Shane van Gisbergen wins NASCAR race at Sonoma, holding off Chase Briscoe

A week after crashing out at Naval Base Coronado, Shane van Gisbergen reclaimed his crown as NASCAR’s current king of road courses.

The 37-year-old from New Zealand held off a pair of Toyotas from Joe Gibbs Racing – Chase Briscoe and Ty Gibbs – to win at Sonoma Raceway for the second consecutive year, taking the checkered flag on Sunday in the Toyota/Save Mart 350.

The victory was the eighth of van Gisbergen’s Cup Series career, tying him for second all-time in road course wins with Tony Stewart. Van Gisbergen trails record-holder Jeff Gordon by just one road course victory now, but he’ll have to wait until next season to match the NASCAR Hall of Famer as Sonoma was the final road course race of the season.

Van Gisbergen swept the weekend at Sonoma, also winning the second-tier O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race on Saturday. He is now tied with AJ Allmendinger for the most combined road course wins across NASCAR’s top three national touring series at 14.

This is the second consecutive year that van Gisbergen has won at Sonoma, making him one of nine drivers in the history of NASCAR's Cup Series to win multiple races at the road course circuit in the rolling hills of California's wine country.

“What a day. Pretty special to make up for last week too. I was certainly pissed at the start of the week, but this makes up for it,” van Gisbergen told TNT Sports after the victory. “Chase was just really, really good. A couple more laps and we would’ve had some problems.”

With 27 laps to go, van Gisbergen took his final pit stop of the day — taking four fresh tires and fuel — and Gibbs was given the green light by his team to “hustle, no mistakes.” The 23-year-old Gibbs had won the first two stages of the race, but had fallen behind the leaders. Two laps later, he was up to second place behind Kyle Larson. After taking the lead, Gibbs pitted with 23 laps to go, and van Gisbergen jumped back to the front.

Gibbs charged back up to third place but couldn’t close the gap as Briscoe and van Gisbergen dueled for the victory in the final few laps. With both drivers battling worn tires and lapped traffic, Briscoe kept the pressure on van Gisbergen, going nose-to-bumper with him a few times in the hairpin turn 11. Briscoe got within three-tenths of a second of van Gisbergen’s No. 97 Chevrolet, but couldn’t pass the driver for Trackhouse Racing.

“At the end of the day, it’s my fault we didn’t win,” Briscoe told TNT Sports. “But an amazing car. I had a super fast Toyota. Frustrated I didn’t win with the best car.”

Elsewhere for Trackhouse, rookie Connor Zilisch notched his best finish of the season, placing seventh.

The race at Sonoma shook up both the season standings and saw NASCAR’s in-season challenge begin with a few upsets.

After Corey Heim secured a win for the team at Naval Base Coronado last week, Sonoma was a rough race for 23XI Racing. Tyler Reddick finished 36th as his No. 45 Toyota dealt with power steering issues and fell six laps down in Stage 2 after a lengthy stop on pit road with his hood popped. Bubba Wallace finished 22nd and Riley Herbst was 30th after both drivers were in the top 10 last week. Instead of going to the garage, Reddick — who was eliminated in the in-season challenge by Alex Bowman — stayed on the track and notched the fastest lap of the day.

With Reddick’s problems, Denny Hamlin seemed to be in a position to pass Reddick for the points lead and build a comfortable advantage, but Hamlin spun out on lap 67 after getting bumped by Carson Hocevar after a restart. When Hamlin spun, the nose of his car hit Hocevar’s driver side and the incident damaged the splitter of his No. 11 Toyota.

Still, Hamlin was able to salvage a 26th place finish. That gave him a win over Ty Dillon in the in-season challenge and moved Hamlin ahead of Reddick by one point in the Chase standings.

With the win, van Gisbergen moved back ahead of the Chase cutline, jumping up three spots to 14th.

Here’s how the Toyota/Save Mart 350 unfolded on Sunday:

NASCAR at Sonoma: Toyota/Save Mart 350 highlights

Toyota/Save Mart 350 top 10 finishers

With starting position in parentheses, followed by team, car number and manufacturer

1. (6) Shane van Gisbergen, Trackhouse Racing, No. 97 Chevrolet
2. (7) Chase Briscoe, Joe Gibbs Racing, No. 19 Toyota
3. (1) Ty Gibbs, Joe Gibbs Racing, No. 54 Toyota
4. (3) Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports, No. 5 Chevrolet
5. (14) Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing, No. 20 Toyota
6. (16) Ryan Blaney, Team Penske, No. 12 Ford
7. (17) Connor Zilisch, Trackhouse Racing, No. 88 Chevrolet
8. (19) Ryan Preece, RFK Racing, No. 6 Ford
9. (4) Michael McDowell, Spire Motorsports, No. 71 Chevrolet
10. (22) Alex Bowman, Hendrick Motorsports, No. 48 Chevrolet

▶ Click here for the full results from the Toyota/Save Mart 350.

First caution for on-track incident comes out at lap 61

Josh Berry spun after receiving contact from Austin Cindric on turn 3 of the 61st lap, bringing out the first caution flag for an on-track incident. Crews were called out to clean up debris off the track. Bubba Wallace and Noah Gragson braked hard in an attempt to avoid contact, but Wallace received some front end damage.

