Posted on by Reid Spencer

SONOMA, Calif. — Shane van Gisbergen asserted his road-course mastery once again with a convincing victory in Saturday’s Pit Boss/FoodMaxx 250 at Sonoma Raceway.

Cruising behind lapped traffic on the final circuit at the 1.99-mile, 11-turn road course, the New Zealander nevertheless crossed the finish line 1.324 seconds ahead of runner-up Connor Zilisch, who had to come from the rear of the field twice to achieve the second-place result.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Sonoma

Van Gisbergen’s victory was his second at Sonoma in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and the sixth of his career, all on road or street courses.

With van Gisbergen and Zilisch running 1-2, JR Motorsports extended its streak of at least one car in the top 10 to 76 races, three behind all-time series leader RFK Racing (2008-2010).

Van Gisbergen led 66 of 79 laps, short-pitting the second stage on Lap 43 to regain the top spot after the stage break. From that point to the finish, he saved fuel while maintaining the gap to Zilisch until the final lap, when Zilisch closed in as SVG was content to run behind traffic to the finish line.

“Luckily enough, I think I saved enough (fuel) early,” said van Gisbergen, after executing his signature rugby ball kick from the frontstretch. “Sorry it wasn’t the most exciting — I guess boring’s good when you’re the one leading. …

“What an amazing car, to lead like that. The car was so good the whole race. It’s great to get another one for these guys.”

If van Gisbergen spent most of the afternoon at the front of the field in the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, Zilisch spent the bulk of the race passing cars and working his way to the front.

He started in the rear after changing a tire that had leaked air during qualifying — an unapproved adjustment. After cracking the top 15 in the opening stage, Zilisch short-pitted the 20-lap stage on Lap 17 but sped on pit road, earning a pass-through penalty that left him 33rd in the running order at the start of Stage 2.

Another march through the field brought him to second behind van Gisbergen on Lap 35, and when van Gisbergen brought his car to pit road on Lap 43, Zilisch had the lead in the No. 1 JR Motorsports Camaro and went on to win the stage.

After pitting, Zilisch restarted 10th and quickly dispatched the cars in front of him, passing Jesse Love for second on Lap 57. But there was no catching van Gisbergen over the final 21 circuits.

“A caution or something to bunch us back up (on the final run) would have been nice,” Zilisch said. “Our Chevrolet was fast enough to compete, but we were just matching each other the entire run there, and he was probably saving fuel and managing his stuff and giving me hope.

“I’ll always believe we had something for him.”

Brent Crews finished third in the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, scoring a race-high 50 points and moving back into a Chase-eligible position (11th) in the O’Reilly Series standings.

“We maximized our day with stage points and stuff like that, which was kind of the name of the game for us today, so we can race the next couple of weeks,” the 18-year-old Crews said.

“Just trying to get a little buffer in case something would happen. Overall, happy for our team. We ran well all day, got stage points and finished in the top three. Ultimately, had a good day. Not what we are striving for. Overall, our goal is to win, but we did about as good as we could do there.”

Viking Motorsports enjoyed a banner day on Saturday, with drivers Anthony Alfredo and Parker Retzlaff finishing fourth and fifth, respectively.

Carson Kvapil, Corey Day, Sam Mayer, Love and Sheldon Creed completed the top 10.

The race featured eight lead changes among six drivers and four cautions for 11 laps. The final stage ran caution-free for 30 laps.

For the second straight race, series leader Justin Allgaier struggled, but he maintained a 207-point lead over second-place Love despite finishing 26th.

The O’Reilly Auto Parts Series’ next race is scheduled for Saturday, July 4 (5:30 p.m. ET, The CW, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Chicagoland Speedway, which hosts the tour for the first time since 2019.

Note: Inspection was completed in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series garage with no issues, confirming van Gisbergen as the winner.

Contributing: Staff reports

Posted on by Staff Report

The final road course of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season arrives at a pivotal time. The jockeying for the 16 slots in the all-important Chase postseason grid is ramping up, just as the second annual In-Season Challenge tips off for the circuit’s top 32.

NASCAR’s top division will go road racing in the Golden State for the second consecutive week, with Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 (3:30 p.m. ET, TNT Sports, truTV, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) ready to set sail from scenic Sonoma Raceway. Nine regular-season races remain before the Chase field is determined, and the 14th through 20th spots in the Cup Series standings are separated by just 26 points.

