There wasn’t much else for Shane van Gisbergen to say after being taken out of Sunday’s Anduril 250 at Naval Base Coronado early — he knew the impact immediately.
“A real shame. Red Bull Chevy was unreal and fast once the track kind of rubbered up,” the No. 97 Trackhouse Chevrolet driver said, per the manufacturer. “Just a real shame.”
That was the sting of a high-profile weekend ending in the wrong place at the wrong time on a Stage 2 restart wreck. The No. 97 had speed, with van Gisbergen starting from the pole, leading early at Qualcomm Circuit and remaining among the obvious contenders on a track type where he has quickly become the Cup Series’ clearest measuring stick.
Then disaster struck, as a Lap 32 restart stack-up sent van Gisbergen into a multicar crash that ended what had looked like one of his best chances to score big points and instead left him with a season-worst 38th-place finish. The result was damaging on its own. The timing made it worse.
For a driver whose cleanest path into the Chase runs directly through road and street courses, San Diego was supposed to be a slam-dunk points haul. Instead, SVG left with a single point, his third consecutive finish of 30th or worse and a very different postseason picture than the one he carried into the weekend. Per Racing Insights, van Gisbergen was projected to score 45 points at San Diego — but after scoring just one, his probability to make the Chase dropped from 67% to 20%.
Now comes Sonoma, where the vibes have historically been laid-back, but this weekend will be anything but.
Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 in Wine Country is not quite a mathematical must-win for van Gisbergen, who enters the weekend 17th in the Chase standings and just five points behind Ryan Preece for the final provisional position. But it is something close to a must-convert moment after an extremely costly San Diego setback. Sonoma is the final road-course race on the 2026 Cup Series schedule, giving SVG one last chance this season to use his clearest advantage before the series shifts back to ovals and drafting tracks for the rest of the regular season and beyond.
That makes the situation more urgent for him, specifically, than the cutline alone suggests.
Van Gisbergen dropped three positions in the standings after San Diego and lost 15 points to the cutline. He had held a provisional Chase position after each of the previous five races before Sunday’s DNF and has fallen from 12th to 17th over the last three races. His recent slide is even sharper when measured against the bubble, as the New Zealander was 44 points above the cutline after Nashville on the final day of May. Barely three weeks later, he is now five points below it.
In the 2026 Chase format, a win is worth 55 points, but victory no longer provides an automatic postseason berth. That distinction matters here, particularly since he’s already visited Victory Lane this season. A Sonoma win would not simply erase the standings math by itself like his playoff appearance last year, but it would certainly deliver the jolt San Diego did not. A massive points day, a likely move back above the cutline and a badly needed correction after one of his best opportunities slipped away would offer the necessary pivot. If that doesn’t happen, the pressure could build quickly.
That said, few drivers have built a stronger case to deliver that kind of rebound on cue.
Chris Graythen | Getty Images
Van Gisbergen has seven road-course wins in just 15 Cup Series starts, including six victories in the last eight such races. Since the start of 2025, he has run inside the top five for 79% of laps and inside the top 10 for 90% of laps on road courses. In the Next Gen era, he leads all drivers in road-course wins, laps led and average finish.
The resume is already historic and still rapidly building. With a win Sunday, van Gisbergen would become the first driver to have each of his first eight Cup Series victories come on road courses — and he enters as the defending winner.
In his only Sonoma Cup start to date last year, van Gisbergen started from the pole, led 97 of 110 laps and cruised to Victory Lane. He ran every lap inside the top 10 and became the first pole winner to win at the track since 2004.
Everything on paper says this weekend will once again be his to lose — it’s just that San Diego showed the other side of that equation and how quickly that possibility can turn. The No. 97 had the pace, but the race became messy around him. He can’t control what he can’t control, but that doesn’t make Sonoma any less of a crucial pivot point.
The Chase bubble remains tight enough that van Gisbergen does not need a miracle just yet. Just 18 points separate positions 14 through 19, and SVG is only five points out with nine regular-season races remaining over two-plus months. But one clean, heavy-scoring afternoon could change the tone immediately and reenergize a team that appeared set for back-to-back postseason appearances but suddenly finds itself under immense pressure.
Homecomings are often a chance to reflect. For Corey Day, Saturday’s return to Sonoma Raceway (5:30 p.m. ET, The CW, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), 200 miles northwest of his hometown of Clovis, California, offers an opportunity to measure just how far he’s come during a rookie season filled with lessons learned at NASCAR’s national level.
Day has impressed the Hendrick Motorsports brass that put him in the No. 17 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series car full-time in 2026. He started off his first full season with a bang, stringing together eight consecutive top 10 finishes between the second and ninth races at EchoPark Speedway and Bristol Motor Speedway, respectively.
“Corey’s progress this season has been impressive to witness firsthand,” Adam Wall, crew chief of the No. 17 Chevrolet, said. “His ability to show up at new tracks and get up to speed as quickly as he does shows how talented he is. The expectations were obviously high going full-time with this program, but the start we had to the season was more than I think any of us could have expected with someone so new to this.”
The results have been strong, but the optics were less favorable to begin 2026. Day clashed with JR Motorsports’ No. 1 Chevrolet at EchoPark and Circuit of The Americas, leaving Carson Kvapil and Connor Zilisch, respectively, on the wrong end of contact. Considering the alliance between Hendrick and JRM, it was essentially a quasi-teammate being wrecked off Day’s front bumper.
Day took ownership of both incidents, admitting he needed to be better.
“Last year, I was just fast enough to crash and get myself into trouble,” Day told NASCAR.com. “I didn’t really have the speed to wreck anyone else. I was getting passed, not passing people. The start of this year, I started with a lot more speed than I had. There were a couple of times where I didn’t know what to do with it and made a mistake.”
With more seat time and a chat with Rick Hendrick, Day has stopped overstepping his boundaries. Compared to 2025, he’s seen notable improvements across the board.
“Just comfortability in the car,” Day said of the biggest improvement. “I can fire off for Lap 1 of the race or practice and know what the car is going to do and you can already feel what it’s going to do into Turn 1 before I get to Turn 1. Before, I was behind the race car. There was no anticipation of what the car was doing; it was driving me, per se. That’s been a big thing.”
2025 NASCAR Cup Series champion and Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson knew that with an entire offseason, Day would be a viable threat in 2026.
“He’s done great,” Larson told NASCAR.com. “I feel like the performance side of it has gone as I hoped and expected. I thought last year, I know the potential in Corey, so I was like, ‘Man, he’s not running as good as I thought he would.’
“This offseason, I was like, I think he’s going to adapt this year because you get to have consistency with your team, you are going to be higher in the (qualifying) metric. Everything has gone better.”
Sean Gardner | Getty Images
Day’s potential within the Hendrick ranks could be traced back to another Hendrick Motorsports icon. The Days — Corey’s father, Ronnie — crossed paths with Hendrick vice chairman and NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon on the sprint-car scene. That was the path Day was chasing until Larson gave his nod of approval to the powers that be at HMS, believing in the upstart’s natural ability.