"Not ideal, but I don't really know what to do better there," Cindric said on his radio. "I mean, I know what to not do, but I'm trying to pass."

Tyler Reddick got the free pass during the caution and is now four laps down.

Ty Gibbs takes Stage 2 win

Ty Gibbs charged through the field to win Stage 2 of the Toyota/Save Mart 350 on Sunday at Sonoma. The 23-year-old driver of the No. 54 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing also won the first stage.

Here's how the top 10 shook out at the end of the race's opening 55 laps:

1. Ty Gibbs
2. Christopher Bell
3. AJ Allmendinger
4. Austin Cindric
5. Ross Chastain
6. Zane Smith
7. Shane van Gisbergen
8. Connor Zilisch
9. Chase Briscoe
10. Ryan Blaney

Denny Hamlin is currently running 14th and seems poised to overtake points leader Tyler Reddick at the top of the standings. Reddick's No. 45 Toyota fell six laps down after a long stop on pit road at the start of Stage 2 while his crew assessed a power steering issue.

Gibbs is currently fifth in the point standings, but could easily leapfrog Kyle Larson for fourth place with a strong finish.

Just 55 laps remain in the race.

Points leader Tyler Reddick having steering issues, stuck on pit road with hood up

Tyler Reddick finished the first stage in 30th place and has been parked on pit road with his hood up while his team tries to assess the problem. Reddick, the points leader, talked about issues with his power steering on his radio.

"When everything was off, no steering assist it felt normal. Back on now, it feels really bad again... I can barely go fast," Reddick said. "It's still there. I don't understand what caused it. Nothing weird happened coming in the pit box there, but it's been there since I left the pit stall... Try to get it unstuck if that's what it is."

Reddick entered this race with a narrow eight-point lead over Denny Hamlin at the top of the Chase standings. Due to his time on pit road, Reddick's No. 45 Toyota is already three laps down.

Ty Gibbs win Stage 1 at Sonoma

Ty Gibbs led all 25 laps of the opening stage at Sonoma, leading the field wire-to-wire. It's the second time he's won a stage this season.

Shane van Gisbergen had been closing in on Gibbs' lead, coming within sixth-tenths of a second of the No. 54 Toyota, but van Gisbergen was among a fleet of cars that pitted with three laps to go in the stage.

Christopher Bell, racing with a cast on his left wrist for the third straight weekend, finished second in the stage. Five Chevrolets, four Toyotas and one Ford were in the top 10 at the end of Stage 1.

Here's who earned stage points in the first 25 laps:

1. Ty Gibbs
2. Christopher Bell
3. Michael McDowell
4. Carson Hocevar
5. Ryan Preece
6. Alex Bowman
7. Shane Van Gisbergen
8. Erik Jones
9. Kyle Larson
10. Riley Herbst

Points leader Tyler Reddick is currently in 30th place and has reported some issues with his steering on his radio.

Daniel Suarez forced to pit early with tire issues

Daniel Suarez was forced to make an unscheduled green flag pit stop of the 15th lap after enduring issues with his tires.

Suarez, a former Cup Series winner at Sonoma, was 21st on the pole but had faded to 32nd before making a pit stop. The driver of the No. 7 Chevrolet for Spire Motorsports has one win this season, taking the checkered flag at a rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte.

Pole sitter Ty Gibbs leads early

After Carson Hocevar jumped out in front initially, Ty Gibbs has led through the majority of the first nine laps of green flag racing in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 on Sunday at Sonoma. Heading towards the 10th lap, Gibbs' No. 54 Toyota is followed by a fleet of Chevrolets: Michael McDowell is running second, Shane van Gisbergen is third, AJ Allmendinger is fourth and Kyle Larson is fifth.

Gibbs is searching for his second win of the season.

World Series winner Dusty Baker gives 'start your engines' command

Engines are fired at Sonoma after Dusty Baker gave the command around 3:38 p.m. ET.

Baker, who made two all-star teams with the Los Angeles Dodgers as a player and was a three-time NL Manager of the Year with the San Francisco Giants, gave the command while sporting a 23XI Racing shirt. His niece Sydnei Fryson is the public relations rep for Bubba Wallace.

Noah Gragson, Bubba Wallace, Erik Jones to start at rear at Sonoma

Three drivers will start at the rear of the field when the green flag drops at Sonoma on Sunday. Noah Gragson, Bubba Wallace and Erik Jones were moved to the back of the starting grid due to unapproved adjustments after qualifying.

Gragson had brake issues on Saturday, Wallace crashed during qualifying and had to have the nose of his car repaired, and Jones' team also had to fix damage his car received during qualifying.

Christopher Bell aims to run full length of Sonoma race

Christopher Bell told reporters this weekend that he's "going to try and race it" at Sonoma. Bell, driver of the No. 20 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, fractured his wrist three weeks ago in a high-speed crash at Michigan. He started last weekend's race at Naval Base Coronado, but was relieved by Brent Crews at the first caution flag.