RELATED: Full starting lineup | What to Watch: Sonoma

The potential for major movement in the provisional playoff standings is there, plus the possibility of a handful of bracket-busting finishes for the midseason tournament field. Here’s a look at a handful of drivers to keep an eye on and the full projected results for Sunday’s Cup Series race in Wine Country.

DRIVERS TO WATCH

SHANE VAN GISBERGEN: A sure-fire watch whenever the Cup Series turns its attention to road-racing events, SVG enters Sunday’s start at Sonoma aiming to stoke a recent trend. The first-ever race at Naval Base Coronado began with promise from the pole position, but a mid-race crash left a sour taste and a 38th-place outcome. He’ll be a favorite, given his seven Cup wins in 15 road-course starts, but there will be some urgency with his slip to 17th in the Cup Series standings — just outside the provisional Chase grid.

AJ ALLMENDINGER: The Kaulig Racing veteran will take the green flag for his 500th Cup Series start this weekend, and his road-racing prowess should make him a race-day factor. Allmendinger’s three career Cup wins have all come on road courses, but the one that’s eluded him is Sonoma, where he is 0-for-14 with surprisingly no top-five finishes in his premier-series tenure. Only two other drivers have won in their 500th Cup start — Richard Petty (Trenton, 1970) and Matt Kenseth (New Hampshire, 2013).

DANIEL SUÁREZ: The Spire Motorsports newbie may have trended cold on road courses in recent years, but Suárez has been one of the Cup Series’ most improved in his first year with the No. 7 Chevrolet group. Halfway through last season, Suárez sat 29th in the Cup Series standings; just one race shy of the 2026 campaign’s midpoint, he’s eighth with a crown-jewel win in the Coca-Cola 600 already in the bank. He’s gone three straight Sonoma races without a top-10 result, but scored his first Cup win there in 2022.

MORE: Saturday recap | At-track photos: Sonoma

FULL PROJECTED RESULTS FOR 2026 TOYOTA/SAVE MART 350 (3:30 p.m. ET, TNT Sports)

FinishCar NumberDriver
197Shane van Gisbergen
25Kyle Larson
345Tyler Reddick
417Chris Buescher
571Michael McDowell
619Chase Briscoe
716AJ Allmendinger
820Christopher Bell
912Ryan Blaney
1054Ty Gibbs
119Chase Elliott
1224William Byron
131Ross Chastain
147Daniel Suárez
1560Ryan Preece
1622Joey Logano
1711Denny Hamlin
1877Carson Hocevar
1923Bubba Wallace
2088Connor Zilisch
212Austin Cindric
2248Alex Bowman
2338Zane Smith
2434Todd Gilliland
2535Riley Herbst
266Brad Keselowski
273Austin Dillon
2843Erik Jones
2942John Hunter Nemechek
3041Cole Custer
3133Austin Hill
3247Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
3310Ty Dillon
3421Josh Berry
354Noah Gragson
3651Cody Ware
Posted on by Staff Report

See where your favorite NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series drivers will pit this weekend at Sonoma Raceway.

NASCAR Cup Series

Cup Series pit stalls for Sonoma.

NASCAR Cup Series Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway on Sunday (3:30 p.m. ET, TNT Sports, truTV, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

RELATED: Sonoma weekend schedule | How to watch NASCAR on TNT Sports/truTV/HBO Max

NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series

o'reilly auto parts series pit stalls for sonoma

NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Pit Boss/FoodMaxx 250 at Sonoma Raceway on Saturday (5:30 p.m. ET, The CW, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). 

RELATED: How to watch NASCAR on The CW

Posted on by Dustin Albino

SONOMA, Calif. — Sonoma Raceway’s premium on-track position already makes Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 (3:30 p.m. ET, TNT Sports, truTV, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) a strategic challenge. Add the opening round of the NASCAR In-Season Challenge, and teams are balancing the pursuit of a race win with the need to finish ahead of their bracket opponent and advance.

Depending on who you ask, some teams are paying significant attention to their In-Season Challenge competition while others are trying to call the best strategy possible for the result to take care of itself. Ultimately, the field will be chopped in half after 110 circuits around the Napa Valley road course.

Ty Dillon was last year’s Cinderella, starting the knockout-style tournament as the last driver in. Through carnage, chaos and four consecutive top-20 finishes, he advanced all the way to the final round, pinned against Ty Gibbs at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He became Denny Hamlin’s nemesis in the first round, as the two drivers will reunite in the bracket again one year later.

