

5. No. 47 - Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (Hyak Motorsports)

6. No. 19 - Chase Briscoe (Joe Gibbs Racing)

7. No. 10 - Ty Dillon (Kaulig Racing)

8. No. 17 - Chris Buescher (RFK Racing)

9. No. 12 - Ryan Blaney (Team Penske)

10. No. 24 - William Byron (Hendrick Motorsports)

The drivers that did not pit at the end of stage 2 pit under the stage caution.

SVG and Briscoe lined up again for the restart on lap 60. Briscoe gets the initial jump, and they stay side by side through turn 3, and SVG takes the lead into turn 4.

Gragson gets shoved off at turn 3 and almost hits the tyre barrier, but gets out of the dirt. 

Blaney goes into the barrier after contact with Buescher, and the caution is called on lap 62. Wallace and Denny Hamlin were also spun around.

On lap 66, SVG and Briscoe led the way again, but this time, SVG had the better launch and cleared for the lead out of turn 2.

Elliott also fired up well, jumping up to fourth place.

On lap 74, Alex Bowman goes sideways after contact with Brad Keselowski in turn 7. Kyle Busch also spins from fifteenth while exiting turn 7.

Drivers start pitting with 30 laps to go. SVG pits on lap 84. Bell took the lead before pitting one lap later, and Larson took the lead. 

SVG retook the lead on lap 90.

With 15 laps to go, a caution is called for a wheel that goes down the track at turn 3, and it rolls all the way to turn 4. The tyre came from Cody Ware’s car.

Briscoe fakes a pit, but Elliott is the first driver to pit from third. 13 cars ended up staying out, including SVG and Briscoe.

It’s SVG and Briscoe back on the front row for the restart on lap 99. SVG gets the jump and almost clears Briscoe in turn 1, but doesn't make it stick until turn 3.

Another caution is called on the restart lap after Gragson spun around and made contact with Ryan Preece. Larson, Wallace, Josh Berry, and Erik Jones were also involved in the crash.

The front row was as they were as they led the way with 7 laps to go. The two stayed door to door as Hocevar challenged Byron for fifth. 

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. went off track and hit the barrier. Caution flag out.

Once again, SVG and Briscoe led the way on lap 106, and SVG immediately cleared for the lead. Larson and Blaney go around, but no caution is called. Elliott was flying on the restart. 

Berry makes contact with Hocevar and spins him out from fifth on lap 107.

It’s been 26 years since someone has won three road courses in a row from pole. He won in Mexico City, he won in Chicago, and today, Shane van Gisbergen wins in Sonoma!

Provisional Results

1. No. 88 - Shane van Gisbergen (Trackhouse Motorsports)

2. No. 19 - Chase Briscoe (Joe Gibbs Racing)

3. No. 9 - Chase Elliott (Hendrick Motorsports)

4. No. 71 - Michael McDowell (Spire Motorsports)

5. No. 20 - Christopher Bell (Joe Gibbs Racing)

6. No. 45 - Tyler Reddick (23XI Racing) 

7. No. 54 - Ty Gibbs (Joe Gibbs Racing)

8. No. 24 - William Byron (Hendrick Motorsports)

9. No. 22 - Joey Logano (Team Penske)

10. No. 8 - Kyle Busch (Richard Childress Motorsports) 

11. No. 6 - Brad Keselowski (RFK Racing)

12. No. 60 - Ryan Preece (RFK Racing)

13. No. 21 - Josh Berry (Wood Brothers Racing) 

14. No. 99 - Daniel Suárez (Trackhouse Motorsports)

15. No. 7 - Justin Haley (Spire Motorsport) [FL]

16. No. 17 - Chris Buescher (RFK Racing)

17. No. 10 - Ty Dillon (Kaulig Racing)

18. No. 16 - AJ Allmendinger (Kaulig Racing) 

19. No. 48 - Alex Bowman (Hendrick Motorsports)

20. No. 11 - Denny Hamlin (Joe Gibbs Racing) 

21. No. 3 -  Austin Dillon (Richard Childress Racing)

22. No. 34 - Todd Gilliland (Front Row Motorsports)

23. No. 41 - Cole Custer (Haas Factory Team)

24. No. 1 - Ross Chastain (Trackhouse Racing)

25. No. 35 - Riley Herbst (23XI Racing) 

26. No. 23 - Bubba Wallace (23XI Racing)

27. No. 38 - Zane Smith (23XI Racing)

28. No. 42 - John H. Nemechek (Legacy Motor Club) 

29. No. 43 - Erik Jones (Legacy Motor Club) 

30. No. 2 - Austin Cindric (Team Penske) 

31. No. 78 - Katherine Legge (Live Fast Motorsports)

32. No. 77 - Carson Hocevar (Spire Motorsports)

33. No. 47 - Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (Hyak Motorsports)

34. No. 51 - Cody Ware (Rick Ware Racing) +2 laps

35. No. 5 - Kyle Larson (Hendrick Motorsports) +2 laps

36. No. 12 - Ryan Blaney (Team Penske) +4 laps

37. No. 4 - Noah Gragson (Front Row Motorsports) +11 laps

Next week is round 4 of the in-season challenge. Tune in for Dover on Sunday, July 20, at 14:00 EST (19:00 BST).