Posted on by Reid Spencer

SONOMA, Calif. — Shane van Gisbergen proved on Sunday that it’s impossible to keep a road-course superstar down for more than a brief interlude.

After finishing second to Connor Zilisch in Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race, van Gisbergen was back on top on a pleasant Sunday afternoon in wine country, winning the Cup Series’ Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway.

As has become his custom of late, the New Zealander reached a trio of milestones, winning his third straight road/street course race from the pole position to equal Jeff Gordon’s feat from 1998 and 1999.

The victory was van Gisbergen’s third of the season in his first trip around the 1.99-mile, 12-turn circuit in a NASCAR Cup Series car. SVG won for the fourth time in 34 starts, becoming the quickest to four wins since Parnelli Jones won at Riverside in 1967 in his 31st Cup start.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Sonoma

His 97 laps led are the most by a Sonoma winner, eclipsing Jeff Gordon’s high-water mark of 92 set 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.”

The winner of 81 Australian Supercars races on the way to three championships in the series, van Gisbergen already is being touted as perhaps the best road-course racer 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.”

Winning the second stage despite short-pitting to preserve track position, van Gisbergen advanced to third on the current Cup Series Playoff grid with 17 playoff points. He arrived at the finish line 1.128 seconds ahead of consistent Chase Briscoe, but the win was far from guaranteed, given the chaos of the final 15 laps.

SVG had to survive three cautions and subsequent restarts in the late stages of the race to seal the win, as a large group of drivers on better tires chased those who had stayed on the track (including the race winner) after the No. 51 Ford of Cody Ware jettisoned a tire and caused a yellow on Lap 97.

Briscoe qualified second and finished where he felt 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.

“Proud of the effort. I thought there was one restart I was maybe going to get clear of him, but truthfully, even if I cleared him, he was probably going to pass me back by the end of the lap. Yeah, proud of the effort. We were a second-place car all day and obviously ended up second with it.”

Chase Elliott pitted on Lap 97 for fresher tires and came home third after restarting 14th on Lap 100. Michael McDowell, on the same strategy as Elliott, climbed to fourth at the finish, 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.”

SHOP: Buy winner’s gear

The action on the final few laps was attributable in part to battles within the NASCAR Cup Series’ In-Season Challenge. In Sunday’s third round at Sonoma, 32nd seed Ty Dillon bumped the No. 48 Chevrolet of Alex Bowman out of the way on the final lap to finish 17th to Bowman’s 19th and keep his hopes for the $1 million prize alive.

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

“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…

“We’re going to give it all we’ve got at Dover; put pressure on the guys. I think you’ve seen through this that our team doesn’t quit. I saw the No. 48 there at the end, and I knew it was our opportunity to race hard and go get him. Just proud of this team’s effort.”

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 the Monster Mile for a trip to the finals.

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

Ross Chastain and van Gisbergen divided the stage wins. Chastain encountered trouble in a tangle with Trackhouse Racing teammate Daniel Suárez on Lap 45, with Suárez spinning after the contact in the Turn 11 hairpin and losing 15 positions in the exchange.

MORE: Chastain, Suárez collide in Stage 2

The Cup Series’ next race falls Sunday at Dover Motor Speedway (2 p.m. ET, TNT Sports/truTV, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Six races remain in the regular season before the 16-driver field for the Cup Series Playoffs is set.

NOTE: Post-race inspection in the Cup Series garage was completed without issue, confirming van Gisbergen as the winner. Competition officials indicated that no cars would travel back to the NASCAR Research & Development Center for further inspection.

Contributing: Staff Report

Posted on by Zach Sturniolo

SONOMA, Calif. — The Nos. 6 and 54 pit crews had a minor altercation during Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Sonoma Raceway.

On Lap 52 of the Toyota/Save Mart 350, Ty Gibbs’ No. 54 Toyota led Brad Keselowski’s No. 6 Ford onto pit road near the end of Stage 2. The two were pitted directly next to each other, with Gibbs’ crew in stall No. 16 and Keselowski’s in stall 17.