RELATED: Sonoma starting lineup | At-track photos

“I know we’re the [31st] seed, but I think if we perform to our expectations that we know we can do, we execute cleanly, we can beat anyone — including Denny Hamlin,” Andrew Dickeson, crew chief for Ty Dillon’s No. 10 car, told NASCAR.com on Saturday morning. “Last year was good, and it gave us a lot of positive attention and put us in the spotlight a bit, but didn’t change our approach.

“It was good to get the guys some credit for their hard work that they do, and it went our way. I think Sonoma was the highlight for me when we passed [Alex Bowman] on the last lap.”

Will the glass slipper still fit?

“The intermediates are hard against the Toyotas because they are so good right now,” Dickeson added. “The road courses a variable. [At San Diego], we were passing good cars, including Denny, up until the point of contact with the wall. If we have a clean race, there is no one we can’t outrun.”

Others within the garage are focused on their own race. After an erratic opening three months of the season, Chase Briscoe has leaped seven positions in the driver standings over the last handful of races. The No. 19 Toyota is a perennial contender at Sonoma, with Briscoe placing runner-up to a dominant Shane van Gisbergen last season.

James Small, leader of the No. 19 bunch, has had Sonoma success galore dating back to his days as the lead engineer for Martin Truex Jr. with Furniture Row Racing. In six starts with Truex — four as a crew chief — the team compiled three victories and was in position to place big in 2024 until running out of fuel in the closing laps.

Briscoe has a challenging Sonoma matchup, needing to finish ahead of three-time road-course winner AJ Allmendinger.

FANTASY: Build an In-Season Challenge bracket now!

“Of all the people to start the first round, he has got a lot of laps here and has been exceptional here in the past,” Small said. “If we do what we’ve done in previous years, it should be OK. In terms of the race, for me, I’m not sitting there thinking, ‘How am I going to beat this guy in the In-Season Challenge?’ At least through the first few rounds, it’s more about trying to maximize our race and the amount of points we’re getting. If we put ourselves in a position to win, that will take care of itself.”

The nuances of Sonoma specifically make for a tricky opening week of the In-Challenge Tournament. Since the 1.99-mile, 11-turn course got repaved before the 2024 season, track position has been of the utmost importance. Each trip back, however, has led to more tire falloff over the course of a run, and with added horsepower this season, the wear rate could be even greater with the cars more difficult to drive.

“It’s more of a track-position dominated race, trying to manage your gaps with strategy and keep your car up front in clean air,” Small noted. “Even last year, you saw comers and goers; guys that went hard initially and destroyed their stuff and would fall off. It’s still something that you have to be very conscious of and manage, and do the best you can.”

Briscoe will share the fourth row with Allmendinger at the green flag. Dillon qualified 31st, 22 positions behind Hamlin.

Posted on by Cameron Richardson

Track: Sonoma Raceway
Location: Sonoma, California
Track length: 1.99 miles
When: 3:30 p.m. ET
Where to tune in: TNT Sports, truTV, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Race purse: $11,233,037
Race distance: 110 laps | 218.9 miles
Segments: 25 | 55 | 110
Sunday’s starting lineup | Cup Series pit stall assignments

A clean Sunday, maximizing points the key for Sonoma

SONOMA, Calif. — The month of July is right around the corner, and that means just two months remain until The Chase kicks off at Darlington Raceway.

A swath of summer tracks will likely be a determining factor in who makes the top 16 as Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 precedes races at Chicagoland, EchoPark Speedway and North Wilkesboro. How does a driver make noise in the standings with so many variables in play? Look no further than Erik Jones, who has surged from 21st to 14th in points over the last four races.

One of the keys to Jones’ success and being on the right side of The Chase bubble is keeping a clean car. He’s completed all but nine laps in 2026, which is third best among full-time Cup drivers.

MORE: Weekend schedule | At-track photos: Sonoma

“We’ve had some good days in there, but we’ve not had any real bad ones, and that’s what’s kind of leapfrogged us here in points, pretty far up the standings. A lot of guys have just had bad days — even Shane (van Gisbergen) last weekend wrecked in San Diego, Preece had a few bad weeks, just the guys that we’re racing around have had struggles. We haven’t made a lot of mistakes on either end, on my end or on the team’s end, and in the times that we have, we’ve been able to kind of clean it up and salvage a day out of it. I think that’s something to be proud of.”