Crews will still be standing by at Sonoma, but Bell said, "I’m not getting out of this one."

Sonoma dedicates pre-race flyover to Kyle Busch

What time does the NASCAR Cup race at Sonoma start?

The Toyota/Save Mart 350 is scheduled to start at 3:30 p.m. ET Sunday, June 28 at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California.

What TV channel is the NASCAR Cup race at Sonoma on?

The Toyota/Save Mart 350 will be broadcast on TNT and truTV. It's the first of five races to be broadcast by TNT Sports. Pre-race coverage will start at 2:30 p.m. ET.

Adam Alexander, Steve Letarte and Dale Earnhardt Jr. will be in the booth for the race broadcast, while Marty Smith will anchor pre- and post-race coverage alongside former drivers Jimmie Johnson and Jamie McMurray.

Will there be a live stream of the NASCAR Cup race at Sonoma?

Yes, the Toyota/Save Mart 350 can be streamed on HBO Max. Individual in-car cameras for drivers can also be viewed on HBO Max.

How many laps is the NASCAR Cup race at Sonoma?

The Toyota/Save Mart 350 is 110 laps around the 1.99-mile track for a total of 218.9 miles. The race will have three segments (laps per stage) — Stage 1: 25 laps; Stage 2: 30 laps; Stage 3: 55 laps.

Who won the NASCAR Cup race at Sonoma last year?

Shane van Gisbergen won at Sonoma last season, his third of five victories last year in his first full-time season in the Cup Series. van Gisbergen led 97 laps at Sonoma, breaking the previous track record of 92 set by Jeff Gordon in 2004. Coming out of a restart with six laps to go, van Gisbergen cleared Chase Briscoe on the third turn and pulled away for the win. On Sunday, van Gisbergen has the chance to become the ninth driver in Cup Series history to win multiple races at Sonoma.

What is the lineup for the Toyota/Save Mart 350?

(Car number in parentheses)

1. Ty Gibbs (54)
2. Carson Hocevar (77)
3. Kyle Larson (5)
4. Michael McDowell (71)
5. Ross Chastain (1)
6. Shane van Gisbergen (97)
7. Chase Briscoe (19)
8. AJ Allmendinger (16)
9. Denny Hamlin (11)
10. Joey Logano (22)
11.  Tyler Reddick (45)
12. Austin Hill (33)
13. William Byron (24)
14. Christopher Bell (20)
15. Chris Buescher (17)
16. Ryan Blaney (12)
17. Connor Zilisch (88)
18. Chase Elliott (9)
19. Ryan Preece (60)
20. John Hunter Nemechek (42)
21. Daniel Suarez (7)
22. Alex Bowman (48)
23. Austin Cindric (2)
24. Zane Smith (38)
25. Riley Herbst (35)
26. Bubba Wallace (23)
27. Cole Custer (41)
28. Josh Berry (21)
29. Todd Gilliland (34)
30. Austin Dillon (3)
31. Ty Dillon (10)
32. Erik Jones (43)
33. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (47)
34. Noah Gragson (4)
35. Brad Keselowski (6)
36. Cody Ware (51)

What is the NASCAR In-Season Challenge?

For the second consecutive year, drivers will face off in a bracket-style competition over the course of five races beginning at Sonoma. The team of the winning driver will be awarded a prize of $1 million. Drivers advance by simply finishing ahead of the opponent they are matched up with. The winner will be crowned at the Brickyard 400 on July 26. Ty Gibbs won the challenge last season, besting Ty Dillon in the final.

NASCAR news and notes for Sonoma

• AJ Allmendinger is making his 500th career start in the Cup Series on Sunday. The driver of the No. 16 Chevrolet for Kaulig Racing is the 48th driver in Cup Series history to reach the 500-start milestone.
• Aside from Shane van Gisbergen, the only other active Cup Series drivers to win at Sonoma are Kyle Larson and Daniel Suarez. Connor Zilisch, a rookie in the Cup Series this year, won the second-tier O’Reilly Auto Parts race at Sonoma last season.
• Christopher Bell is still wearing a cast on his left wrist after fracturing it during a high-speed crash at Michigan three weeks ago. Brent Crews will be standing by to relieve the driver of the No. 20 Toyota as he did last weekend at the Naval Base Coronado street course.

Kyle Busch tribute at 2026 Sonoma NASCAR race

NASCAR tracks are continuing to honor the late Kyle Busch, whose death on May 21 at the age of 41 shocked the racing community. Busch passed away due to complications from severe bacterial pneumonia that progressed into sepsis, leading to hemorrhagic shock and disseminated intravascular coagulation, according to his death certificate.

Sonoma Raceway has Busch’s black No. 8 printed on the track this weekend and also put his stylized number and signature on the wall at the eighth turn. Sonoma has also added Busch to the track’s Wall of Fame.

Busch, a two-time Cup Series champion and NASCAR’s all-time leader in wins across its top three touring series with 234, captured three victories in his career at Sonoma. He won Cup Series races there in 2008 and 2015, then a Truck Series race in 2022. Busch also holds the NASCAR Cup Series record for most consecutive seasons with at least one win at 19.