“When you have a guy like Kyle who is racing on the track with [Day] and saying those types of things, it certainly gets our attention when we start looking down the road at up-and-coming drivers,” Gordon told NASCAR.com in a conversation last fall. “It’s not that we were planning for that, but when somebody comes along that has that type of talent, you start looking at it a little bit differently of what’s possible.”
The 2026 season has been highlighted by a pair of victories for the No. 17 team, as Day surprised himself at Talladega Superspeedway, the site of his first triumph. He followed it up three weeks later, passing regular-season championship leader Justin Allgaier in the closing laps at Dover Motor Speedway while using the high line.
“Talladega was my first [win], but Dover was my first real oval win, for sure,” Day noted. “It felt really good. That was such a team win. There was a little attrition, but I still owe it to my guys. You can’t have a shot to win those races at the end without a great car.”
The trajectory is positive, with additional improvement still attainable. In three of the last seven races, Day has had an incident on the opening lap of the race, resulting in DNFs at Texas Motor Speedway and Pocono Raceway. Last weekend at Naval Base Coronado, he collected a track cover on the opening lap, though he rallied to a top-10 result.
“I still get caught off guard once every race and make a mistake,” Day said. “I think that’s going to happen throughout your whole career; I don’t think anyone can be perfect. Some race craft stuff, my road-course ability has got some work to do. My speedway stuff, even though I won a race, I really don’t know what I’m doing yet. Still a lot to work on.”
After signing a developmental deal with Hendrick in December of 2024, he zagged across the country, akin to a graduating high school senior moving away for their freshman year of college. But it’s been a robust start to his NASCAR tenure for the 20-year-old, ranking third in the standings, 14 markers below reigning champion Jesse Love for a distant second to Allgaier. And by the time The Chase rolls around, Larson believes the No. 17 team could play spoiler to Allgaier.
“I feel like he’s probably the second-best team right now to Allgaier, with much more potential within himself and the team still learning,” Larson said. “Obviously, Justin has so much experience, and that’s why he can outrace some of these people and knows what he feels. I think when Corey learns more of that, he’s going to be ready once The Chase comes and hopefully be able to challenge Justin for the championship.”
The last time Lee Pulliam contested the entirety of the Virginia Late Model Triple Crown presented by FloRacing, he ended up securing his second championship in the three-race stretch.
That was in 2019. Now one of Late Model Stock Car racing’s heralded kings of the southeast is hoping and preparing to add another crown to his long list of conquests.
Pulliam’s pursuit of a third Virginia Triple Crown will see him team back up with JR Motorsports after making his NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series debut with the team at Martinsville Speedway in March. Sponsoring Pulliam’s No. 8 Chevrolet for the effort will be the NASCAR Channel, a free, 24/7 streaming network.
A few years ago, Pulliam never imagined he would have support from JR Motorsports or NASCAR for even one race, especially after transitioning to team ownership. The circumstances in which Pulliam finds himself are why he is so excited about chasing the Virginia Triple Crown as a driver once again.
“It’s super gratifying and humbling to drive these race cars,” Pulliam said. “To do it with JR Motorsports is an unbelievable opportunity, and to have the NASCAR Channel on board, it just speaks volumes really of [how much] everybody at NASCAR and JRM believe in me. It’s a really big deal and an honor I don’t take lightly.”
If it were up to Pulliam, he would have continued chasing Virginia Triple Crowns after his 2019 title. Sponsorship became more of an issue as the years progressed, which forced him to make a tough-but-necessary decision to step away from full-time driving at the turn of the decade.
Despite the change in direction, Pulliam maintained a lasting impact not only on Late Model Stocks, but also across motorsports. Drivers like Corey Heim and Brenden “Butterbean” Queen enjoyed plenty of success through Lee Pulliam Performance, which has also helped develop aspiring female competitors like Isabella Robusto and Lanie Buice.
Yet a burning desire remained inside Pulliam to turn laps alongside the drivers he mentored. Other than a handful of starts in 2020, Pulliam remained out of the seat, but he never lost hope about one day putting his fire suit back on to chase another win.
“It’s something about driving; that’s what got me into this sport,” Pulliam said. “My passion was to be behind the wheel. I never wanted to not be behind the wheel. Circumstances led to that.”
Before he stepped away from driving, Lee Pulliam had amassed a stellar short-track resumé that included four NASCAR Local Racing Series national titles, two ValleyStar Credit Union 300 victories and two Virginia Triple Crown championships. (Photo: Sara D. Davis / NASCAR via Getty Images)
The catalyst that ultimately got Pulliam back into racing was a family emergency, as his father Stuart was hospitalized in 2024 after a Whipple procedure led to kidney failure in dialysis. Pulliam made a promise to a recovering Stuart that if his health improved, he would find the funding to go run the 2024 ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville Speedway.
Pulliam indeed made his return to Late Model Stock competition in the discipline’s crown jewel event; he finished 13th after starting eighth. Not satisfied with his performance, Pulliam returned to Martinsville the following year with one of the best cars, as he qualified on the outside pole and led 44 of 200 laps.
Although he ended up losing the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 to Landon Pembelton by 0.024 seconds in overtime, Pulliam’s comeback captivated many in the Late Model Stock industry who either watched him race or had heard stories about his rivalries with other accomplished drivers.
One of the first to contact Pulliam after that runner-up showing was Dale Earnhardt Jr., a longtime friend. It did not take long for the two motorsports legends to start deliberating on how to put Pulliam in a JR Motorsports car.
“[Dale Jr.] just felt really touched by the whole story of me coming back after being gone for so long and how close I was to winning [Martinsville],” Pulliam said. “It tugged on him to want to do something together, because he could see I still had that passion and fire. We just connected from there.”
The Thanksgiving Classic at Southern National Motorsports Park that November saw Pulliam climb into a JR Motorsports Late Model Stock for the first time. Pulliam displayed the same efficiency with Earnhardt Jr.’s equipment that had followed him throughout his storied career, ultimately finishing second.
A few months later, JR Motorsports helped Pulliam fulfill a childhood dream in his first national NASCAR start at Martinsville, a track at which he’d won twice in a Late Model Stock. Nearly everything about the opportunity went according to plan for Pulliam, who ended his day in fifth after leading 40 laps in the closing stages.
Walking across the stage during O’Reilly Series driver introductions and listening to the uproarious cheers from the crowd was an emotional moment for Pulliam. Such a reality was something Pulliam had worked diligently over nearly two decades to obtain, which is why he will always be grateful to JR Motorsports for helping him reach that long-overdue milestone.
Given how great their first two ventures together went, Pulliam felt it made too much sense to attempt the Virginia Triple Crown with JR Motorsports.