RELATED: Race results

Gibbs drove through Keselowski’s pit box on entry and nearly clipped Telvin McClurkin, Keselowski’s tire carrier, as the No. 6 crewmen leaped over the wall. The hesitation appeared to slow the No. 6 team’s stop, and upon its completion, McClurkin approached the No. 54 crew to express his displeasure.

The confrontation resulted in a brief burst of physical shoves between two RFK Racing crew members and three Joe Gibbs Racing crew members that was visible from the Sonoma Raceway media center before NASCAR officials intervened to break up the scrum.

Spokespersons for both JGR and RFK Racing described the incident to NASCAR.com and PRN Radio as a “disagreement” as the second stage came to an end.

Gibbs explained his view of the incident after finishing seventh, four spots ahead of Keselowski in the 37-car field.

“By NASCAR’s rules, you know, I’m the lead car because I’m in the pit box past where the 6 is and I’m in front of them as well,” Gibbs told TNT Sports. “We have these orange lines right there — as you can see, I’m sure they’ll show you after — where if I’m behind him, I have to go around those orange lines for it to be the rule. Going in, I have the right-of-way. So you know, they’re on the wall for a reason, they jump for a reason, and they kind of get out of the way. And those guys like to push it, and that’s kind of the consequence you pay. So it’s unfortunate for them that they had a penalty. Nothing malicious. It’s my right-of-way.”

Jeremy Bullins, crew chief for Keselowski and the No. 6 RFK Racing Ford, came off the pit box to help diffuse the situation.

“If we were in that pit box, I would expect him (Keselowski) to do the same [expletive] thing, so we’re good,” Bullins told No. 54 jackman Braxton Brannon. “It’s your right to drive through here. It sucks, but it is what it is.”

TNT Sports reported McClurkin expressed Gibbs’ car did hit the tire in his hands and twisted his wrist. McClurkin also told TNT he was OK and would continue pitting the rest of the afternoon.

A NASCAR spokesperson confirmed that officials reviewed the incident and expressed to the No. 6 team that the crew should have given more room for the No. 54 car and ruled Gibbs’ close entry unintentional, therefore not resulting in a penalty. Additionally, officials will review the altercation during the week and determine if there will be any penalties to come.

WATCH: RFK shares overhead view of pit stop, altercation

“I mean, I get it. It was overblown because you look up and people are scrapping and you’re wondering what the heck’s going on here,” said Chris Gabehart, Joe Gibbs Racing’s competition director. “So I understand why it was made a scene, but the truth of the matter is, the lead car in that instance has the right-of-way to the trailing-box car. It’s just really, really tough when they’re literally coming to pit road nose to tail. It doesn’t happen very often. So in that instance, and we all know on pit road how to deal with that, like everybody understands that the trailing car has got to give a gap so the leading car, so your guys can jump in between the two, but it’s just a really tight spot.”

Posted on by Staff Report

Trackhouse Racing teammates Ross Chastain and Daniel Suárez tangled in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race, with Suárez getting the worst of a Turn 11 collision at Sonoma Raceway.

Suárez was running 14th when Chastain overcooked his entry into the final corner in the 45th of 110 laps in the Toyota/Save Mart 350. The contact from Chastain’s No. 1 Chevrolet sent Suárez’s No. 99 Chevy spinning in the hairpin, knocking him to 29th place in the running order.

RELATED: Race results | Best photos from Sonoma

“You better hope I don’t get to him today,” Suárez told his team over the No. 99 radio after the incident. During the Stage 2 break, Suárez was told that Chastain had relayed an apology through his spotter, indicating he did not intend to drive that deep into the turn and could not halt his car’s momentum.

Suárez had a measure of turnabout in the final results after a series of late-race caution flags, finishing 14th. Chastain placed 24th after starting fourth in the 37-car field.

Chastain left Sonoma without comment, but Suárez said a conversation between the two might be warranted.

