RFK Racing Battles Through Chaotic Final Laps in Sonoma Keselowski 11th, Preece 12th & Buescher 16th
SONOMA, CA (July 13, 2025) – Roush Fenway Keselowski (RFK) Racing brought a robust, smooth brand of racing with notes of determination to wine country on Sunday. It was a full-bodied effort that saw Brad Keselowski lead the charge, picking up ten positions on the day. Ryan Preece turned in another solid road course performance while Chris Buescher was in contention for the win late in the race.
6 Brad Keselowski
Brad Keselowski started 21st on Sunday and was able to advance throughout the day at Sonoma Raceway. Patiently he approached the opening laps of Stage One Intent on executing a clean run. The No.6 Castrol Ford modestly climbed to 17th by mid-stage. Throughout the run, Keselowski’s spotter, TJ Majors, emphasized tightening up Turn 11, a key area on the 12-turn road course. Just prior to the conclusion of the first stage, the 6-team pitted, strategically and temporarily giving up track position to set for the second segment. Keselowski finished Stage One 25th.
As the pit cycle continued prior to Stage Two, Keselowski advanced and restarted 14th. He quickly advanced to 13th. Seeking gains, Keselowski sought feedback. Majors continued to coach, helping the 2012 NASCAR Champ find a better approach through Turns 4 and 11. Keselowski picked up another spot before pitting from 12th position, just before the stage concluded. The strategic decision resulted in a 23rd place stage finish but positioned Keselowski to restart much higher when racing resumed.
Keselowski began Stage Three 12th and ramped up his aggression as the checkers neared, pursuing Ty Gibbs and later overtaking Alex Bowman to break into the top 10. By lap 77, he had climbed as high as eighth. Although he briefly fell back, he moved back into the top 10 by lap 90 and remained competitive through the closing laps. He felt confident in the race car however a late race crash shuffled the field and left Keselowski with minor damage. The incident was not race ending but left him with an 11th place finish.
“I felt like we had a top three to top five car, “said Keselowski. “It was an honest day, but the caution came out at the end, and we got kind of caught up in the mess and ended up 11th.’
60 Ryan Preece
Not satisfied with his 20th place qualifying position, Ryan Preece and crew Chief Derrick Finley went to work Saturday night, identifying a better way to approach Sunday’s race. It wasn’t long before Preece knew the effort was worth it. Preece wasted little time, driving the Body Guard Ford toward the front, climbing to 14th before the mid-point of Stage One. He pitted on lap 22 for four tires and fuel, giving up track position in the short term but eyeing the bigger picture. He ended the first segment 22nd.
Before Stage Two began, Finley radioed Preece, telling him, “We made some good choices last night. If we have some long runs, we’ll be alright.” Their pre-efforts were validated with in-race performance. Preece restarted 12th, and he quickly cracked the top 10. A pit strategically planned pit stop on lap 52 dropped him back in the field. He ended Stage Two 14th, but with rising confidence in the race car.
After others pitted before Stage Three, Preece restarted 9th and continued his charge and clawed his way to seventh. This race though would come down to a rash of cautions at the end that impacted strategy. Preece made his final stop under yellow on lap 97, dropping him to 18th. Shortly after the restart, a multi car incident was unavoidable and Preece sustained right-front damage. Fortunately, nothing critical was broken, and Preece continued his determined run. With just a handful of laps remaining, a restart created a drama filled finish. Preece matched the race’s intensity, gaining more positions to finish the race 12th – his best career Sonoma finish.
“It was a great day, from starting 20th to running up in the top10,” said Preece. “It looked like we were in that 7th, 8th or 9th place range and I think strategy would’ve worked out really well and then that untimely cation started the chaos.”
17 Chris Buescher
After leading 32 laps and finishing 3rd at Sonoma last year, Chris Buescher had high expectations Sunday. Starting 14th, the BuildSubmarines.com Ford gained two spots immediately and Buescher appeared to have the form that has yielded consistent road course success. As the laps wore on there were challenges, as lateral grip began to fade. Buescher, however, remained steady, running 13th. Pit strategy played a role toward the stage’s end. Electing to flip the stage, the 17 team pitted a few laps before the stage concluded, finishing Stage One in 20th place.