“We’re racers,” Pulliam said. “Dale’s a racer; Bryan Shaffer is a racer. Bryan does a tremendous job, and our friendship has grown over the years. Bryan has crew chiefed the No. 8 and the No. 88 while I’ve been a crew chief to my cars. We always try to help each other at the race tracks when the other one needs something.
“Dale wanted to go racing, wanted a shot to win, and felt like I was his guy. That was good enough for me. I was all in.”
Lee Pulliam is teaming back up with JR Motorsports for the Virginia Triple Crown after he finished fifth with the team for his NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series debut at Martinsville Speedway. (Photo: Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images)
An avid supporter of Late Model Stock racing, Earnhardt Jr. believes Pulliam embodies all the characteristics that make the discipline so special to him, grit, determination and all the accolades that come with it. From Earnhardt Jr,’s perspective, it is only fitting that Pulliam is back in a Late Model Stock for all three Virginia Triple Crown presented by FloRacing events.
Two top fives in two races for JR Motorsports across two different cars is only reinforcing Earnhardt Jr.’s confidence in Pulliam’s ability as the two prepare for the opening round of the Virginia Triple Crown presented by FloRacing at South Boston Speedway.
“I’m pretty excited to continue working with Lee,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “He’s had a good impact on our company and his story resonates with the NASCAR fan. I have no doubt that he and Caden [Kvapil] will represent us well on and off the track chasing the historic [Virginia] Triple Crown [presented by FloRacing].”
Earnhardt Jr. and Pulliam are also ecstatic to carry the NASCAR Channel colors for the entirety of the Virginia Triple Crown presented by FloRacing. Established in 2025, the NASCAR Channel offers a variety of content that includes original programming, race replays and live events that will include the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville later this year.
The NASCAR Channel is available on Xumo Play, Tubi, Prime Video, Fire TV, Roku, Samsung TV, FLS and Tablo TV.
As the motorsports industry in the United States continues to evolve, Pulliam emphasized the importance of drivers like him getting the recognition they deserve in the modern era. He sees the NASCAR Channel as a great way to accomplish that goal, but he also feels honored to have NASCAR branding on his car for three of the most prestigious Late Model Stock events.
“That’s a tremendous deal to have the NASCAR Channel on board,” Pulliam said. “I’m super stoked about that and proud to represent them. That part of the sport is continuing to grow as far as people subscribing and watching racing. I hope to help promote it even further. I’m going to do all I can to get the NASCAR Channel No. 8 in Victory Lane.”
The Virginia Triple Crown presented by FloRacing will serve as the NASCAR Channel’s first foray into race sponsorship. Dan Barker, the Senior Managing Director of Content Strategy and Distribution at NASCAR, admitted the idea materialized from a break-room conversation at the NASCAR Production Facility in Concord, North Carolina.
Barker sees the NASCAR Channel’s partnership with Pulliam and JR Motorsports as a victory for everyone involved. He said it allows the NASCAR Channel to further sustain its exponential growth while simultaneously supporting a high-caliber short track competitor like Pulliam.
“Everything we do at the NASCAR Channel and in regional broadcasting is for the fans,” Barker said. “Lee Pulliam is one of the biggest names in late model racing and a huge fan favorite. It made sense to us to partner with Lee, FloSports and JRM around the Triple Crown and make sure that all race fans are able to watch those events for free.”
The alliance between Pulliam, JR Motorsports and the NASCAR Channel has a great chance to start on a perfect note in the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200, especially with how efficient Pulliam has been at South Boston during his career.
The 2013 South Boston track champion, Pulliam notably won the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 six consecutive times from 2011-16. He also took home a checkered flag in South Boston’s season-opener this year, the first time he had won a race of any kind since 2019.
Lee Pulliam possesses a stellar record at South Boston Speedway, which includes winning the facility’s prestigious Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 six consecutive times. (Photo: NASCAR)
Pulliam has witnessed South Boston endure plenty of changes throughout his career, from the drivers that regularly race there to the track surface that was repaved in 2016. Many of Pulliam’s triumphs occurred on South Boston’s old surface, but he feels confident about his comfort level with the current pavement after his win there in March.
A 200-lap race around South Boston is going to be much different than a local show; there will be more emphasis on a patience alongside increased risks with so many cars entered. For the first leg of the Virginia Triple Crown to go smoothly, Pulliam intends to work closely with Shaffer to ensure his car has plenty of speed in time for qualifying.
“[South Boston] is tough race track,” Pulliam said. “The key is knowing where to position yourself through the race. It’s so tough to pass nowadays with the cars being so equal. I feel like track position is a premium and qualifying will be a big deal. Sometimes the top comes in, sometimes [everyone] will be down on the flat.
“There always seems to be a big wreck in [the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200] at some point, so you have to try to avoid that so you have something to fight with at the end.”
Pulliam is not concerned about speed, as JR Motorsports enters as the reigning Virginia Triple Crown and Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 champion with Connor Hall. Combined with the fact that he will have a proven Late Model Stock winner in Caden Kvapil as a teammate, Pulliam envisions a great weekend at South Boston.
As he works with JR Motorsports throughout the weekend, Pulliam still has to double as an owner for his own operation. Lee Pulliam Performance is fielding two cars for the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson, one driven by Carson Brown and the other by Queen, who will attempt the first two legs of the Triple Crown in a Pulliam car.
Nothing would make Pulliam happier than to see the top four spots of the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 get swept by JR Motorsports and Lee Pulliam Performance. There are a lot of responsibilities for Pulliam to shoulder, but he knows streamlining his focus will be the best avenue for both teams to finish well Saturday.
The Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 is only the first of three chapters. The Virginia Triple Crown presented by FloRacing is the big prize up for grabs at the end. Health-wise, Pulliam feels he has never been more ready physically and mentally to square up with the best drivers in the Late Model Stock discipline.
Fueled by a desire to prove he is still at the top of his game despite a prolonged absence from racing, Pulliam is determined to reward the faith JR Motorsports, the NASCAR Channel and everyone else has in him.
“I’ve got a lot of fire and tenacity to go get it done and be successful,” Pulliam said. “[It’s all about] a never-give-up attitude. I love this stuff; I love driving race cars. It was my passion; it still is my passion. For me, it means even more this time around, because I went so many years without driving at all. It’s just really special to me.
“I’ve been the guy that’s had to watch everybody take the green flag for a long time, and I felt like I belonged out there in all those races. That’s a tough pill to swallow at times, but I’m using it as motivation this round. It’s a very hungry Lee Pulliam, I’ll tell you that.”
A lot may have changed for Pulliam since the last time he won a Triple Crown, but the driver who developed a reputation as a hard-nosed, spirited Late Model Stock competitor still embodies those qualities today.
With a great team and a rejuvenated mindset at his disposal, Pulliam has everything necessary to add onto his storied legacy.