“I hope so,” Suárez said. “And if it doesn’t happen, he’s gonna get it back.”

Suárez and Trackhouse announced July 1 that they had mutually agreed to part company at the end of the 2025 season. Suárez left Sunday’s race 29th in the Cup Series points standings. Just six races remain in the regular season before the 16-driver field for the Cup Series Playoffs is set, and he needs a win to reach the postseason.

MORE: Trackhouse to part ways with Suárez after 2025 season

Chastain, who won Stage 1 Sunday at Sonoma, clinched a playoff berth with his May victory in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Shane van Gisbergen, the third Trackhouse Racing driver racing full-time in the Cup Series, cruised to his third win of the season Sunday at Sonoma. It’s quite the tear for the New Zealand import, who also won the previous weekend in the Chicago Street Race.

Posted on by Staff Report

Can’t wait any longer to go Inside the Race following each NASCAR Cup Series event?

Visit our NASCAR YouTube page Sunday evening following the NASCAR Cup Series race at Sonoma Raceway to get a breakdown and analysis of all the action and story lines coming out of Wine Country.

Sunday’s post-race show will analyze all the twists and turns of the Toyota/Save Mart 350, with host Alex Weaver and analysts Todd Gordon and Kyle Petty dissecting the winning and losing moves.

Head to our YouTube page post-race, or just watch the live stream embedded below.

Posted on by PJ Walsh

NASCAR odds list Shane van Gisbergen as the clear favorite for Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 (3:30 p.m. ET, TNT Sports/truTV, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Sonoma Raceway, and for good reason.

SVG, who has won two of the three races on road courses, like Sonoma, this season, sits at +105 NASCAR odds at DraftKings heading into today’s race.

He is followed by Kyle Larson (+700), Chase Elliott (+850), Tyler Reddick (+1200), Michael McDowell (+1200) and AJ Allmendinger (+1200).

When it comes to my favorite NASCAR pick for Sonoma, I’m bypassing the outright market and am instead zeroing in on one matchup that’s a headscratcher in my mind.

MORE: See full Sonoma field in photos | Sonoma fantasy advice

NASCAR Odds, Best Bet Pick for Sonoma

*Odds as of Sunday morning

Sonoma has been good to Daniel Suárez in the Next Gen car.

Over the past three races at this circuit, Suárez has posted the eighth-best driver rating, the ninth-best average running position and a win back in 2022.

On the other hand, Denny Hamlin has had all kinds of problems at Sonoma in the Next Gen, finishing 31st in 2022, crashing out in 2023 and blowing an engine on Lap 2 last season.

But what really makes me bullish on Suárez in this matchup today is how they both paced in practice on Saturday.

Despite running in the much slower Group 1, Suárez was actually faster than Hamlin in five-lap average speed and only one spot behind the No. 11 Toyota in 10-lap average.

Further, Suárez qualified only three places behind Hamlin, so I can understand why this matchup looks closer on paper than it truly is, based on both drivers’ track histories and the fact that we need to adjust for when they both hit the track in practice.

In my mind, Suàrez should be the favorite here, but DraftKings has him priced at -105 against Hamlin — a price I’m investing in for Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma.

NASCAR Pick: Daniel Suárez (-105) over Denny Hamlin — DraftKings

Posted on by Cameron Richardson

It’s the summer of Shane van Gisbergen in 2025. Two road courses down this summer and two to go until the Cup Series Playoffs, van Gisbergen has a 100% win rate and now there’s a strong chance he could be leading the entire series in victories once the checkered flag flies at Watkins Glen International in a month.

SVG will be the favorite for his third win of the year Sunday at Sonoma Raceway (3:30 p.m. ET, TNT Sports/truTV, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), but other drivers are lurking just behind to topple the No. 88 Trackhouse Racing driver’s road-course dominion.

RELATED: Sonoma schedule | How to watch NASCAR on TNT Sports, Max

Few drivers have even come close to matching van Gisbergen’s pace, but one driver who’s surging during this stretch of three road courses in five weeks is Ty Gibbs.

