LANCASTER, N.Y. – In the four full-time years Austin Beers has spent on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, Lancaster Motorplex has quickly become one of his favorite tracks.
The half-mile oval outside of Buffalo was where Beers earned his second Modified Tour victory in 2023 after initially breaking through at Richmond Raceway earlier in the year. Beers defended that Lancaster triumph last year by climbing from the fifth position to lead a race-high 74 laps.
On Saturday, for the third year in row, Beers found his way to Victory Lane at Lancaster. It took strategy and a herculean effort on Beers’ behalf to fend off Patrick Emerling in the closing laps, but the second-generation Modified competitor was elated to prevail at Lancaster once again and finally earn a victory on the 2025 season.
“I’m wore out,” Beers said. “I was on the edge every single lap trying not to give up anything. We had the best in the business behind us with Justin Bonsignore, Patrick Emerling; Matt [Hirschman] was there, too. I’m so thankful to get the three-peat. It’s pretty damn cool.”
Consistency had followed Beers all year prior to Saturday’s Nu-Way Auto Parts 150. The only finish Beers recorded outside the top five all year came at Riverhead Raceway, where he placed eighth.
There were moments Saturday when Beers was unsure whether he would place inside the top five, let alone earn a third consecutive Lancaster win. Beers barely cracked the top 10 during the final practice session and only improved upon his speed in qualifying slightly with the ninth-best speed of 20 cars.
An early caution gave Beers’ crew an opportunity to adjust his No. 64 Modified. Beers methodically began picking off his fellow competitors during the ensuing green flag run before a spin by Craig Lutz with 76 laps remaining brought most of the field down pit road, cycling Beers to second place behind Kyle Bonsignore.
When Bonsignore pitted during the final caution of the night, Beers inherited the lead but was tasked with fending off the pack behind him. Emerling proved to be Beers’ toughest competition; the former was eager to improve upon the runner-up finish he sustained to Beers at Lancaster last year.
History repeated itself for both Beers and Emerling. Despite losing crucial track position during the last restart, Emerling made a valiant charge back to the rear bumper of Beers but once again had to settle for a second-place result.
“This is one we really wanted to win,” Emerling said. “[It’s our] home track. I think we had the car to beat, but we got freight-trained and stuck up top there. By the time I was able to work back by [Matt Hirschman] and [Justin Bonsignore], we were a little too used up at that point.”
By successfully fending off Emerling, Beers helped match a notable Modified Tour record by becoming the seventh different winner in seven races to open the season. The last time the series had seven different winners to open a season occurred back in 1999, with Tony Hirschman breaking that streak with back-to-back victories.
Austin Beers became the seventh different winner in seven Modified Tour races this year with his triumph at Lancaster Motorplex. (Photo: Bryan Bennett/NASCAR)
Other drivers who have visited Victory Lane with the Modified Tour this season are Emerling, Ron Silk, Craig Lutz and Matt Hirschman, along with Justin and Kyle Bonsignore.
The parity currently permeating the Modified Tour has Beers convinced a record-setting eighth different winner in eight races could occur during the next event at Monadnock Speedway. Beers would not mind snapping the streak, but he knows every triumph on the Modified Tour requires strenuous effort.
That’s why Beers is cherishing three consecutive victories at Lancaster.
“This shows how tough this tour is,” Beers said. “There’s six other guys that could still win, like [Stephen] Kopcik, the Catalanos and [Tyler] Rypkema. A lot of guys could still win here, but it means a lot to get another win at Lancaster. I love this place.”
Hirschman finished third behind Beers and Emerling. Kyle Bonsignore and Jacob Lutz completed the top five.
The rest of the top 10 comprised of Tyler Rypkema, Luke Baldwin, Justin Bonsignore, Craig Lutz and George Skora III.
Up next for the Modified Tour is a Saturday-Sunday doubleheader at Monadnock Speedway, with the Duel at the Dog 200 taking place on July 19 and the Cheshire County Clash 200 occurring the following day. The two races make up the final two legs of the Whelen Short Track Cup. FloRacing will have live coverage of all the on-track activity.
SONOMA, Calif. — Connor Zilisch and Shane van Gisbergen went toe-to-toe for a NASCAR Xfinity Series win for the second straight week.