NASCAR officials issued a penalty to the No. 23 23XI Racing team in the NASCAR Cup Series following last weekend’s action at Naval Base Coronado, the sanctioning body announced Tuesday.
Rear-tire changer Adam Hartman and jackman Nathan Ricketts have been suspended for the next two events, running through Chicagoland Speedway on July 5, after a detachment of Bubba Wallace’s right-front wheel on Lap 18 in Sunday’s Anduril 250 on the Qualcomm Circuit at Naval Base Coronado, causing a caution and violating Sections 8.8.10.4.A&D in the NASCAR Rule Book.
Despite the caution and subsequent two-lap penalty, Wallace finished the race in second, his best finish so far in 2026.
The Cup Series competes at Sonoma Raceway on Sunday (3:30 p.m. ET, TNT Sports, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), commencing the 2026 In-Season Challenge.
SOUTH BOSTON, Va. – Connor Hall says winning South Boston Speedway’s Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 the past two years was special. How about three in a row?
“I feel like three would just be the cherry on top,” Hall said. “I feel that would be a pretty big statement.”
The possibility of winning the race for the third straight year has lured Hall to return to South Boston Speedway for the 20th running of the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 on Saturday night, June 27. He will be driving the No. 22 Nelson Motorsports entry, the same one he drove to victory in his first triumph in the event.
“Joining back up with Nelson Motorsports was a no brainer,” Hall remarked. “The biggest goal was winning the 200 because I feel like other than Lee (Lee Pulliam, who won the race six years in a row) I’m the only person that maybe has an opportunity of winning it three times in a row.
“I thought it would be something cool to go after,” added Hall, “so that led me to asking Barry (Nelson Motorsports team owner Barry Nelson) and things happened right.”
Nelson said having Hall back behind the wheel is a great fit for his team.
“Connor’s almost like family,” Nelson pointed out. “He wanted to come back and have me provide a car for him to race at South Boston. I said ‘I’m in for that.’ I told him I’ll do what I could to help him.
“It just feels right,” Nelson added. “We’ve had a lot of success, and a lot of laughs, and cried a little bit.”
Connor Hall drove the Nelson Motorsports No. 22 to victory in the 2024 Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200, a feat he hopes to replicate Saturday. (Photo: Susan Wong/NASCAR)
Hall’s first win in the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 came when he was racing full-time with Nelson Motorsports. Nelson feels Hall has as a great shot to give his team another Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 win.
“I’ve always said I don’t go to a race track, and I don’t think I can win,” Nelson pointed out. “I’m a competitive person. I coached baseball for 20 years with college kids. I never walked into a baseball field that I don’t think I can win. You’ve got to have that attitude. You’ve got to be prepared and have the right attitude, the right pieces and the driver. It’s a combination of things.”
Hall’s 2024 Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 win with Nelson Motorsports was a dramatic one. A tire issue after qualifying forced Hall to start at the rear of the field. He rallied throughout the race, picking off one car after another, and ultimately edged Trevor Ward for the win.
“It was just one of those days where everything went right,” Hall explained. “We had a really, really good car and got to the top. I think I got to fifth or sixth by halfway and was able to relax a little bit and go to work. The car was turning well, and I was able to make it work. Things went the right way and we found ourselves up front.”
Hall was enveloped in an entirely different race in the 2025 Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200. Driving the No. 88 for JR Motorsports, the two-time NASCAR national champion started last year’s race in the top five and had to battle several drivers including Matt Waltz and Tate Fogleman throughout the 200-lap event.
“Last year was just a completely different style of race than the year prior, so that was fun for me,” Hall remarked. “It felt like Craftsman Truck Series racing. I was running the top on one end and the bottom on another, and all over the place just trying to take away lines and what not.”
Hall’s focus is on winning the first two races of the Virginia Late Model Triple Crown presented by FloRacing – the June 27 Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 at South Boston Speedway and the July 25 running of the Hampton Heat 200 at his home track, Larry King Law’s Langley Speedway.
“Our effort is on the first two races of the Triple Crown,” Hall noted. “I don’t know if I will be able to make the third race. That’s to be determined at a later date. Right now, I’m going to try to win both 200s, and then see where we stand going into Martinsville.”
Connor Hall won the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 for the second time last season while driving for JR Motorsports. (Photo: Ted Malinowski/NASCAR)
Hall pointed out that fans will not want to miss the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 at South Boston Speedway.
“South Boston’s one of the best facilities in the country for short track racing,” he noted. “They do a lot for fan hospitality and making sure it’s a great event, a great time, whether you are a fan or a driver. It’s just super racy by the end of it, and I think it’s a really fun race to watch and see how it all shakes out.”
The 20th running of the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 on Saturday night, June 27 is the opening race of the Virginia Late Model Triple Crown presented by FloRacing, and is South Boston Speedway’s showcase event.
Headlining the four-race Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 event is a 200-lap race for the track’s Hitachi Energy Late Model Stock Car Division paying $10,000 to win. The winner will receive a guaranteed starting position in the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville Speedway in September.
Also included are a 40-lap race for the Budweiser Limited Sportsman Division, a 20-lap race for the Southside Disposal Pure Stock Division and a 15-lap race for the Dollar General Hornets Division.
There will be an on-track driver autograph session, and a colorful fireworks show will light up the night sky after the final race of the night.
Adult advance tickets are priced at $20 each. Adult admission at the gate on race day is $25. Seniors ages 65 and older, veterans and military personnel, first responders, healthcare workers and students with ID may purchase tickets for $20 each at the gate on race day. Kids ages 12 and under are admitted free.
The June 27 race day schedule has pit gates opening at 11 a.m., frontstretch spectator gates opening at 11:30 a.m., and practice beginning at 1 p.m. Backstretch and Turn 4 parking gates are set to open at 3:30 p.m. Qualifying will start at 3:35 p.m., and an on-track driver autograph session will be held from 5 p.m. until 6 p.m. Pre-race ceremonies are set for 6:30 p.m. and the first race will get the green flag at 7 p.m.
Goodyear will bring its proven road-course tire setup to Sonoma Raceway this weekend as the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series continue their West Coast road-racing swing.
The Goodyear Racing Eagle tire packages for this weekend’s events at Sonoma are identical to those used last weekend at San Diego’s Naval Base Coronado. But the 1.99-mile, 12-turn Northern California road course presents a much different challenge with its elevation changes and flowing permanent-course layout.
The Cup Series tire package was introduced at the start of last season and has already been used this year at Circuit of The Americas, Watkins Glen International and San Diego. The current 15-inch road-course tire for the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series was introduced at Sonoma last year and has been used at every road-course event since.
Unlike Goodyear’s oval-track tire packages, the same tire specification is used on both sides of the car. Teams in both series will also have wet-weather tires available if needed.
“The Goodyear Racing Eagle tire setups for this weekend are very familiar to teams, especially after running them last weekend in San Diego,” said Rick Heinrich, Goodyear NASCAR product manager. “While Sonoma is very different from San Diego, with significant elevation changes and a more traditional permanent road course layout, these tire setups have consistently performed on road courses, so we expect the same this weekend.”