Both Michael McDowell and Ross Chastain are among those on the outside looking in on The Chase bubble and want to take Jones’ spot away.

The pair of Chevrolet drivers put down scorching laps in Saturday’s qualifying session, with McDowell set to roll off fourth and Chastain fifth. With every point counting for the pair, it’s still up in the air on how they will play their strategies Sunday and whether or not it will be worth risking a good chunk of stage points to go for the big payday of victory.

“We’ll see tomorrow when we see how much pace we have and how much fall-off we have,” McDowell said. “If we can win a race, we’re going to try to win the race, but there’s so much that can play out, too, in this race, so you’ve got to make good decisions, too.”

“That question is for Brandon McSwain (crew chief) and the greater group at Trackhouse and Chevy to decide what’s best for the 1 car,” Chastain said. “I make lap time and let them figure out the rest. I can’t try any harder. When we were crashing and popping brake rotors and not finishing races, I was putting in the same work, so yes, the results have come, and the points come with results. Beyond that, how we get the most points, I can control lap time, and lap time includes fenders on the car, so that’s top of mind.”

RELATED: In-Season Challenge Round 1: Sonoma | Make your bracket!

mcdowell drives at sonoma
Jonathan Bachman | Getty Images

In the details …

The road-course ringers will be the main drivers to watch on Sunday, but there is a variety of the Cup Series’ best that have performed well at Sonoma in the Next Gen era.

Here’s a look at active drivers with the best average finish at the Northern California road course since 2022:

DRIVERAVERAGE FINISH
Michael McDowell4.0
Chase Elliott5.0
Chris Buescher6.3
Ross Chastain11.5
AJ Allmendinger12.3
Brad Keselowski12.5
Joey Logano12.5
Christopher Bell12.5
Daniel Suárez12.8

Speed reads

Race-day essentials:

• Sonoma hub: Key information, pit stalls, additional results | Read more
• Sunday Setup: Track position key for In-Season Challange advancement | Read more
• Paint Scheme Preview: Fresh on-track looks for wine country | View gallery
• Hauler Talk: Breaking down a busy San Diego inaugural | Listen now
• Power Rankings: Buescher bulls way into top five | This week’s ranks

Posted on by Reid Spencer

SONOMA, Calif. — After turning his first lap in Saturday’s highly competitive NASCAR Cup Series qualifying session at Sonoma Raceway, Ty Gibbs felt he had more potential in his No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.

His instincts were spot-on. Late in the session, Gibbs made one more run and put his car on the pole for Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 at the 1.99-mile, 11-turn road course (3:30 p.m. ET, TNT Sports, truTV, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

RELATED: Sunday’s starting lineup | At-track photos: Sonoma

Navigating the circuit in 74.829 seconds (95.738 mph), Gibbs beat Carson Hocevar (95.706 mph) by 0.025 seconds for the top starting spot in Sunday’s race, the opening round of the Cup Series’ five-event In-Season Challenge.

The Busch Light Pole Award was Gibbs’ first of the season, his first on a road course and the third of his career.

“The re-runs are just super-weird here,” Gibbs said. “Sometimes you can go a lot faster. Sometimes you don’t. I felt like I just had some more speed out there. The car is really fast this weekend, and we’re really excited to race tomorrow.”

To Gibbs, the defending winner of the $1 million In-Season Challenge, qualifying and racing 110 laps on Sunday are markedly different disciplines.

“Tomorrow is a whole different program,” Gibbs said. “You’re going to be a lot easier on the car instead of hammering it, like in qualifying. So, it’s just completely different.

“You could be on the pole today and suck tomorrow. You just have to be really focused on the race, and that’s the most important part. We’ll stick to that.”

The fifth-seeded Gibbs will face off against No. 28-seeded Austin Dillon in the challenge’s first round. Dillon starts 30th Sunday.

MORE: In-Season Challenge guide | Fill out your bracket

For the second straight week, Hocevar will start in the second position. Last Sunday at Naval Base Coronado, he lined up on the front row next to polesitter Shane van Gisbergen before finishing 19th.

“I didn’t feel like my lap was very good, and I was getting ready to run another, and I got through (Turn) 10, and they said, ‘P1,'” Hocevar said. “And I was like, ‘Well, (expletive), I don’t have to do another. I’m already P1.’