But unlike last week on the Chicago Street Course, pole-sitter SVG couldn’t work past his 18-year-old JR Motorsports teammate Connor Zilisch and was forced to settle for a second-place finish instead.
The duo put on a fantastic show all race, trading the lead with minimal (but some) contact multiple times after both started on the front row. The action heated up with two laps to go when van Gisbergen charged to Zilisch’s bumper through the esses and bumped the No. 88 Chevrolet as he caught him. SVG relented to allow Zilisch to save it and try again on the final lap, where he was faced with another decision: knock Zilisch out of the way or let him go and try again later. He opted for the latter.
“I couldn’t do it without wrecking him, so just tried every trick I could,” van Gisbergen said. “But he drove so well and couldn’t get him. And I think it was the last lap into (Turn) 7, I got there but wheel-hopped, pushed him wide and yeah — could have gone but just waited. I didn’t want to do it like that. So yeah, I had a fun day.”
Racing Zilisch clean was top of mind for the New Zealander. He entered the final hairpin in Turn 11 right on Zilisch’s back bumper but opted to go to the outside on entry rather than snug behind him. Would that have been the case if the two weren’t teammates?
“I would be more aggressive, but I wouldn’t do something stupid,” van Gisbergen said. “I might probably wouldn’t have lifted out of (Turn) 7, but I’m not just going to hit people out of the way. I want to race and clean and hope people race me like that too.”
SVG’s past life ingrained him in the culture of Australian Supercars racing, which issues penalties for passes made via contact. That isn’t quite the case in NASCAR.
“In this type of racing, it ran through my head into (Turn) 11 on the last lap, like you’re allowed to just run through people and bump them wide,” van Gisbergen said. “But I’m not going to do that. So I tried to do a crossover and just didn’t have the grip out there. I had a lot of fun, and hope he did too.”
Zilisch did — and knew his teammate was taking care of him.
“I think he wanted to pass me fairly, and I don’t think that’s the way he wanted to do it, which I really do respect,” Zilisch said. “I mean, it takes a lot for a guy to do that, and for him to do that shows a lot about the driver and person he is.”
Patrick Vallely | For NASCAR Digital Media
Their close-quarters battle also came one week after a heated battle at the end of their Xfinity race at Chicago. On the final restart, SVG entered Turn 1 on Zilisch’s left and ran him wide to the wall on corner exit, forcing Zilisch to either lift or hit the wall.
After that race, Zilisch said he thought SVG would race him “a little cleaner” but later emphasized he didn’t view the move as dirty and doubled down on that Saturday in Sonoma.
“I said it last week: What he did wasn’t dirty,” Zilisch reiterated. “There was two laps to go, and he’s going to take the chance to win the race. And I think maybe some guys, he might race differently, but I think if you show him respect — and I feel like I did for the majority of the race — then he’s going to show you respect back.”
Van Gisbergen was surprised his Chicago tactic was a topic of discussion at all.
“It’s weird here in NASCAR,” van Gisbergen said. “Like last week was a textbook pass. Everywhere else in the world, that doesn’t get spoken about. But here in NASCAR, I had Kyle Busch have a go at me after the driver’s briefing last week about it. And it baffles me, you know? But that’s just the way people race here. They expect room on exit, and I need to adapt that mindset a bit more, I guess. But put me in the same spot last week, I’ll probably do the same thing, and he would do something different. Just how it works here.”
The pair of JRM drivers combined to lead 70 of 79 laps in Saturday’s Pit Boss / FoodMaxx 250, dominating the event while still putting on a compelling show. The margin of victory of 0.438 seconds, but third-place finisher William Sawalich was a full 13 seconds behind them.
“I knew you have to be perfect to beat the guy,” Zilisch said of SVG. “He’s really good. And I commend him for that. I look up to him as a driver and a person. The person he is, he’s such a good guy. And to get to race against him and learn from him at my age is so valuable for me. So whether I beat him or not doesn’t really affect much. Yeah, it feels good. But I know that I can race against a guy like him, and it’s just fun getting to do it. I really enjoy it and it pushes me to be better. And I hope I can push him to be to be better too.”