The first 14 races of this year had Gibbs all but written off at any shot of breaking through for that long-awaited first Cup triumph, but the script has flipped this summer for the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing team. Dating back to Michigan five races ago, Gibbs hasn’t finished worse than 14th, and road courses have once again been a bright spot for the third-year Cup wheelman as he led 27 laps in Mexico City and was runner-up to van Gisbergen last Sunday at Chicago.

According to Racing Insights, Gibbs ranks top 10 in passing, defense and restarts on road courses this season and slots fourth in average running position at 10.92.

Sonoma hasn’t been the kindest to Gibbs in his two starts — average finish of 27.5 — however, Sunday may prove that the 22-year-old is ready to write the next chapter in his early Cup career.

FANTASY: Set your lineup | Make a 36 for 36 pick

OTHER DRIVERS TO WATCH

KYLE LARSON: Larson has been in a relative slump lately with four finishes outside the top 10 in the last seven races; however, he can quickly turn that around in his home state on Sunday. Larson owns two wins at Sonoma (including last year) and has won four poles on the road course.

MICHAEL MCDOWELL: If it weren’t for a mechanical failure, it looked like Chicago could’ve been the place McDowell was going to score his first win with Spire Motorsports. Alas, that didn’t happen, and the No. 71 driver still needs a victory to make the playoffs. On paper, Sonoma is the best chance for McDowell to clinch that berth. He ranks first in speed and long-run pace at the road course in the Next Gen car and hasn’t finished worse than seventh.

CHRIS BUESCHER: In the Next Gen era at Sonoma, Buescher has placed everywhere in the top five except fifth or first. He’d certainly prefer the latter this weekend as he holds just a 35-point buffer to the playoff cutline. At Sonoma, Buescher ranks top five in speed, long-run pace and restarts.

ROSS CHASTAIN: The Trackhouse Racing driver had quite the eventful end to Chicago after a late-race run-in and confrontation with Joey Logano, but Chastain still walked away with a top 10 after the dust settled. Sonoma has been kind to Chastain with top 10s in his last four starts, including a best of fifth place in last year’s event. Chastain also ranks first in restarts at the California course.

RACING INSIGHTS’ PROJECTIONS FOR THE TOYOTA/SAVE MART 350

Racing Insights’ advanced statistical formula incorporates current track, track type, recent performance, team data and pit-crew data to predict a projected winner and provide full race results. Updated on race day with practice and qualifying factored in.

FINISHCAR NUMBERDRIVER
15Kyle Larson
288Shane van Gisbergen
320Christopher Bell
416AJ Allmendinger
545Tyler Reddick
69Chase Elliott
71Ross Chastain
824William Byron
917Chris Buescher
1054Ty Gibbs
1112Ryan Blaney
128Kyle Busch
1371Michael McDowell
1448Alex Bowman
1519Chase Briscoe
1611Denny Hamlin
1722Joey Logano
1877Carson Hocevar
1999Daniel Suárez
202Austin Cindric
2160Ryan Preece
226Brad Keselowski
2338Zane Smith
2423Bubba Wallace
2534Todd Gilliland
2642John Hunter Nemechek
2743Erik Jones
284Noah Gragson
2947Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
307Justin Haley
3141Cole Custer
323Austin Dillon
3335Riley Herbst
3421Josh Berry
3510Ty Dillon
3651Cody Ware
3778Katherine Legge

Posted on by Brandon White

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.

RELATED: Complete results from Lancaster

“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
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.