“So, I was super happy about that, the lap time, but I didn’t think it was amazing.”

Two-time Sonoma winner and reigning series champion Kyle Larson qualified third at 95.686 mph. Michael McDowell (95.677 mph), Hocevar’s teammate at Spire Motorsports, was fourth, followed by Ross Chastain (74.913 mph).

McDowell has finished in the top five in three of the last four Sonoma races, including a second-place run in 2024.

Van Gisbergen, the defending race and pole winner, qualified sixth after complaining about the handling of his No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet in practice, where he posted the fifth-fastest lap.

Chase Briscoe and AJ Allmendinger, head-to-head opponents in the first round of the In-Season Challenge, qualified seventh and eighth, respectively. Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano filled the final two positions in the top 10.

Series leader Tyler Reddick claimed the 11th starting spot. His 23XI Racing teammate, Bubba Wallace, crashed within the first three minutes of the Group 2 qualifying session and will start Sunday’s race in a backup car. Van Gisbergen, Christopher Bell and Cody Ware all briefly left the track in the opening group.

Blaney tops charts in Sonoma practice

Ryan Blaney set the pace in NASCAR Cup Series practice at Sonoma Raceway, putting his No. 12 Team Penske Ford atop the leaderboard.

Blaney turned a best lap of 94.502 mph, clocking in 0.116 seconds ahead of defending series champion Kyle Larson, who registered a second-fastest 94.358-mph lap in the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

RELATED: Practice results | Cup Series standings

Cup Series points leader Tyler Reddick was third on the practice chart, with 23XI Racing teammate Bubba Wallace fourth and defending race winner Shane van Gisbergen completing the top five.

Erik Jones wound up in the biggest incident of the session, spinning into the Turn 10 tire barrier with his No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota early in the first practice group. He drove his damaged car back to pit road and continued after repairs with the 35th-best lap in the 36-car field.

AJ Allmendinger, who will make his 500th Cup Series start in Sunday’s race, looped his No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet in Turn 2 at the end of the second practice group’s session.

Contributing: Staff reports

Posted on by Cameron Richardson

SONOMA, Calif. — Christopher Bell said Saturday that he plans to run the full distance of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Sonoma Raceway (3:30 p.m. ET, TNT Sports, truTV, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Recovering from a fractured wrist from a Michigan International Speedway crash three weeks ago, Bell hopped out of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota following the first caution of last weekend’s inaugural race at Naval Base Coronado. O’Reilly Auto Parts Series rookie Brent Crews subbed in for Bell, but exited prematurely after the No. 20 suffered a mechanical failure.

However, Bell said that he felt good enough to run last week but accepted JGR’s terms to pull him mid-race in Southern California.

RELATED: Sonoma weekend schedule | At-track photos: Sonoma

“Last week, after driving the car, I felt really, really good in the car through practice, and then even in the start of the race, I felt really well,” Bell told reporters Saturday. “I wanted to race, but the team around me felt pretty committed just going down the avenue of risk management at San Diego, with the tight confines of the concrete walls around you all the way around. So yeah, opted to sit out that one, and I feel I’m not getting out of this one.”

Bell credited Crews for the effort in San Diego, but the Oklahoma native is determined to man his No. 20 Toyota for all 110 laps in Wine Country, especially sitting in a precarious points situation at just 60 points above the Chase cutline.

“Certainly that’s a big part of it, but it all goes hand in hand,” Bell said. “We need to do good, period. No matter what. Brent did a great job last week for us. Obviously, he made a mistake, but I don’t even blame him for that. I’ve done it a million times throughout my career, so just part of it.”

Crews will remain on standby in case Bell needs to exit the No. 20 prematurely on Sunday.

It’s not pain that’s limiting Bell from maximizing performance; it’s adapting to wheeling his hot rod with a cast on his left arm. As the weeks go by, he hopes to put the injury in the past and turn full focus to qualifying for The Chase and returning to Victory Lane.

“By the time we got to San Diego, I didn’t have any pain at all driving the car,” Bell explained. “I feel very clunky and very unorthodox with the cast on my arm and not being able to just move the wheel as quickly and as sharply as I am accustomed to, but I don’t really have any pain. I felt really comfortable in the car last week at San Diego. Through our simulator sessions here at Sonoma, been the same thing. I don’t think I can drive as well as I can without a cast, but it doesn’t hurt me to drive, so that’s really good.