That was a mission accomplished Saturday, leaving SVG a runner-up.
“Second sucks, but I don’t know,” van Gisbergen said. “I had a really fun race. I enjoyed myself and that’s why I race cars.”
Track: Sonoma Raceway Location: Sonoma, California Track length: 1.99 miles When: Sunday, 3:30 p.m. ET Where to tune in: TNT Sports/truTV, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Race purse: $11,055,250 Race distance: 110 laps | 218.9 miles Stages: 25 | 55 | 110 Defending winner: Kyle Larson, June 2024 Starting lineup: Shane van Gisbergen starts from Busch Light Pole
Points to prove at Sonoma in pursuit of Regular Season crown
Sonoma Raceway has hosted 35 NASCAR Cup Series races since the circuit first arrived there in 1989, and all of those visits have fallen in May or June. That calendar quirk makes Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 the latest a Sonoma race has appeared on the schedule.
The playoff pressure that comes with a deeper run into the summer months is accordingly heightened. The fever pitch is fittingly focused on the postseason bubble and the race to clinch one of the remaining berths in the 16-driver field, but the pursuit at the top of the standings now holds a significantly different look with seven regular-season events left.
William Byron is still in the No. 1 perch for the Regular Season Championship and the bonus of 15 playoff points that comes with that honor. He has led the Cup Series standings for 16 of the season’s 19 weeks so far, but the Hendrick Motorsports driver’s grip on that glory is far less secure than in previous weeks. Byron’s points lead has diminished from 68 points to 13 entering Sunday’s race in Sonoma after three finishes of 27th or worse in the past four races, including back-to-back DNFs at Atlanta and Chicago. Four drivers – Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin and Tyler Reddick – now sit within 48 points of Byron.
The proximity is enough to make teams be cognizant of the points gap, even when victories are within reach.
“Some of it’s a little bit of a guess, right, because … wins are obviously great, but the 15 points is also really great,” said Chase Elliott, 13 points back of his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Byron. “If you can get them, we’ve been in a fortunate position to have won that deal before, and it helps a lot — tremendously. So ideally, you get another win or two, and get stage points while doing that. We all know road courses is kind of hard to do both, so these places and just kind of so happen to have a couple on the schedule here back to back.”
Chris Graythen | Getty Images
Two drivers in that top five were 100-plus points behind Byron just four weeks ago. Denny Hamlin missed the Mexico City race while on paternity leave to fall to minus-110, but two top-five runs have his deficit now at just 43 points. Reddick, who drives for Hamlin’s 23XI Racing group, has chopped a 127-point shortfall to now sit just 48 back.
“It’s ultimately going to come down to execution,” said Hamlin, who starts 16th Sunday in search of his first Sonoma win. “I think all the teams that are in it are so very close on speed. There might be a few little advantages to one team here or there, but overall, it’s going to come down to execution. So yeah, we’re glad to be back in it. We were over 100 and something a few weeks ago, and we’ve still had horrible finishes, and we actually had a missed race in there and still gained over these last three or four weeks. So I’m happy about where we’re at, considering.”
The opportunities to make continued gains comes to Sonoma, where missteps and off-track moments might not be punished by contact — as they were last week at the narrow, unforgiving Chicago Street Race — but by the loss of valuable track position and points. Several drivers pushed that limit of control with spins and slide-outs in Saturday’s practice and qualifying sessions, but pushing that edge Sunday will come with a steeper price.
The other daunting part of Sunday’s mission will likely be keeping pace with the pole winner, the red-hot Shane van Gisbergen. The New Zealander ace for Trackhouse Racing has won the Cup Series’ last two road-course events in dominating fashion at Mexico City and Chicago, and he’s considered the presumptive favorite even though he wasn’t fully pleased with his car’s characteristics in practice. Setting those quibbles aside, SVG’s average finish of 2.67 this year on road courses easily clears as the series’ best.
What do crew chiefs have in focus to win Sunday’s race?
Road courses like Sonoma allow crew chiefs the opportunity to flip stages – in other words, pit before the stage ends and forfeit possible stage points in favor of track position on the ensuing restart, after others who stayed out and opted for stage points pit during the caution.
Points are at a premium this weekend. For some, that means chasing a regular-season championship. For others, that means pursuing a path to the playoffs.