Posted on by Staff Report

Nu-Way Auto Parts 150

Lancaster Motorplex

  • Race results:
Pos. No. Name Sponsor Laps Diff.
1 64 Austin Beers G&G Electric/Lumiere Electrical/AP Marquadt & Sons/Dell Electric/Andrew James Interiors/Hughes Motor 150  –
2 1 Patrick Emerling Fleetworks Inc. 150 0.684
3 60 Matt Hirschman Pee Dee Motorsports 150 2.128
4 22 Kyle Bonsignore MTT/ChaLew Performance/Munns Auto 150 3.342
5 14 Jacob Lutz* Advantage Trucks/Washtronic’s/Anastasi Trucking 150 4.007
6 3 Tyler Rypkema USNE Power/Northeast Drilling/J&R Pre-Cast 150 4.644
7 7 Luke Baldwin* Baldwin Automotoivw 150 4.772
8 51 Justin Bonsignore Phoenix Communications Inc 150 5.676
9 46 Craig Lutz Riverhead Building Supply 150 7.636
10 65 George Skora III* Zamkro Homes/Paint Right/East Eden Tavern 150 10.203
11 54 Tommy Catalano FX Caprara 150 10.562
12 84 Tyler Catalano Catalano Motorsports 150 10.984
13 56 Trevor Catalano USNE Power & Construction 150 11.521
14 77 Mike Christopher Jr* Curb Records/Mohawk Northeast 150 12.672
15 4 Ryan Newman USNE Power/First General 150 13.523
16 21 Stephen Kopcik* Newtown Pools/Wanick Construction 150 14.357
17 59 Tyler Barry* Pro Systems/BNP Machine/West Wind Tree Farm 149 1 Lap
18 18 Ken Heagy Hunter Mechanical 147 3 Laps
19 8 John-Michael Shenette USNE Power/Eighty-Two Services 142 8 Laps
20 26 Gary McDonald Lakeland Ave Landscape Supply 48 102 Laps

 

Posted on by Zach Sturniolo

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.

RELATED: Race results | Best photos from Sonoma

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.”

WATCH: SVG gives Zilisch thumbs-up in battle for lead

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.”

Connor Zilisch and Shane van Gisbergen race in the Xfinity Series at Sonoma.
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.”

RELATED: Relive Chicago’s final laps | Zilisch on SVG: ‘He pushes the entire field’

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.”

Posted on by Staff Report

Nu-Way Auto Parts 150

Lancaster Motorplex

  • Qualifying results
Pos No. Name Sponsor Best Tm Best Speed
1 60 Matt Hirschman Pee Dee Motorsports 54:14.4 102.881
2 1 Patrick Emerling Fleetworks Inc. 59:02.4 102.617
3 7 Luke Baldwin* Baldwin Automotive 08:09.6 102.337
4 54 Tommy Catalano FX Caprara 51:21.6 102.162
5 51 Justin Bonsignore Phoenix Communications Inc. 24:28.8 102.029
6 22 Kyle Bonsignore MTT/ChaLew Preformance/Munns Auto 17:45.6 101.816
7 56 Trevor Catalano USNE Power & Construction 39:21.6 101.729
8 21 Stephen Kopcik* Newtown Pools/ Wanick Construction 18:14.4 101.574
9 64 Austin Beers G&G Electrical Supply/Dell Electric 21:07.2 101.563
10 3 Tyler Rypkema USNE/Northeast Drilling/J&R Pre-Cast 25:26.4 101.546
11 46 Craig Lutz Riverhead Building Supply 51:21.6 101.443
12 14 Jacob Lutz* Advantage Trucks/Anastasi Trucking/Washtronics 55:40.8 101.426
13 4 Ryan Newman USNE/First General 05:45.6 101.386
14 77 Mike Christoper Jr.* Curb Records/Mohawk Northeast 10:04.8 101.368
15 65 George Skora III* Zamkro Homes/Paint Right/East Eden Tavern 23:02.4 101.317
16 84 Tyler Catalano Catalano Motorsports 16:19.2 100.402
17 59 Tyler Barry* Pro Systems/BNP Machine/West Wind Tree Farm 04:19.2 99.983
18 18 Ken Heagy Hunter Mechanical 23:31.2 99.679
19 8 John-Michael Shenette USNE Power/Eighty-Two Services 02:24.0 98.847
20 26 Gary McDonald Lakeland Avenue Landscape Supply 03:50.4 94.932