Stage Two saw Buescher continue his push forward. Restarting 10th, he executed a strong launch, firing off quickly and moving up to 6th within a matter of laps. The approach that produced three consecutive top 5 finishes at Sonoma entering Sunday’s race, was on full display. As Buescher slung his Ford through the corners with ease he remained a steady presence inside the top 10 throughout the segment. After pit stops cycled and the stage wound down, Buescher was 8th.
The final stage saw Buescher restart 3rd, with a shot at bringing home the win for RFK Racing. As racing intensified, Buescher battled for positions inside the top 5, all the while keeping the leaders within striking distance. A late caution saw several teams opt to pit while Buescher chose to stay out to maintain track position. Restarting 3rd once again he tucked in behind eventual race winner Shane Van Gisbergen. It appeared things were falling into place. However, following a caution and restart, with only five laps to go, Buescher was unexpectedly shuffled back in the chaotic closing laps and finished 16th.
Up Next:
Dover Motor Speedway (Dover, DE) Sunday July 20, 2025, on TNT @ 2:00pm ET
About RFK Racing RFK Racing, in its 38th season in 2025, features an ownership lineup pairing one of the sport’s most iconic names, Jack Roush, along with NASCAR Champion Brad Keselowski and Fenway Sports Group owner John Henry. Roush initially founded the team in 1988, and it has since become one of the most successful racing operations in the world, propelling him to be the first NASCAR owner to amass 300 wins and capturing eight championships, including back-to-back NASCAR Cup titles in 2003 and 2004. Keselowski, a former owner in the NASCAR Truck Series, is the 2012 NASCAR Cup Series Champion. In 2007, Roush partnered with Henry, who also owns Major League Baseball’s Boston Red Sox, English Premier League’s Liverpool F.C., and the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins, to form Roush Fenway Racing. Off the track, RFK is a leader and proven winner in NASCAR marketing solutions, having produced multiple award-winning social media, digital content, and experiential marketing campaigns. Visit rfkracing.com and follow the team on all social platforms @rfkracing.
Creed Earns Second Straight Road Course Top 10 at Sonoma; Mayer 17th Custer Finishes 22nd in Cup Series on Sunday
Xfinity Series
Following a strong showing last weekend in Chicago by both Haas Factory Team (HFT) Fords, the momentum continued at Sonoma on Friday as Sam Mayer delivered a third-place qualifying effort. It marked his sixth consecutive top-10 start, a streak that dates back to Nashville Superspeedway in May. His teammate Sheldon Creed also started inside the top 10, rolling off ninth in his No. 00 Pit Boss Ford.
“As a team I felt we were really consistent today and had good speed in our Pit Boss Ford”, Creed said. “We fought there until the end and were able to get a top-10 finish out of it, so overall a really solid day and I’m looking forward to Dover.”
Mayer got off to a quick start in his No. 41 Audibel Ford, settling into third behind polesitter Shane van Gisbergen and Connor Zilisch in the early going. He consistently posted some of the fastest lap times in the field while maintaining pressure on the leaders. His pace paid off late in the opening stage as he inherited the lead when the front two cars pitted just before the stage break. Mayer went on to win Stage One, collecting a valuable playoff point—his second of the season.
Further back, Creed ran a clean and methodical first segment. He worked his way up from ninth, cracking the top six by lap 10. His steady progress culminated in a fifth-place finish in Stage One, netting him five stage points. Both HFT entries hit pit road for four tires and fuel at the stage break, setting them up to fight their way forward once again.
Stage Two saw HFT continue its strong form, combining speed and strategy to stay in contention. A quick caution just two laps into the segment bunched the field, and both Mayer and Creed took advantage, surging into the top five by lap 35. The No. 41 team opted to short pit the stage in favor of long-run position, sacrificing stage points but gaining strategic track position. Meanwhile, Creed stayed out and earned seven more stage points with a fourth-place finish, reinforcing his consistency.