Byron and the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports team continue to lead the points standings through 19 races but have struggled to find results (and therefore points) in recent weeks. Coupled with Byron’s resume showing just one top 10 in six Sonoma starts, crew chief Rudy Fugle knows he’ll have his hands full Sunday trying to maximize the team’s day.
“You determine what kind of car you have and if it’s going to work out for you to take (points) or not,” Fugle told NASCAR.com Friday. “I think the biggest thing is you try to set yourself up for a good finish. But if the points are laying there right in front of you and you can still get a good finish, you have to have those discussions. So we’re set up with probably three different plans that can go each way depending our speed and what needs to happen, and we’ll adapt on Sunday as needed.”
On the flip side of the points conversation is Kyle Busch. A two-time Sonoma winner and two-time Cup champion, Busch has a stellar resume at the 1.99-mile, 12-turn road course. But he and the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing team enter Sunday 19th in the provisional playoff standings, 46 points outside the 16-driver postseason bracket.
A slight twist is that this will mark the first race at Sonoma with this particular road-course tire from Goodyear, although teams have utilized it on all road courses in 2025. But with the track repaved ahead of the 2024 race, teams used Saturday’s practice to learn how well the tire grips the racing surface, how it wears and how it may factor into strategy. Several spins and off-course excursions ensued.
“We can try to guess at it the best we can, but we really don’t know until we get out there, obviously,” Randall Burnett, crew chief of the No. 8 car, told NASCAR.com. “The tire is the same tire we’ve been running on all the road courses this year, which is different than what we ran here last year. I feel like we’ve got a pretty good feel on the tire. But yeah, as far as the repaved stuff, you’ve just got to go out there and feel it out, see what the grip level is in those sections and try to learn from it as quick as you can.”
No. 9 should be fine. Chase Elliott has led laps in the last five Sonoma races, tying a series record. Though he’s still seeking his first Sonoma victory, he’s registered single-digit finishes in six of his last seven appearances there. … History also suggests that Sonoma hasn’t been a Ford stronghold in recent years; the manufacturer last won in wine country in 2017 with Kevin Harvick.
He may not be the favorite to win, but watch out for …
CHRIS BUESCHER. The RFK Racing vet finished 18th last weekend in Chicago, but his stature as an underrated road racer remains an upside. That profile hits a higher strength at Sonoma, where the No. 17 Ford driver has placed second, fourth and third his last three times out.
Chris Graythen | Getty Images
Fantasy update
NASCAR Fantasy Live expert Dustin Albino provides insight for your Sunday lineup.
Boy, what a difference one year can make. The Sonoma pavement has aged like a fine wine, giving teams all sorts of challenges during practice and qualifying. Will the real AJ Allmendinger please stand up? After consecutive road course races where he wasn’t in the picture, the No. 16 Chevrolet was fastest in practice and blistered the field on five-lap averages. I’ve added Allmendinger to my lineup and intend on using him for my 36 for 36 pick. I’ve also slotted Ross Chastain into my lineup, as the No. 1 car is using lessons learned from SVG, and his four straight top-10 finishes at Sonoma is tied for the longest active streak (Chase Elliott).
Lineup: Shane van Gisbergen, AJ Allmendinger, Kyle Larson, Ty Gibbs, Ross Chastain. Garage: Chris Buescher.
Our biggest pieces of the week — get covered for race day from all angles.
• NASCAR at Sonoma: Key info, practice reports and more from doubleheader weekend | Read more
• ‘Trusting the process’: Legacy Motor Club making strides in 2025 | Read more
• In-Season Challenge: Your hub for everything related to the 32-driver showdown | Read more • Racing Insights: Where your favorite driver is projected to finish Sunday | Read more
• Field of 16: Preece making his own push for playoff positioning | Read more • Turning Point to Sonoma: Weighing SVG’s posteason aspirations | Read more
• At-track photos: Scenes, sights from the California course | View gallery
• NASCAR Classics: Rewind with full-race Sonoma replays from the vault | Watch now
• Paint Scheme Preview: Fresh designs for Sonoma’s twists, turns | View gallery
• Power Rankings: Allmendinger a threat to shake up playoff picture | This week’s Top 20
SONOMA, Calif. — In closing laps of the Pit Boss/FoodMaxx 250 at Sonoma Raceway, the pupil schooled the master.