“I think the natural transition will be to go from a cast to some sort of brace. It’ll be a little bit before I have freedom again, but hopefully the days of the cast are dwindling down, which I’m excited about.”

Posted on by Brandon White

SOUTH BOSTON, Va. — For six hours Friday afternoon, drivers in the Late Model Stock, Sportsman, Pure Stock and Hornet divisions had a chance to shake down their cars ahead of Saturday’s Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 (broadcast begins at 3:30 p.m. ET on FloRacing).

The headlining Late Model Stock class features more than 45 cars on the entry list, which comprises of past Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 winners, South Boston Speedway track champions and young prospects alike. All of them are seeking to start the 2026 Virginia Late Model Triple Crown on a high note with a trip to Victory Lane.

RELATED: All about this year’s Virginia Triple Crown

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series competitor Kaden Honeycutt established himself as the early favorite by posting the fastest laps Friday in the second and third Late Model Stock practice sessions. Doug Barnes Jr. opened the day as the quickest driver, while practice concluded with Carson Brown topping the charts.

Below are some key storylines following Friday’s on-track activity ahead of Saturday’s Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200.

Kaden Honeycutt
Kaden Honeycutt set a strong pace Friday by posting the fastest lap in the second and third Late Model Stock practice sessions at South Boston Speedway. (Photo: Matthew Marrie/NASCAR Regional)

Kaden Honeycutt sets early benchmark

Fresh off scoring two Late Model Stock victories at South Boston with Tom Usry Racing in 2025, Kaden Honeycutt showed on Friday they are more than capable of prevailing in the facility’s crown jewel event.

Honeycutt anticipates plenty of obstacles in the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 despite the speed, especially when it comes to endurance. Having already won four races in two days this year, Honeycutt is ready to face the adversity head on and add a Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 win to an already impressive resumé.

“Every time we’ve been here to South Boston, we’ve had a chance to win,” Honeycutt said. “Mentally, it’s tough to stay locked in [here]. The groove moves around so much from the apron to the top. You have to be on top of it. This is a really fast race track, and it can wear you out pretty quickly.

“The challenge and the most fun part of this is staying locked in for 200 laps and seeing who does it the best.”

Lee Pulliam
Lee Pulliam will chase a seventh Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 victory Saturday in JR Motorsports’ No. 8 NASCAR Channel Chevrolet (Photo: Matthew Marrie/NASCAR Regional)

Lee Pulliam eyes seventh Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 win

After a long, rigorous day around South Boston Speedway, six-time Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 winner Lee Pulliam came away confident he could chase another checkered flag, this time with JR Motorsports.

Pulliam has not contested the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 since 2019, but the veteran racer showed little evidence of rust as he felt out his No. 8 NASCAR Channel Chevrolet on Friday. While the car was not completely to Pulliam’s liking by the end of the last practice, he knows the experience around him will translate into a competitive outing Saturday.

“We made some gains on it all day,” Pulliam said. “Bryan [Shaffer] and everybody worked super hard. I think we’re going to race really good. It’s a tough, competitive field here. Everybody is looking for that little bit, but we’ll be fine once it comes time for the real deal.”

Connor Hall
Connor Hall is teaming back up with Nelson Motorsports in his quest for a third straight Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 win. (Photo: Matthew Marrie/NASCAR Regional)

Connor Hall back with Nelson Motorsports to chase another South Boston win

In his bid for a third consecutive Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 victory, Connor Hall has reunited with the organization with which he won his first: Nelson Motorsports.

The two quickly rekindled the magic they possessed in 2024, as Hall posted some of the quickest laps during the final two practice sessions. One more win would get Hall halfway to Lee Pulliam’s record of six straight Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200, a milestone Hall is more than happy to pursue in one of Nelson’s cars.

“Barry [Nelson’s] been a grandpa to me,” Hall said. “I’m trying to induce some youth into his life. I love the guy to death, and he’s done a lot for me. He gave me a shot to race when other people weren’t. Anything I can do to come back, try to help right the ship for him and have fun racing with his guys is a great opportunity.”

Brenden Queen
Brenden ‘Butterbean’ Queen intends to rebound from an inconsistent Friday to score his first South Boston Speedway victory. (Photo: Matthew Marrie/NASCAR Regional)

Brenden Queen searching for answers after Friday practice

While Brenden “Butterbean” Queen was thrilled to be back in a Late Model Stock for Lee Pulliam Performance in the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200, he admitted practice Friday could have unfolded much better.