Tire allotments for each team competing this weekend:
Cup Series: 7 dry-weather sets — 5 new sets for the race, 1 for qualifying that transfers to the race and 1 for practice. Teams will also have 6 wet-weather sets available.
O’Reilly Auto Parts Series: 5 dry-weather sets — 3 new sets for the race, 1 for qualifying that transfers to the race and 1 for practice. Teams will also have 4 wet-weather sets available.
Anybody who might be tire’d of the talk of the town on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour in 2026 should brace for more as the season progresses.
And that’s a good thing.
The introduction of American Racer as the Tour’s official tire supplier this season has brought a mixed bag of feedback through six of the 16 scheduled races. Some teams have thrived on the tires while others have expressed frustration. Jon McKennedy, the 2022 series champion and a two-time race winner this year, put it simply: “Some guys like them, and some guys don’t.”
This is why NASCAR and American Racer have been and will continue to be so focused on the tires in 2026. These steps were anticipated after a preseason tire test at Florida’s New Smyrna Speedway. Despite agreement between the series and race teams that American Racer’s product would be ideal for the Tour, all parties understood the introduction of a new tire would bring a relatively unknown variable.
“We all realized this would be a work in progress,” Modified Tour director Gary Putnam said.
Added Patrick Emerling, a Modified Tour regular who competes part-time in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series: “Everybody knows, when you introduce a new tire, there’s always going to be bugs that are going to be worked out. As a team, the series and the tire manufacturer, we’re all in it together. Everybody wants a good product on the race track. I think it’s going to be figured out during the season.”
Scott Junod, the Director of Racing at American Racer, has seen it all through 41 years in the business, 28 at Goodyear and 13 at his current post. So when Modified Tour teams during and after the April 12 Icebreaker 150 at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park expressed growing concerns over the sizing consistency of the tires, he knew how to respond.
The crux of the feedback: Sizing inconsistencies in the tires were impacting stagger, or the difference in circumference between the lefts and rights.
“Anytime you’re dealing with a bias ply tire, and you have guys who are relying on it and how it behaves with a very sophisticated suspension package that these cars have, then the tire becomes a link in that chain,” Junod said. “It’s ideal if it’s exactly where you think it is. But bias ply tires don’t always behave exactly as you hope they might.
“For example, the right side target circumference is 84 inches. In reality, there’s a bell curve that forms around 84 inches, and you can get a tire anywhere between 85 and 83 inches out of that same build. Because it’s a bias ply tire, and there’s that much variation in them inherently.
“We made a spec change in how we handle the tire both pre- and post-cure to make that less variable in size after the tire is on the track and heats up. By the time we got to Seekonk, we had already implemented the change. We got feedback that there was a pretty dramatic improvement in that.”
While teams expressed optimism after that Seekonk race on May 16, there was still work to be done ahead of the next event, at New York’s Riverhead Raceway on May 30. Putnam said teams were concerned they wouldn’t have enough stagger available for Riverhead, a quarter-mile bullring.
So American Racer implemented a couple tweaks: a nylon angle change to further control the tire’s growth, and a smaller tire size, as well.
Putnam said the changes were well received at Riverhead. He also cited the fact that a handful of Riverhead regulars, drivers who don’t typically compete on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and had never raced on these tires, ran competitively that day and night.
McKennedy didn’t win that race; Riverhead regular Mark Stewart did. But McKennedy won the aforementioned Seekonk race and the June 6 event at Oxford Plains Speedway in Maine.
“I felt like the last race or two, from what I could hear throughout the pits and my experience, it seems like it has been much better,” McKennedy said after the Oxford Plains race. “Again, it’s a brand new deal. We’re only six races in, so I think with a little bit of time, it can only get better.
“I think it has made it more of a level playing field for the simple fact that everyone entered this year with an unknown. No one really had any notes. All the notes everyone had from the previous years at these tracks you can’t use anymore, because these tires are so much different. It kind of puts it more in a window of who can adapt to the tire quicker and who can figure it out.
“At the end of the day, I think that puts the driver a little more at hand.”
(Photo: Anna Griffin/NASCAR)
Emerling in his assessment of the tires also noted the dynamic that is a schedule with so many unique tracks. He says “the perfect tire at every race track” is a tough mark to hit, noting that the season-opener at New Smyrna was smooth, but mixed feedback arrived with the March 28 race at Martinsville Speedway and beyond.
That’s why more modifications are on the horizon. Putnam visited American Racer’s factory in Indiana, Pennsylvania after the Oxford Plains race and left impressed by how “detail-oriented” they were in each process of the tire building. They agreed on their next move.
The Tour after the Riverhead race tested a softer right-side compound that did show more wear but not enough of a “needle mover” for the drivers in terms of feel. So American Racer instead will implement another nylon angle change for the rights, which should continue to address the sizing consistency. Putnam says that will be ready for the race at Claremont Motorsports Park on July 10. American Racer will also reduce the size of some of the rights so teams can have a better selection from which to choose.
Additionally, Putnam says, NASCAR and American Racer will look at another softer compound on the right side. They’re eyeing the August races for those, hopefully after the sizing factor has stabilized.
Finally, by the end of the year, American Racer will have a completely new design for NASCAR to test.
Junod is happy to work with the teams and the series through the feedback — albeit, mixed feedback — in an effort to provide ideal products. He did caution, though, the fact that change can involve concession.
“We’ve had zero product-related failures,” Junod said. “That’s an important measurable. So if we’re going to make any product change, we have to keep that in mind. Zero is that target. We don’t want to upset that calculus going forward. There’s no such thing as a race tire that doesn’t involve some compromise. If I want the tire to have more grip, OK, then chances are I have to deal with the possibility of the rubber heating up and blistering. I have to worry about it giving up faster. There’s all sorts of things.
“The size is an ongoing fight. It changes with the weather; I know it sounds kind of crazy. But the humidity and the temperature and the things that go on inside a factory affects some of that stuff. We’re trying to make sure we’re doing everything we can here that the tire is stable, has been handled properly, before we measure it. And then our measuring equipment is dead on. We continue to work on those things. We’ve remeasured everything we’ve had to make sure it’s stable and accurate. We’re trying to respond to those issues people have brought up.”
(Photo: Adam Glanzman/NASCAR)
Emerling, who plays a massive role in USNEPower Motorsports on top of driving the race car, isn’t running as well this year as he did in 2025, when he won a pair of races. He said he’s not entirely sure to what extent his setups as they relate to the tires are to blame for that performance. (Which is relative; he’s fourth in the championship standings, just 12 points off the lead.)
What Emerling is sure about, though, is the cost savings that have come with the introduction of American Racer, part of the reason the Tour made the change for 2026 in the first place.