Taking shot after shot from JR Motorsports teammate Shane van Gisbergen over the final two laps, Connor Zilisch held off the more experienced driver to claim his third NASCAR Xfinity Series victory of the season and the fourth of his career.
In what was a two-driver show from start to finish, Zilisch and van Gisbergen, the pole winner, combined to lead 70 of the 79 laps, surrendering the top spot only when they short-pitted the first and second stages to recover track position at the stage breaks.
For Zilisch, the victory was revenge for last Saturday’s Xfinity race at the Chicago Street Course, where the 36-year-old van Gisbergen ran his 18-year-old teammate wide in Turn 2 to take the lead and win a two-lap shootout for the victory.
But this time, Zilisch survived contact from van Gisbergen’s front bumper in Turn 7 on the final lap and won the race to the start/finish line, as the New Zealander tried in vain to cross over to the inside in hairpin Turn 11 in a last-ditch effort.
Zilisch powered off the corner and won the race to the finish line by 0.438 seconds.
“First, hats off to Shane,” Zilisch said after climbing from his car. “That was awesome. All race long, I felt like we were racing each other with respect. I wheel-hopped a little bit in Turn 7 one time and got into him. Otherwise, it was awesome to get to race against him finally and battle with him the whole race long.”
Both Zilisch and van Gisbergen managed to pull away from the rest of the field while saving fuel during the final stage.
“It’s always the hardest trying to save fuel while someone’s breathing down your neck,” Zilisch said. “There was a chance that he could have gotten by me when he hit me, but he let me have it and raced me clean. I respect the hell out of him for that, and I’m looking forward to racing against him more.
“We’re going to race each other at Watkins Glen, and that’s one of my favorite tracks, so I hope I can beat him again there.”
Van Gisbergen knew he had an opening when his No. 9 Chevrolet made contact with Zilisch’s No. 88 in Turn 7, but he backed off to let the race play out.
“I gave him a bump into 7, and he wheel-hopped, and I probably could have taken it, but I just waited,” said van Gisbergen, the defending race winner. “I didn’t want to do it like that, and then we raced down the hill. What an awesome race.
Zilisch led 46 laps to 24 for van Gisbergen, who was trying for his third straight NASCAR victory in as many starts after sweeping last weekend in Chicago.
Solid work on pit road gave Zilisch control of the race for the final restart on Lap 51, and he led the rest of the way, thwarting SVG’s persistent attempts to pressure him into a mistake.
William Sawalich, who won Friday’s ARCA West race in a thrilling finish, was the best of the rest, coming home third, 13.668 seconds behind Zilisch. Nick Sanchez ran fourth, followed by Cup regular Riley Herbst, series leader Justin Allgaier, Taylor Gray, Carson Kvapil, Sammy Smith and Sheldon Creed.
With Allgaier, Kvapil and Smith joining Zilisch and van Gisbergen, JR Motorsports placed five drivers in the top nine. The victory was the organization’s 10th in 19 races this season, with Zilisch tying Allgaier and 12th-place finisher Austin Hill for the series lead with three wins.
“I didn’t want to have to have to do anything dirty to win this race, and I’m glad I didn’t and glad to do it fair and square,” Zilisch said. “I learned a lot racing around him, and he’s got so many years of experience on me that I can learn from.”
The Xfinity Series heads east to Delaware next Saturday for a trip to Dover Motor Speedway (4:30 p.m. ET, The CW, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Ryan Truex is in the field driving for Sam Hunt Racing as he looks for a three-peat at the one-mile concrete oval.
NOTE: Post-race technical inspection concluded without issue, confirming Connor Zilisch as the race winner. The Nos. 21, 26 and 44 each had one lug nut unsecured, which will result in monetary fines for each of the three teams.
SONOMA, Calif. — Michael McDowell was the man to beat on the Chicago Street Course until his throttle cable frayed after leading the opening 31 laps last week.
At Sonoma Raceway, McDowell has already put that disappointment behind him in favor of a confident excitement in Wine Country.