Queen felt his car started off strong but gradually got worse as the afternoon progressed. He hopes his Lee Pulliam Performance crew is able to diagnose the issue before qualifying Saturday, as he wants nothing more than to build momentum in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series with his first South Boston Speedway victory of any kind.

“This is one of the crown jewels I haven’t been able to conquer,” Queen said. “[The Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200] was an off week, so I wanted to come back, try to tame it, and I gave full attention on it this week. It’s always fun to come back and drive for Lee, but this place has kicked my tail for years, so hopefully this weekend we can tame it.”

Doug Barnes Jr.
Doug Barnes Jr. intends to rebound from a tough loss at South Boston Speedway last October and become a Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 winner. (Photo: Gardner Street Photography/Hickory Motor Speedway)

Early speed has Doug Barnes Jr. optimistic going into Saturday

The lessons Doug Barnes Jr. took from his time with Lee Pulliam Performance were apparent during practice at South Boston Speedway on Friday, when he posted the quickest time in the opening practice session.

Barnes feels he should already have a South Boston win on his resumé, as he watched a perfect opportunity slip away from him during last year’s CARS Tour race when was swept up in a late wreck. With the weekend off to a promising start, Barnes is eager to avenge that bitter defeat and join the prestigious list of Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 winners.

“I want it bad,” Barnes said. “My most regretful moment as a race car driver was the race [at South Boston] back here in October. I think about it a lot. [October] still haunts me because it was my going away race with the LPP squad and I really wanted to win with them, but it doesn’t sit right with me. Nobody’s fault but mine either.

“There’s so many great cars [at South Boston] and already being one of the better ones is an honor in of itself. Now we need to go get the job done.”

Carson Brown
After a strong end to practice on Friday, Carson Brown looks to join car owner Lee Pulliam as a Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 winner (Photo: Matthew Marrie/NASCAR Regional)

Carson Brown ends Friday atop the scoreboard

Given the success his car owner Lee Pulliam has had at South Boston Speedway during his illustrious career, it was only fitting that Carson Brown concluded Friday afternoon as the quickest car in practice.

The next challenge for Brown is to replicate that speed for Saturday’s Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 against a field that includes Pulliam. Brown felt he got more comfortable with South Boston as he logged more laps, but he also understands track conditions for the 200-lap feature will be much different compared to practice.

“It was super hot, super slick, greasy and a lot of rubber was being laid down,” Brown said. “A lot of guys were struggling to make the corner. All these cars are set up more for night time, and that’s what we’re going for. We were just trying to be smart, because we were pretty much on old tires all day.

“We’re going to look over everything we did today and try to make the car that much better.”

Posted on by Dustin Albino

SONOMA, Calif. – Whenever the NASCAR Cup Series visits a road course, Shane van Gisbergen is the driver everyone expects to beat. A frustrating finish at Naval Base Coronado hasn’t changed that outlook heading into this weekend’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway (3:30 p.m. ET, TNT Sports, truTV, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

After winning the pole for Saturday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race, van Gisbergen admitted he needed time to decompress over his disappointing 38th-place finish in San Diego. Running third on a Lap 32 restart, the No. 97 Chevrolet became an innocent victim when Austin Hill clipped the inside retaining wall and slammed into fellow Trackhouse Racing driver Connor Zilisch, triggering a wreck that left van Gisbergen with nowhere to escape. Nine cars sustained damage.

RELATED: Sonoma weekend schedule | At-track photos

“I feel pretty good today,” van Gisbergen quipped in a press conference on Friday at Sonoma. “It took me a couple of days, for sure. Pretty pissed about that with a good opportunity gone wasted.

“The best thing about the sport is it either brings you back down to earth pretty quickly or picks you back up. You can race the next weekend and reset. Feel pretty reset today.”

Scoring a single point in San Diego – at a track where many expected van Gisbergen to maximize his points haul – proved costly. He fell three spots to 17th in the Chase standings and lost 15 points against the cutline. Entering Sonoma, the seven-time road-course winner sits five points behind Ryan Preece for the final postseason position.

Since van Gisbergen banked his first top-five finish on an oval at Nashville Superspeedway, he has three consecutive finishes of 30th or worse. In those three weeks, he’s dropped five positions in the standings.