“It helps,” Emerling said. “NASCAR putting in the effort to save. Even on top of the savings on the tire, they did change their rules a little. Not every race is a pit stop race, and stuff like that. That adds up to a season and definitely helps.”
Putnam echoed the sentiment: “Your mid-level teams, it’s definitely a reason why some of them are doing it. (Some teams) probably wouldn’t be able to compete without that.”
Putnam is uniquely experienced with this type of change; he worked at Trackhouse Racing when NASCAR ushered in the Next Gen car for the Cup Series. He compared the current climate on the Modified Tour to the challenges Cup teams encountered in 2022, when simple parts weren’t readily available, and multiple redesigns took place over the span of a full year.
The difference, of course, is the fact that many Modified Tour team members address their cars on a part-time basis as opposed to the full-time operation of a Cup team.
“So when you introduce something like this that requires extra effort,” Putnam said, “not everybody’s going to be up to doing it.”
So NASCAR and American Racer will keep working to address concerns that have been and will continue to be raised.
Unlike those featured in a certain soccer tournament taking place over the summer, this goal is a moving target, but one upon which they’ll keep shooting.
CORONADO, Calif. — Don’t ever count out Kyle Larson.
A third-place finish Sunday at Naval Base Coronado has the defending NASCAR Cup Series champion back inside the top five in the Cup Series points standings for the first time since May. And with a points reset lurking for The Chase in September, all he needs is a chance.
Larson still trails series leader Tyler Reddick by 180 points with nine races remaining in NASCAR’s regular season, all in the midst of a 41-race winless streak that dates back to May 2025. But after leading laps in each of the last five races and collecting four top-five finishes in that span, the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet is lurking, with hopes to pounce on Toyota’s success soon, as Joe Gibbs Racing and 23XI Racing have won 11 of 17 races in 2026 — including each of the last four.
“We’re definitely finding momentum, and our race cars are getting better,” Larson told NASCAR.com following Sunday’s race across the San Diego Bay. “It’s giving me more confidence, all the good things that you need. Just got to keep it going, you know? I feel like we’re still a bit off of being the best and wins becoming easier, but if we keep swinging, we’ll eventually get one, and hopefully with that, get more points and get a little bit further up.”
Despite a mid-spring swing that resulted in four finishes of 23rd or worse in a five-race span, crew chief Cliff Daniels believes his team never lost its momentum. That attitude is rooted in the No. 5 team’s resilience late in 2025, when Larson and Co. rallied without wins to win the championship in the season finale at Phoenix Raceway. That mindset paid dividends as the team entered 2026 with a new Chevrolet body to optimize.
“By the end of 2025, we had already seen the [surge] of the Toyotas, and we weren’t the upper echelon of speed,” Daniels told NASCAR.com. “And I think that carried over into the early part of this year. At the same time, us just getting our arms wrapped around the body that I still think is good and fine, and we probably have had some overreaction to at times. So now we’re getting settled in on that. Our team has been very locked into our process this whole time. We’ve had some new guys come onto our team this year, and just trying to get everybody up to speed and locked in.
“Everybody’s really working well together. And at this point of the season, that’s when you want to be putting those top fives on the board, knowing that your team process is getting smooth, and everybody’s just chipping away. So we’re going to stay on that path, and we’ll see what lies ahead.”
Sean Gardner | Getty Images
Larson led 11 of 75 laps around the San Diego street course Sunday and posted the day’s top average running position at 6.45, earning the fourth-most points of the race in the process. For a moment, victory was not just back on Larson’s mind but in his sights.
“It was a great day for us. Thought I had a good shot to win there,” Larson said. “Then the caution came out, and I still felt I got a good shot, but then the 23XI cars were just so fast there, so yeah, that was tough. But yeah, I mean, a super clean day for us on a challenging track. I’ll take it. Another top five and a good points day. We need those, and just happy to move on.”
Both Larson and Daniels lauded the milestone marquee race, NASCAR’s first on an active United States military base.
“It was awesome. I hope everybody enjoyed the race today,” Larson said as he approached the Cup garage — seemingly swallowed by the masses at once. “It was just a great atmosphere all weekend long, even from Friday. Friday, I think, it sounded like, was just open to the Navy base. But yeah, as you can see, the crowd’s crazy.”
From course design to event execution to the sacred ground at which NASCAR raced, Daniels heaped praise on all who coordinated Sunday’s motorsport achievement.
“Huge kudos to NASCAR, to the Navy, for everybody putting on this kind of event,” Daniels said. “We absolutely need to take care of our die-hard race fans with the North Wilkesboros and the Martinsvilles. We need to make sure we take care of all of our core fan base, but then at the same time, what we can showcase of our sport here, I think, is very special. I think it’s really important, and I think everybody made just for a great event here this weekend — the facility, the track, just the welcoming. Everything that we had here was really well done. So a lot of gratitude to our sport and to the Navy for making all that happen.”
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — NASCAR Studios, in partnership with Emmy® Award-winning studio Words + Pictures, today announced that Season 2 of its acclaimed documentary series RISING will stream exclusively on Xumo Play, continuing an inside look at the sport’s next generation of stars as they navigate the pressure, promise and unpredictability of professional stock car racing.
Under the agreement, Xumo Play, a free ad-supported TV (FAST) service available across all major streaming platforms that offers hundreds of channels and thousands of on-demand titles, will serve as the exclusive streaming home of RISING Season 2 for six months following the release of the final installment. Episodes will also be published on NASCAR’s YouTube channel 14 days after their original air date on Xumo Play.
“With the launch of RISING Season 2 exclusively on Xumo Play, we’re building on the partnership we established with Xumo last year to expand our digital footprint and make the sport more accessible to fans across the country,” said Alma Angeles-Parvaz, vice president, partnership marketing, NASCAR. “Xumo’s focus on simplicity and discoverability complements NASCAR’s approach to storytelling and content, creating a strong alignment that helps us better serve fans and bring them closer to the sport.”
Season 2 of RISING expands on the momentum generated by the breakout first season that has generated over 11 million views over five episodes across NASCAR’s YouTube channel and FOX Sports networks with unprecedented access to some of the sport’s most compelling personalities and emerging talents. Season 1 is available to watch on-demand on Xumo Play.
“Our relationship with NASCAR continues to evolve with the forthcoming launch of RISING season 2 on Xumo Play,” said Fern Feistel, Vice President, Marketing, Xumo. “Serving as the exclusive streaming home for the new season underscores our commitment to the sport and to delivering premium programming that resonates with fans.”
Among the featured drivers this season:
Carson Hocevar returns after emerging as a breakout personality in the first season of RISING when he had a pair of second-place finishes in the Cup Series and backed down from no one. Known for his fearless driving style and prodigious talent, the 23-year-old Portage, Michigan native has become even more of a force this season, earning his first Cup Series victory at storied Talladega in April and putting himself in prime position to qualify for the postseason Chase.