The final stage featured an extended green flag run that put a premium on tire management and composure. As grip levels dropped and the field stretched out, both HFT drivers stayed competitive. Mayer remained in the top five through much of the final stint, however, contact with Anthony Alfredo in the closing moments sent him off course and shuffled him back to 17th on the final lap—a frustrating end to an otherwise impressive day.
“Overall, we had speed in the car and I’m really proud of our team getting that stage win and consistently running up front”, Mayer said. “Disappointing how it ended, but we’ll look forward to next weekend at Dover.”
Creed, however, maintained his composure and secured a solid top-10 finish, capping off another productive outing for the No. 00 team. He now looks ahead to Dover Motor Speedway next weekend, where he has a 7.7 average finish across three starts.
Mayer sits eighth in the Xfinity points standings with 627 total points on the season, behind the seven winners, while Creed is in 10th place with 518 points.
Cup Series
Cole Custer battled a loose-handling race car throughout the afternoon to secure a 22nd-place finish in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Sonoma Raceway. After qualifying 27th on Saturday, the No. 41 Haas/Autodesk Ford team came into race day prepared to make steady progress.
A challenging restart at the drop of the green flag shuffled Custer back to 34th place within the opening laps of the race. Undeterred by the early setback, he steadily began working his way through the field. By mid-stage, he had clawed his way back into the top 30. A strategic call by the No. 41 team to stay out for the duration of Stage One paid off, allowing Custer to gain valuable track position and cross the line just outside the top 10, finishing 11th in the opening stage.
However, during the stage break, a speeding penalty on pit road forced Custer to restart from the rear of the field at the beginning of Stage Two. Still, he remained focused and determined, charging forward to 25th by lap 47. The team then opted to split the stage in half, bringing Custer to pit road for fresh tires and fuel. While the decision meant he would finish Stage Two in 29th, it positioned the team well for a strong run in the final segment.
Custer stayed out during the stage break and restarted 18th as the final stage got underway. He continued to show speed and consistency, advancing as high as 14th before a caution flew on lap 95. The No. 41 crew capitalized with a flawless pit stop, helping Custer maintain crucial track position during a string of late-race cautions. Despite the chaotic final laps, Custer held firm and brought the car home with a hard-fought 22nd-place finish.
“Definitely a hard-fought day. I felt like we had speed in the car, but we just had a few things go wrong for us and it didn’t work out,” Custer said. “I feel like we’re moving in the right direction of having cars that can go out there and compete, it’s just a matter of doing all the little things right.”
Up Next NASCAR heads to Dover Motor Speedway next weekend, with race coverage for the Xfinity series set for 4:30 p.m. ET on Saturday on the CW, and Sunday at 2 p.m. ET on TNT for the Cup Series.
About Haas Factory Team The Haas Factory Team is a NASCAR Cup and Xfinity program owned by Gene Haas, founder of Haas Automation. Beginning in 2025, the team will feature Cole Custer driving the No. 41 Ford Mustang Dark Horse in the NASCAR Cup Series, while Sheldon Creed and Sam Mayer take on the Xfinity Series in the No. 00 and No. 41 Ford Mustangs, respectively. Based in Kannapolis, North Carolina, the Haas Factory Team reflects a commitment to performance and engineering excellence, carrying forward Gene Haas’s commitment to motorsports.
RICK WARE RACING Toyota/Save Mart 350k Date: July 13, 2025 Event: Toyota/Save Mart 350k (Round 20 of 36) Series: NASCAR Cup Series Location: Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway (1.99-mile, 10-turn road course) Format: 110 laps, broken into three stages (25 laps/30 laps/55 laps) Race Winner: Shane van Gisbergen of Trackhouse Racing (Chevrolet) Stage 1 Winner: Ross Chastain of Trackhouse Racing (Chevrolet) Stage 2 Winner: Shane van Gisbergen of Trackhouse Racing (Chevrolet)
RWR Finish:
● Cody Ware (Started 36th, Finished 34th / Running, completed 108 of 110 laps)
RWR Points:
● Cody Ware (36th with 147 points)
Race Notes:
● Shane Van Gisbergen won the Toyota/Save Mart 350k to score his fourth career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his third of the season and his first at Sonoma. His margin over second-place Chase Briscoe was 1.128 seconds. ● There were six caution periods for a total of 17 laps. ● All but four of the 37 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap. ● William Byron remains the championship leader after Sonoma with a 14-point advantage over second-place Chase Elliott.