Dominating the field in his first Cup attempt at Sonoma last season, van Gisbergen led 97 of 110 laps. He was two points shy of a perfect race and scored the Stage 2 victory. He knows Sonoma could present a bounce-back opportunity.

“I know I have a good opportunity to win the race and we will look at the points after,” van Gisbergen added. “We really need a good weekend. That hurt us on that cutline. Need to get some momentum going again and hopefully this weekend starts it and puts us in a good position for the last few races.”

Van Gisbergen has been paying attention to his opening-round matchup with Preece in the In-Season Challenge. The two crossed paths at both Pocono Raceway and San Diego, and while van Gisbergen is the overwhelming favorite entering Sonoma, he expects the No. 60 Ford to be a formidable opponent.

MORE: Info about SVG’s San Diego crash | Fill out an In-Season Challenge bracket!

“I see he’s been getting pretty lippy online, so that’s a little fun,” van Gisbergen joked. “We were giving each other [expletive] the other day from Pocono when he was throwing signs at me. He is a good dude. We had a little tussle last week and threw a [expletive] move on me and half-spun me, so I got him back. I look forward to it; it’s cool that there is something else to focus on. He’s been going really well at his road courses this year, so I’m sure I’ll see him on Sunday and it will be a tough but fair battle and see who gets to the next round. I look forward to it.”

In 15 battles at road courses since van Gisbergen took the racing world by storm in the inaugural Chicago Street Race in 2023, he has finished ahead of Preece 13 times. Last season, Preece finished 12th at Sonoma while SVG yarded the field, even with a trio of late-race restarts.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

SONOMA, Calif. — Where one driver was concerned, Friday’s qualifying session for the Pit Boss/FoodMaxx 250 at Sonoma Raceway followed form.

Road-course master Shane van Gisbergen put his No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet on the pole for Saturday’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race (5:30 p.m. ET, The CW, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) with a lap at 95.483 mph (75.029 seconds), beating teenager Brent Crews (95.243 mph) for the top starting spot by 0.189 seconds.

RELATED: Starting lineup | At-track photos: Sonoma

For defending race winner Connor Zilisch, the qualifying session was a struggle because of a tire that was losing air throughout his run. Zilisch earned the 30th starting position and will have to come through the field if he hopes to challenge van Gisbergen and other frontrunners for the win.

“Pretty awesome day,” said van Gisbergen, who won the O’Reilly Series race at Sonoma in 2024 and finished second to Zilisch last year. “It’s a tricky track here with the wind, the way the direction was today…

“It’s always fun driving for JR Motorsports. We get excited every time we get a chance to drive the No. 9 car. We know we’ve got a great shot to win the race… All practice we were quick, and my lap in qualifying was pretty decent as well, so stoked to start up front.”

Both van Gisbergen and Crews posted their laps in the first qualifying group. Third-place starter Taylor Gray of Joe Gibbs Racing (94.947 mph) had the fastest lap among drivers in Group 2. Anthony Alfredo (94.865 mph) claimed the fourth spot on the grid, followed by Viking Motorsports teammate Parker Retzlaff (94.662 mph) and Hendrick Motorsports’ Corey Day (94.630 mph).

Jesse Love, series leader Justin Allgaier, Sam Mayer and last Saturday’s Naval Base Coronado winner Austin Hill claimed seventh through 10th, respectively.

Allgaier, who already has clinched a spot in the postseason Chase, holds a 224-point lead in the standings over second-place Love, the defending series champion.

Day fastest in practice

Hendrick Motorsports’ Corey Day topped the leaderboard in the closing minutes of practice at 93.802 mph, besting JR Motorsports’ Shane van Gisbergen (93.281 mph).

Jesse Love (93.086 mph), Connor Zilisch (93.078 mph) and Justin Allgaier (92.976 mph) rounded out the top five.

Will Rodgers (92.853 mph), Brent Crews (92.852 mph), Sheldon Creed (92.799 mph), Alex Labbe (92.601 mph) and Sammy Smith (92.583 mph) completed the top 10.

MORE: Practice results

The red flag came out for an incident in Turn 11 when Peterson Racing driver Austin Green appeared to suffer a brake failure in his No. 87 Chevrolet. Green carried significant speed into the tire barriers, and his car sustained heavy damage before he exited the vehicle under his own power.

Contributing: Staff reports.