McDowell started second in Chicago and charged past polesitter Shane van Gisbergen for the top spot immediately, but his mechanical issue on the No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet took away his chance to fight for the win.
“You can’t stay disappointed too long in our sport,” McDowell said Saturday. “So Sunday, yeah, it’s very disappointing. Monday, it was all about getting to the root of the issue that we had and why we had it, and what needed to be done to make sure we don’t have something happen here this weekend. And then Tuesday was all about getting prepared for today and tomorrow.
“You just can’t stay in that moment too long. What-ifs don’t count. What-ifs don’t matter in our sport. The only thing that matters is if you get the checkered flag, and we didn’t.”
On his X account Sunday evening, McDowell put his confidence on full display: “Chicago was a preview. The real show’s next weekend (at Sonoma).”
Turning the page to Sonoma is easy for McDowell. The two-time Cup winner has been exceptional at the 1.99-mile road course in the Next Gen car, posting a 4.0 average finish in three races, highlighted by a runner-up finish in 2024. The motivation of what could have been at Chicago adds a touch of fuel to the fire.
“This is one of my best tracks,” McDowell said. “I have a good rhythm here. I have a good feel for what I need. And you’re fired up, right? You felt like you had a race-winning car and you just finished 33rd with it, so you’re ready to move on to the next week.”
Meg Oliphant | Getty Images
Qualifying initially proved strong for McDowell and the No. 71 team, posting the second-quickest time in Group A with the same car they utilized to finish fifth in Mexico City on June 15. But the track was quicker yet for the second half of the field in qualifying in Group B Saturday, dropping McDowell to a 15th-place starting spot for Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 (3:30 p.m. ET, TNT Sports/truTV, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
“That Group 1 session there is definitely going to be a little bit of a hurt,” McDowell said, “just because it’s almost like Formula One — the track’s going to evolve the other way where you’re putting rubber down (and) it’s just going to get faster and faster. But (Sunday), all that will balance out. Hopefully, we get some long runs and slip-sliding around, and we’ll see who can manage all that the best.”
Sitting 24th in the provisional playoff standings, McDowell and his team are aware their path to the postseason relies on a victory. Sonoma provides their next best chance.
“We know what we need to do,” he said. “There’s no emotions around it. We have to win. And it’s very matter of fact; we know that and that’s OK. We’ve been in this spot before. I’ve been in this spot before. Travis (Peterson, crew chief) has been in this spot before, and we’ve been able to rise to the occasion, and I think we will again.”
SONOMA, Calif. — Legacy Motor Club driver Erik Jones is trying to take a business-as-usual approach to Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway (3:30 p.m. ET, TNT Sports/truTV, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), but there’s a twist that may prevent him from doing so.
Jones is one of eight NASCAR Cup Series drivers still alive in the inaugural In-Season Challenge, with a $1-million prize awaiting the winner following the final round at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 27.
Here’s the catch. To advance past Round 3, the 20th-seeded Jones will have to finish higher than 12th-seed John Hunter Nemechek in the only third-round matchup that features one teammate against another.
Jones said Saturday he won’t expect spotter Will Rodgers to apprise him of Nemechek’s position as the race develops.
“No, probably not,” Jones said. “I didn’t think or know where Ricky (Stenhouse, Jr., second-round opponent) was all day [at Chicago], and then I drove it into the wall, and I kind of thought we gave that up, and then we crossed the finish line and it wasn’t a very good day and the first thing Ben (Beshore, crew chief) says is ‘well, we beat the 47 (Stenhouse).’
“And I was like, OK, that is cool. I don’t know how. I will want to know right after, for sure, if I’m not aware of where he is at. But he doesn’t need to let me know.”
Rodgers, entered in Saturday’s Xfinity Series race as pilot of the No. 70 Cope Family Racing Chevrolet with Jones as his primary spotter, had a slightly different take.
“If we are two or three back from him, coming down to it, I may say something,” Rodgers said.
Additional matchups in Round 3 of the In-Season Challenge include No. 32 seed Ty Dillon against No. 8 seed Alex Bowman, No. 15 seed Ryan Preece battling No. 23 seed Tyler Reddick and No. 6 seed Ty Gibbs vs. No. 14 seed Zane Smith.