Sound Bites:
“We obviously started on our back foot with qualifying yesterday. I missed my marks and didn’t do as good of a job as I should’ve in qualifying, but felt like we did a good job today and had a chance to get track position. We were able to do that and maintain it for the most part, especially on old tires. That’s never an easy task here. We stuck to our strategy all day long, which was to go as long as we could on a run and, unfortunately, especially with a long stop like that where we had an issue, it put us down a lap. Then on top of that, the wheel was left loose during that long stop. So, it was a crummy way to end the day. It would’ve been really nice to log a solid top-20 or top-25 finish today to put Chicago behind us, but it doesn’t always work out the way we want it. But have to give a big thanks to Mighty Fire Breaker and the team for giving me a good piece today. We’ll just regroup, reset and get ready for Dover.” – Cody Ware, driver of the No. 51 Mighty Fire Breaker Ford Mustang Dark Horse
Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 on Sunday, July 20 at Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway. The race begins at 2 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by TNT and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Evan Hinkle Secures Twin Third-Place Pro-Am Finishes in Type 992 Porsche Sprint Challenge Debut in the No. 277 Monoflo International/TPC Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup
Michael Levitas Improves All Weekend in His Return to the Competitive Masters Class in His First Major Race Weekend in More Than Two Years in the No. 236 TPC Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup
ALTON, Virginia (July 13, 2025) – A double-podium showing for debuting Porsche 911 GT3 Cup driver Evan Hinkle, and the positive return of TPC Racing founder and champion driver Michael Levitas, highlighted a strong weekend of USAC Porsche Sprint Challenge North America by Yokohama competition for TPC Racing at VIRginia International Raceway. Hinkle stepped up for a pair of Pro-Am class third-place finishes in the weekend’s twin GT3 Cup races for Type 992 Porsches while Levitas nearly cracked the top-10 Sunday in his first significant race start in nearly three years in the ultra-competitive Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Masters Class.
Monoflo International driver Hinkle is in his third year of Porsche Sprint Challenge competition with TPC Racing but his only series starts have come at VIR, which is the home track for the Winchester, Virginia native. In his first two years of competition, Hinkle drove in the Sprint Challenge Cayman class, including a third-place Pro-Am finish in that division in his 2023 series debut a VIR.
This weekend was Hinkle’s biggest yet, however, and his first races after moving up to GT3 Cup competition with Monoflo International and “trade-off” teammate Tillman Schmid in top-tier 992 competition. Fast out of the box, Hinkle started seventh overall in the 32-car field on Saturday and sixth on Sunday.
Executing all race starts and restarts perfectly in the No. 277 Monoflo International/TPC Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, Hinkle moved up to fifth overall and third in Pro-Am in the opening laps in both races and successfully defended the podium finishing positions to the checkered flag each day.
Hinkle was joined at VIR by TPC Racing principal Levitas who stepped away from driving in recent seasons to focus on the construction of TPC Racing’s new 40,000 square foot headquarters in Jessup, Maryland. With the state-of-the-art facility unveiled last year and fully open for business, Levitas has moved back into competition. Like Hinkle, this weekend was his first in Type 992 GT3 Cup machinery in national Porsche single-make championship competition.
Levitas and the TPC team spent the first part of the VIR weekend chasing down some electrical gremlins on his No. 236 TPC Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. The Porsche was sorted out before qualifying and, after an 18th place result in Saturday’s first race, Levitas was nearing a top-10 finish and turning his top laps of the weekend in Sunday’s final sprint when timed expired.
Next up for TPC Racing in Porsche Sprint Challenge competition is Rounds 9 and 10 of this year’s championship at Road America, August 8 – 10.