Connor Zilisch, widely regarded as NASCAR’s top prospect since Jeff Gordon, makes his RISING debut as he tackles his first full-time NASCAR Cup Series campaign with Trackhouse Racing. Nicknamed “The Prodigy,” the 19-year-old has dominated nearly every level of motorsports he has entered since beginning his racing journey at age four. After winning 11 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts races last season, Zilisch has been facing the steep learning curve of competing against NASCAR’s elite while balancing the realities of life as a teenager still living at home in suburban Charlotte.
Brenden “Butterbean” Queen has undertaken an extraordinary – and unlikely – rise from longshoreman to NASCAR driver and ARCA champion. With a memorable nickname (“Butterbean”), a signature look (mullet), and a dedicated following (“Bean Nation”), the 28-year-old everyman has emerged as one of the most colorful drivers in the sport. Until 2022, Queen worked daily 12-hour shifts as a third-generation longshoreman in Virginia, until he decided to make driving his full-time priority. This year marks his first full season in the Truck Series as part of the newly launched RAM team.
RISING continues NASCAR’s commitment to showcasing the personalities, sacrifices and stories behind the helmets while giving fans unprecedented access to the sport’s future stars.
Episodes will be released monthly beginning in August.
“RISING was created to give fans a deeper connection to the drivers shaping the future of NASCAR, and Season 2 continues to fulfill that mission,” said John Dahl, SVP, Content, NASCAR. “These are compelling young personalities navigating immense pressure and opportunity in real time, and through our partnership with Words + Pictures and Xumo Play, we’re able to bring audiences closer than ever to their journeys.”
The project was produced by Full Speed Entertainment the production partnership between NASCAR Studios and Words + Pictures which focuses on elevating the cultural footprint of NASCAR, its drivers, and teams through bold storytelling, talent-driven initiatives, premium content, and large-scale specials.
RISING is executive produced by Tim Clark and John Dahl from NASCAR Studios, along with Connor Schell, Libby Geist, Aaron Cohen and Tally Hair from Words + Pictures. It’s directed and produced by Matthew Chase from Words + Pictures.
Analysis: Four in a row coming at a fresh street course probably wasn’t ever much of a realistic probability for Hamlin, but the middling result still wasn’t enough to knock him from the top spot. No. 11 started 26th at San Diego, finished 14th, gained ground on Tyler Reddick anyway and now sits just eight points out of the regular-season lead after spending the past month turning what looked like a blowout into a real fight. Sonoma is not exactly his personal playground either, with no wins and a 20.1 average finish in 19 starts, but Hamlin does have four top fives, seven top 10s, a pole and 135 laps led there. He doesn’t need to win this weekend to stay No. 1, but if he runs well at one of his trickier tracks, the “sport is running through him” viewpoint only gets harder to dispute.
Analysis: Reddick’s San Diego day somehow managed to be impressive, painful and a little alarming all at once. After starting at the rear because of unapproved adjustments, No. 45 surged into position to potentially steal the inaugural street-course race, leading nine laps late and looking like he might deliver a counterpunch to Hamlin’s recent run before a flat left front in the closing laps knocked him to 25th. He still owns the points lead, for now, but that margin is down to eight markers, and the cushion that once felt untouchable is super gone. Sonoma could be the right place to stop the squeeze, though, with the excellent road-course racer Reddick owning a 5.4 average start, two top 10s and 35 laps led in five races there. | MORE: Reddick dejected after Coronado loss: ‘Today’s result’s on me’
Analysis: Blaney quietly had one of the most productive San Diego weekends, winning Stage 1, leading 12 laps, finishing ninth and gaining 33 points on the cutline to push his already-safe Chase position even further into “don’t worry about it” territory. The larger question remains whether No. 12 can become more than the best of the non-Hamlin/Reddick group, but the gap between third and the field behind him is real. Sonoma has been decent enough, with five top 10s in nine starts, though only one top five and a 17.7 average finish suggest it has not quite been a competitive track for him. Still, Blaney keeps stacking quality weeks, and that has value even when it isn’t headline-catching.
Analysis: Larson still doesn’t have a 2026 win, which still makes next to no sense, but the No. 5 has become tremendously relevant again in recent weeks. He finished third at San Diego, led 11 laps and was part of the late-race battle for the win before the 23XI contingent stole the spotlight around him. That still gives Larson four top fives in his last five races and 608 laps led on the season — obviously not the resume of a team far away from Victory Lane. Sonoma might be the most obvious place on the schedule for the breakthrough to finally land. Larson has two Cup wins there, four poles, 116 laps led and a ridiculous 4.5 average start in 11 appearances. It would be very on brand for the Californian’s first win of the year to show up in Wine Country.
Analysis: Buescher’s jump into the top five feels earned after a long, consistent grind to get there. He finished sixth at San Diego, led seven laps, scored points in both stages and continues to be one of the cleanest week-to-week operators in the series, now sitting seventh in points and 138 above the cutline, albeit without a win. His methodical, quiet kind of season can get a bit overlooked until you realize how few bad weeks the No. 17 actually has. Sonoma gives him a real chance to keep pressing, too. Buescher has three top fives in nine starts there, a 13.1 average finish and has completed every lap he has attempted at the track. He could make a massive statement this weekend with a win.
Analysis: Elliott drops a spot despite a solid San Diego recovery, which says more about Buescher’s rise than anything negative about the No. 9. After starting 30th, Elliott dealt with a pit-road penalty, spun later in the race and still came home 12th, which is not the kind of day that moves the needle but does keep the floor intact. Sonoma is where the expectations should rise again, however. Elliott somehow still has not won there, but he owns five top fives, seven top 10s and a 10.2 average finish in nine starts for one of the stronger active profiles in the field. If the road-course reputation is going to reassert itself, this is the right place for it.
Analysis: Gibbs slipped behind Elliott and Buescher after San Diego, but the larger shape of his season remains strong. He finished 15th after getting caught in the Lap 32 pileup, still banked Stage 1 points and remains fifth in the standings, just one point behind Kyle Larson and one ahead of Elliott. There is nothing fragile or flukey about that, now halfway through 2026. Sonoma is the more complicated part of the equation, though, because Gibbs has qualified well there with a 7.3 average start but has only one top 10 and a 20.7 average finish in three Cup tries.
Analysis: No. 77 had the kind of San Diego race that basically sums up the whole “Carson Hocevar” experience right now. He started on the front row, showed speed, led four laps, put himself in position to win late and then watched it turn into 19th after going wide on the restart and getting spun in the chicane during the late scramble after probably irking half the field in the process. The talent is obvious, but the chaos tax remains real. Sonoma is not an easy place to clean that up, either, with Hocevar carrying a 24.5 average finish through two Cup starts there despite obvious road-course skill. Still, he is ninth in points, 114 above the cutline and very much ahead of schedule. The speed matters, but so does the fact that he keeps putting himself in volatile situations.
