What Happened?
Shane van Gisbergen held off a late charge from Chase Briscoe to win his second race of the 2026 Cup Series season in a weekend sweep at Sonoma Raceway.
Behind SVG and Briscoe, Ty Gibbs finished third, Kyle Larson finished fourth, and Christopher Bell completed the top five.
Ryan Blaney, Connor Zilisch, Ryan Preece, Michael McDowell, and Alex Bowman rounded out the top 10.
What Really Happened?
After his crash while battling for the lead on a restart last week at Naval Base Coronado, van Gisbergen needed a mistake-free race at a track he had won at before at multiple levels.
SVG sat five points below a Chase spot coming into Sunday’s (June 28) race in Wine Country, and many were wondering if last week’s incident was going to spoil his chances of a spot in the 10-race Chase for the championship.
Despite his struggles on the final run, van Gisbergen was able to get another victory and earn 63 points on the day, shooting him back into 14th in the standings, 36 points above the cut line with eight races remaining before the Chase begins.
So, the question must be asked again after Sonoma:
Can SVG make The Chase with no more road course races left on the schedule?
The bubble is still pretty tight together behind van Gisbergen, as 14th to 21st in the standings are separated by just 56 points. With the drop from six road courses races to four this season, this hurt van Gisbergen’s attempt to stack up points during these events.
Van Gisbergen went five-for-six on the road courses last season, only missing out on a victory at Circuit of the Americas. He came up short in Austin once again this season, and with his crash in San Diego, SVG could only nab two wins in four road course races this year.
However, van Gisbergen has improved in his performance on the ovals this season, and although inconsistent at times, this uptick in speed is why I still believe he has a shot at pointing his way into The Chase.
A 36-point advantage can vanish in a hurry, but the slate of oval tracks coming up on the calendar can benefit the New Zealander if he avoids carnage.
SVG has shown he can put up top-15 runs at both intermediate and short tracks with his finishes at Phoenix Raceway, Martinsville Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway and Nashville Superspeedway. He also finished sixth in the first race at EchoPark Speedway this season, so he has the potential to run up front again if he does not wreck out.
Van Gisbergen’s competition for the last few Chase spots include drivers on teams that are either breaking out or underperforming, so I believe the door is open for him to still get in.
Erik Jones and Legacy Motor Club have come on strong over the last couple of months, but the rest of the bubble is full of Ford drivers that have not had much race-winning speed this season with the manufacturer’s struggles. This group includes Preece, Austin Cindric, Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano.
The hype of the return to the Chase format will begin to grow as the summer rolls on, and van Gisbergen should continue to be a major storyline to how it all unfolds, even without road course races for the rest of the regular season.
Who Stood Out?
Gibbs started on pole, swept both stages and brought it home in third, which moved him past Larson into fourth in the points standings.
Zilisch also earned his first career Cup Series top-10 finish after his seventh-place run in what has been a very difficult season for the 19-year-old rookie.
Preece did not slay Goliath in the In-Season Challenge (he was matched against van Gisbergen), but he did have a solid points day, giving him a 13-point cushion over 17th in the standings.
Also, Bowman deserves a shout-out as he sneaked into the top 10 late to get his best finish since his third-place run at Texas Motor Speedway in early May.
Who Fell Flat?
In true Sonoma fashion, this was a pretty straightforward race as there were only three cautions and one for incident over the whole race.
The only notable contender who struggled was Tyler Reddick as he fought power steering issues after the first stage, forcing him to fall six laps down.
For the second straight year, the top seed in the In-Season Challenge fell in the first race of the tournament as Reddick was knocked out by Bowman.
Last season, it was Ty Dillon who upset Denny Hamlin at EchoPark Speedway after Dillon avoided The Big One while Hamlin wasn’t so lucky.
Despite spinning out during the race, Hamlin still avoided another loss at the hands of Dillon as his race fell apart after his car also faced power steering issues.
Reddick finished dead last at Sonoma while Hamlin got up to 26th after his spin, which was enough to give him the points lead by just one point. This marks the first time this season that someone other than Reddick is atop the standings.
Paint Scheme of the Race
Thanks to Liverpool FC and RFK Racing both being owned by the Fenway Sports Group, the two organizations joined forces with Trimble on Chris Buescher‘s No. 17 Ford.
Buescher wasn’t able to find his groove like he has in years past at Sonoma, settling for a 19th-place finish.
What’s Next?
Next Sunday (July 5), the NASCAR Cup Series will race at Chicagoland Speedway for the first time since 2019.
It will be exciting to see how the Next Gen car will handle Chicagoland’s aging surface on a special Fourth of July weekend that will mark the 250th anniversary of the United States of America.
The event will be the 19th race of the Cup season, with coverage starting at 6 p.m. ET on TNT. Bowman is the most recent winner at the track.
Michael Bellifemini joined Frontstretch in February 2026 as a contributor. Bellifemini was born and raised in New Jersey and graduated from Seton Hall University. He called Seton Hall men's and women's basketball games for their college radio station, 89.5 FM WSOU, and continues to broadcast in the area. Outside of covering NASCAR, Bellifemini is also an avid baseball, football, basketball, and hockey fan and enjoys watching different sports leagues on a daily basis.
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