Harris Levitas, TPC Racing Director of Race Operations: “I am proud of the great effort from everyone on the TPC Racing team for working five days straight in typically hot and humid summer conditions. They don’t stop and always answer the call to give our drivers the best cars possible. Evan Hinkle had a great weekend from the moment the TPC Racing crew unloaded the Monoflo International Porsche, and his double Pro-Am podiums in his debut is an amazing performance and a first in top-tier GT3 Cup competition for TPC Racing and Monoflo International. It was also great to have Michael Levitas back in the driver’s seat with us, and the no-quit effort the team put in to sort out his TPC Racing Porsche 992 GT3 Cup was incredible. There is no doubt Michael will be back battling for Masters Class Porsche GT3 Cup podiums before the end of the season.”
Evan Hinkle, Driver – No. 277 Monoflo International/TPC Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup: “I’m thrilled! I really can’t believe I made it to the podium, and if we had one more lap on Saturday, I’d say I wouldn’t have been up there. I’m thankful for timed races and seeing that white flag! It’s been a hot weekend, but there’s a lot of people to thank. I came here the last two years in the series in a Cayman with TPC Racing, who bring great equipment to the track every time. I also obviously have to thank Monoflo International for putting me here, and our coach Mike Skeen. Thanks so much to everybody that helped! It’s pretty crazy. I had never guessed coming down the road that I was going to stand up here on the podium twice! I work a full-time job for the company on my chest – Monoflo International – and they make it all possible for me to do this once a year. It’s all pretty cool.”
Michael Levitas, Driver – No. 236 TPC Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup: “I really had a great weekend, and I am so proud of my son Harris Levitas and everybody on the TPC Racing team. We spent the test days addressing some ECU and related electrical issues but nobody on the team gave up and everybody worked hard until we solved it. I really didn’t get any laps until before qualifying, which was a challenge because it has really been more like three years since I have done a race like this. But once we were going, we didn’t stop improving and it was so great to be back doing what I love again. The class structure was different when I last raced in Porsche Sprint Challenge, so the Masters Class was new to me, and the competition is really intense. Lots of good cars, teams and really quick drivers. We improved to almost cracking the top-10 on Sunday and I am sure we will next time we race in Porsche Sprint Challenge. I can’t wait!”
About TPC Racing: TPC Racing is the Mid-Atlantic’s premier maintenance, service, tuning and modification center dedicated solely to Porsche sportscars. TPC Racing specializes in R&D and sales of high-performance modifications for Porsche sports cars and race cars, offering a wide range of vehicle upgrades. Best known for a line of forced induction solutions for the Porsche 911, Cayman and Boxster, a long-time focus on only one make, Porsche, has enabled TPC Racing to become experts in Porsche service, tuning, and racing. In 2000, TPC Racing began entering races under its own banner, scoring an SGS-class Championship in 2004 in the Grand-American Rolex Series and was a class winner in the 2006 Rolex 24 At Daytona, and captured the 2013 and 2016 IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA Gold Cup Championships. More information can be found at www.TPCRacing.com.
Runner-up LMGT3 finish in Brazil for No. 81 Z06 GT3.R as both Corvettes take points
SĀO PAULO, Brazil (July 13, 2025) – TF Sport’s Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R program continued its strong momentum Sunday with a runner-up LMGT3 class finish for the No. 81 Corvette of Charlie Eastwood, Rui Andrade and Tom Van Rompuy at the Six Hours of Sāo Paulo.
The result was the best of the FIA World Endurance Championship season for the trio and its second straight podium following a third-place finish at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Eastwood and Andrade also were part of TF Sport’s winning lineup a week prior at Imola with its European Le Mans Series Corvette program.
The finish Sunday for the No. 81 Corvette also elevated the three drivers and its squad from sixth to fifth in the LMGT3 Drivers and Teams standings after five of eight races.
As it has for a majority of the season, the No. 81 Corvette crew ran a faultless race with both Van Rompuy and Andrade moving up through the order with strong driving in a pair of double-stints and Eastwood driving the final 2.5 hours to the finish.
Both TF Sport Corvettes finished in the points for the second consecutive race and third time this year. Despite some early misfortunes, the No. 33 Corvette Z06 GT3.R trio of Daniel Juncadella, Jonny Edgar and Ben Keating placed seventh in class to remain third in the championship standings.
