Shane van Gisbergen dominates Sonoma for third NASCAR Cup Series win in 2025

Shane van Gisbergen proved Sunday that a road course specialist can’t be kept down for long. After a second-place finish to Connor Zilisch in Saturday’s Xfinity Series race, van Gisbergen returned to form, winning the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway.

The New Zealander hit several milestones with his third consecutive road or street course win from the pole position, a feat that ties Jeff Gordon’s achievement from 1998 and 1999.

This victory marked van Gisbergen’s third of the 2025 season and his first time competing at the 1.99-mile, 12-turn circuit in a NASCAR Cup Series car. It was his fourth win in 34 starts, making him the quickest to four wins since Parnelli Jones achieved it in his 31st Cup start at Riverside in 1967. His 97 laps led also set a new record for a Sonoma winner, surpassing Jeff Gordon’s 92 laps led 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.”

Van Gisbergen, who has 81 Australian Supercars wins and three championships in that series, is already being considered one of the best road course racers 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 by short-pitting to maintain track position and advanced to third in the current Cup Playoff grid with 17 Playoff points. He crossed the finish line 1.128 seconds ahead of Chase Briscoe, but the win was hard-earned due to the chaotic final 15 laps.

He endured three cautions and subsequent restarts late in the race. A group of drivers on newer tires chased those who stayed on the track, including van Gisbergen, after Cody Ware’s No. 51 Ford lost a tire, causing a yellow flag on Lap 97.

Briscoe, who qualified second, felt he finished where 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.”

Chase Elliott pitted on Lap 97 for fresh tires and finished third after restarting 14th on Lap 100. Michael McDowell, on a similar strategy, climbed to fourth, while Christopher Bell held fifth on older tires.

“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.”

The late-race action was partially fueled by battles within the NASCAR Cup In-Season Challenge. In Sunday’s third round at Sonoma, 32nd seed Ty Dillon bumped Alex Bowman’s No. 48 Chevrolet out of the way on the final lap to finish 17th, two spots ahead of Bowman, keeping his hopes for the $1 million prize alive.

Dillon will face John Hunter Nemechek in next Sunday’s semifinals at Dover Motor Speedway. Nemechek finished one spot ahead of LEGACY Motor Club teammate Erik Jones (28th to 29th) to advance.

“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 dollars, 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.”

Ty Gibbs moved into the tournament semifinals with a seventh-place finish to Zane Smith’s 27th, and Tyler Reddick ousted Ryan Preece with a sixth-place run to Preece’s 12th. Gibbs and Reddick will face off at Dover for a spot in the finals.

William Byron, Joey Logano and Kyle Busch completed the top 10 in a race that saw six cautions for 17 laps.

Toyota/Save Mart 350

---

Sonoma Raceway Sonoma, California
Sunday, July 13, 2025

1. (1) Shane Van Gisbergen, Chevrolet, 110 laps.
2. (2) Chase Briscoe, Toyota, 110.
3. (13) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 110.
4. (15) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 110.
5. (10) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 110.
6. (8) Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 110.
7. (6) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 110.
8. (3) William Byron, Chevrolet, 110.
9. (22) Joey Logano, Ford, 110.
10. (17) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 110.
11. (21) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 110.
12. (20) Ryan Preece, Ford, 110.
13. (25) Josh Berry, Ford, 110.
14. (19) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 110.
15. (29) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 110.
16. (14) Chris Buescher, Ford, 110.
17. (26) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 110.
18. (5) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 110.
19. (9) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 110.
20. (16) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 110.
21. (33) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 110.
22. (35) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 110.
23. (27) Cole Custer, Ford, 110.
24. (4) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 110.
25. (28) Riley Herbst, Toyota, 110.
26. (30) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 110.
27. (12) Zane Smith, Ford, 110.
28. (18) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 110.
29. (31) Erik Jones, Toyota, 110.
30. (24) Austin Cindric, Ford, 110.
31. (37) Katherine Legge, Chevrolet, 110.
32. (23) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, 110.
33. (34) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 110.
34. (36) Cody Ware, Ford, 108.
35. (11) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 108.
36. (7) Ryan Blaney, Ford, Accident, 106.
37. (32) Noah Gragson, Ford, Accident, 99.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 75.087 mph.
Time of Race: 2 hours, 54 minutes, 55 seconds.
Margin of Victory: 1.128 seconds.
Caution Flags: 6 for 17 laps.
Lead Changes: 12 among 6 drivers.