Analysis: Suárez came out of San Diego with another useful day, finishing 13th, scoring Stage 2 points and keeping himself eighth in the standings with a 116-point cushion over the cutline. It wasn’t flashy, but the veteran Suárez has become much better at collecting what he can when the weekend does not fully come to him, and that matters with the Chase picture tightening behind him. Sonoma, of course, is where everything changed for Suárez in 2022 with his first Cup win, though it remains his lone top 10 there. His overall track profile there is solid, though, with an average finish of 13.9. No. 7 has already found one trophy this year, and Sonoma is absolutely a place where another would not feel out of nowhere.
Analysis: Wallace made the biggest statement of anyone in these rankings at San Diego, and it was much needed. A lost right front and two-lap hold early could have buried the day completely, but the No. 23 team somehow turned it into a runner-up finish, with Wallace passing Larson for second after Reddick’s tire issue and helping put 23XI all over the front of the field late. That is not a normal recovery — it honestly may be a potential season-shaping salvage job. Sonoma is where some skepticism has to enter, though. Wallace has never scored a top 10 there and owns a 24.0 average finish in seven starts. The momentum is real, but this weekend is still a prove-it spot if he wants this jump to stick. | MORE: Wallace left with mixed emotions after runner-up day
Analysis: Briscoe’s San Diego result was run-of-the-mill compared to some of his recent work, but 17th is not a disaster given how weird that race got. The No. 19 remains 10th in the Chase standings, 69 points above the cutline, which is enough to keep the larger trend pointing in a good direction. Sonoma could be a sneaky important test, however. Briscoe has one top five in five Cup starts there and won an ARCA Menards Series West race at the track in 2021, so the front of the field there is not foreign to him. A good run would keep him in the championship picture, but a bad one could start to fray his hold on a Chase spot a bit as we begin to wind down the regular season.
Analysis: Byron’s season continues to be one long argument between the reputation of the No. 24 and the results currently attached to it. San Diego was another rough one, with Byron finishing 32nd after starting near the back, though he did at least score Stage 1 points before the day unraveled. That leaves him 13th in points, only 59 above the cutline and far from the championship-standard lane he’s occupied the past few seasons. Sonoma has not been especially kind, either, with no top fives, two top 10s and a 20.0 average finish in seven starts despite a strong 9.7 average start and strong road-course chops overall. The speed shows up often enough these days — right now, the issue is everything after that.
Analysis: Bell’s drop is less about ability than the fact that the season keeps kicking him in the teeth. San Diego barely got started before the No. 20 suffered an engine issue and finished last (after he swapped out with relief driver Brent Crews), continuing a brutal run after the broken-wrist drama and near-miss fuel gamble at Pocono. The speed has been there too often to write him off, but there are only so many “yeah, but” weeks a driver can absorb before the standings start to tell a harsher story. Sonoma at least gives him a reasonable place to respond, with one top five, three top 10s and a 14.8 average finish in five starts. Still, Bell does not need another respectable road-course day. He needs a clean one, and it’s tough to see that happening right now.
Analysis: San Diego was supposed to be SVG’s show, and instead it became his first real reminder that even the best get bitten. He started from the pole, led the opening laps and was exactly where everyone expected him to be early before contact and the Lap 32 crash ended his day in 38th. That result knocked him below the cutline, which is a pretty jarring sentence given the track type and expectations coming into last weekend. Sonoma, however, is the best possible place to immediately make everyone forget it. Van Gisbergen won there last year from the pole, led 97 laps and owns a perfect one-for-one Cup record at the track. If he is still 14th (or lower) in these rankings by this time next week, something has gone very wrong.
Analysis: Jones did not get the big San Diego result that backed up his Michigan-Pocono surge, but 20th was enough to keep him inside the provisional Chase field and still 10 points above the cutline. The Legacy Motor Club bump is still real, even if San Diego cooled it a bit, and Jones remains one of the more interesting bubble stories after looking like an afterthought not that long ago. Sonoma has been middling but survivable, with two top 10s and a 19.1 average finish in eight starts. That might not sound like much, but for Jones right now, a survivable Sonoma is probably just fine.
Analysis: Welcome back to the rankings, Ryan Preece, and pretty emphatically. Preece finished 11th at San Diego, won Stage 2, finished second in Stage 1, led five laps and gained 38 points on the cutline, vaulting back to just five points inside the provisional Chase field after a rough few weeks. That is exactly how a bubble driver flips the conversation in one afternoon. Sonoma is not a slam dunk for him in Cup, with no top 10s and an 18.6 average finish in five starts, but Preece did win there in ARCA Menards Series West competition in 2023 in a dominant run from the pole. Maybe that matters, maybe it doesn’t. What definitely does is that the No. 60 suddenly has life again.
Analysis: Cindric falls a spot despite gaining a little ground on the cutline, which pretty much captures how precarious this all feels. He finished 22nd at San Diego, remains inside the Chase grid by eight points and continues to hang around because the bubble has not exactly been a model of stability. Sonoma should theoretically suit him better than some of the tracks coming up, but the Cup results there have been mixed: one top five, one top 10 and a 20.5 average finish in four starts. Cindric’s road-racing background still gives him a case, but the No. 2 team needs more than theoretical comfort right now.
Analysis: Allmendinger did exactly what he needed to do at San Diego to keep himself relevant, finishing fifth and gaining 33 points on the cutline. He is still 21 points out, but that is a very different kind of hole than the one he had before the series hit this road-course stretch, and Sonoma is another chance to keep chopping. Oddly enough, Allmendinger has never finished top five there in Cup, but he does have four top 10s, a pole and 68 laps led in 14 starts. The Kaulig veteran probably needs a win at some point to fully change his season, but another big road-course day could at least keep the door propped open.
Analysis: Logano slides another spot, which feels strange after he finished 18th and gained 11 points on the cutline, but that is where the season is right now for the No. 22. He is still 10 points below the bubble, still winless and still searching for the kind of complete weekend that makes this feel less like a slow-motion fight just to survive. Sonoma does offer some reason for belief, as Logano has four top fives, seven top 10s, two poles and a 13.2 average finish there in 16 starts, for one of the better profiles among drivers in this range. If the Penske rebound is coming, Wine Country could be a logical place to start pouring, but something needs to happen here, and quickly.
Analysis: Keselowski is hanging onto the final spot here by a thread, and the thread is getting thinner. San Diego ended 34th after a flat left front, dropping him 13 points below the cutline and continuing a stretch where the No. 6 team looks less like a sleeping contender and more like a group unsuccessfully trying to stop the bleeding. Sonoma is not a bad track for him statistically — one top five, three top 10s and a 15.5 average finish in 15 starts — but the urgency has tantamount. This is no longer about waiting for the veteran program to come around — it needs to come around now, or the Chase picture may start moving on without him.