A winner to start the season in Qatar, the No. 33 Corvette squad lost track position early through on-track contact and subsequent penalties, which forced the engineering team to move to an alternate driver rotation.
That resulted in Keating and Juncadella splitting the first two-thirds of the race and leaving it to Edgar to heroically bring home the No. 33 Corvette in the points.
TF Sport and its Corvettes next will race at the FIA WEC’s lone North American race September 5-7 at Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas.
TF SPORT POST-RACE DRIVER QUOTES
CHARLIE EASTWOOD, NO. 81 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R – FINISHED SECOND IN LMGT3: “Another great result today with P2. As we’ve seen many times this year, TF Sport executed a really solid race – great strategy, no mistakes, no penalties, which I feel today there were more penalties than most WEC races, and we just were able to capitalize on that to get a great P2. I definitely feel like some momentum is behind me now. I had a tough sort of 18-month start to this journey but with now three podiums in a row with TF between Le Mans, Imola in ELMS and here, I’ve no doubt that we can continue to get podiums at every event to close out the year. So we need to look forward… first to have a nice break over the summer before a very busy late August into September. But I’ve no doubt we can get podiums and race wins every race to the end of the year and hopefully go into both Bahrain and Portimão, giving ourselves a chance at those championships.”
RUI ANDRADE, NO. 81 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R – FINISHED SECOND IN LMGT3: “Another podium for the 81 crew and a third in a row for myself and Charlie. Great teamwork by the entire team to move us up the field after a difficult qualifying. And then a great final stint by Charlie to make the overtake which put us P2 at the flag. I’m super happy with this positive momentum and looking forward now to some rest during the summer break after some intense weeks of racing.”
DANIEL JUNCADELLA, NO. 33 CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R – FINISHED SEVENTH IN LMGT3: “It was a disappointing day. Three penalties that lost us around 55 seconds. So yeah, it’s a big deal. But I did enjoy the alternate strategy. I think it paid off very nicely in terms of track position to switch to myself after Ben’s first stint and then also after his second stint. I think that was very cool and I got to overtake a couple of cars. So that was nice. And then Jonny at the end, I think he did a great job. He was defending against the McLaren, which was clearly faster and he did really well. He also overtook the BMW so it was just perfect execution from him. Unfortunately there were still the penalties… things that happen. I think Ben didn’t have the best of days but we live and learn and hopefully get better for the next one.”
JONNY EDGAR, NO. 33 CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R – FINISHED SEVENTH IN LMGT3: “It was a tough day for us with some penalties that hurt our race. But the car felt great to drive and I am happy we still scored some points for the championship. The end for me was very tough on very old tires trying to defend from cars on newer ones. So I was happy to be able to hold the McLaren behind at the end. The whole team did a great job all weekend like they always do. We will take these points and move to COTA and try to move back up in the championship.”
About General Motors General Motors (NYSE:GM) is driving the future of transportation, leveraging advanced technology to build safer, smarter, and lower emission cars, trucks, and SUVs. GM’s Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC brands offer a broad portfolio of innovative gasoline-powered vehicles and the industry’s widest range of EVs, as we move to an all-electric future. Learn more at GM.com.
Luck goes the way of Milner, Catsburg for second place in GTD PRO
BOWMANVILLE, Ontario (July 13, 2025) – Tommy Milner, Nicky Catsburg and the No. 4 Corvette Z06 GT3.R team gambled and won on strategy Sunday on the way to a second-place GTD PRO finish in the Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
A call for a top-off of fuel under yellow by the Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports engineering team with nearly 80 minutes to go reversed the fortunes for the Milner, Catsburg and the No. 4 Corvette, which lost time earlier in the pits and ran as far down as ninth in class.
Two additional full-course yellow periods over the final 30 minutes – including one with 15 minutes left that ended the race – allowed Catsburg to hold position and put himself and Milner on the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship podium for the first time this year.
The result solidified Chevrolet’s lead in the GTD PRO Manufacturers Championship with four races left in the season.
Antonio Garcia and Alexander Sims also retained their Drivers Championship lead with a fourth-place finish in the No. 3 Corvette. The duo ran a more traditional strategy and looked likely to make the podium for the fifth time this season, thanks to a fuel advantage over two of the cars ahead of it when the final yellows flew.
In GTD, Alec Udell and Robert Wickens posted the best finish of the season for the DXDT Racing No. 36 Corvette Z06 GT3.R effort. Wickens, racing a Corvette at CTMP for the first time, started third and drove the first 45 minutes before giving way to Udell to go the rest of the way. The pair was in the same position as the No. 3 Corvette and likely would have made the GTD podium without the late yellows due to the team’s fuel strategy.
Matt Bell and Orey Fidani placed ninth in GTD with AWA’s No. 13 Corvette in the team’s home race. The team fought back from a lap down and likewise had its progress halted by the final two yellows.
The next race for the Corvette Z06 GT3.R program in IMSA is August 1-3 at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.
CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R POST-RACE DRIVER QUOTES
TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R – FINISHED SECOND IN GTD PRO: “That’s the name of the game sometimes. We for sure didn’t have the car we hoped for or wanted today. It was hard to drive. We took a risk and made a stretch call there that worked out in our favor. In talking to the guys on the pit stand, this is a place where you don’t have little moments; you have big ones. So the chance of a yellow I thought was pretty good so I was pretty happy with our decision. It played into our hands exactly as we needed it to. We’ve had some bad luck throughout the year, so we’ll take some good luck today.”
NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 4 CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R – FINISHED SECOND IN GTD PRO: “It’s very nice to finish on the podium. It’s our first of the year, and it’s great to do it at the Chevrolet Grand Prix. But we do have a lot of work to do. We got a little bit lucky today. We need to figure out where things keep going wrong for us in the pitlane and figure out how to get the Corvette in a bit better window. We have work left but the guys worked really hard. We did a really good job in terms of Manufacturers points. The points for the 3 car guys today was good for their championship, too. So all good.”
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R – FINISHED FOURTH IN GTD PRO: “It was super difficult strategy-wise to know what to do. You would do whatever you had to do and it obviously went the other way for us. In a way, I’m happy that we did our race. Without the last yellow, everyone ahead of us was tight (on fuel) so it was going to be another fight with the 77. The 4 car made that gamble on fuel and obviously it paid out. For all the loss we got for running the regular strategy, at least the 4 team got the most out of it. They had issues on their first two stops so that put them on the back foot but for once it worked. Great Manufacturer points for Chevrolet. It’s good that either the 3 or 4 Corvette is on the podium in any race. That’s what we need to achieve. Let’s see if at the next races we can get them both up there. But today I’m happy for Corvette Racing overall and we’ll move ahead for the next one.”
ALEXANDER SIMS, NO. 3 CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R – FINISHED FOURTH IN GTD PRO: “It honestly wasn’t one of my most comfortable races for whatever reason. I made a bad call on the last restart; I got checked up by the Ford in front of me which compromised me but then made the wrong call going into Turn One with the Lambo on the inside. I tried to fight him, and if he didn’t back out then I was going to come off second-best by a long way. That happens. It’s really, really frustrating from my side to make that situation happen. I could have sucked it up and lost just one place. The team did a great job to get us back into the mix on strategy. I don’t know how it panned out on strategy. We initiated the strategy call and were proactive to get us back into the race, which was great. On the final restart I got back past the Lambo to reverse the situation from earlier. It was another crazy restart and I don’t know what happened. Thanks to the Pratt Miller team for getting our Corvette back nearer to the front. Huge congrats to the 4 car guys. They’ve had some tough races so it’s nice that they get a result.”
ROBERT WICKENS, NO. 36 CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R – FINISHED FOURTH IN GTD: “Overall, a pretty good day for us at DXDT Racing. Gutted we didn’t make it on the podium, but I thought as a team we executed a near flawless race. So to come away with a top-five finish, first one of the year for me in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and my first top-five with Corvette, I think we can hold our heads high. And I think we have a lot of momentum moving forward to my next race in Road America in a couple weeks time.
“The Corvette Z06 GT3.R was amazing to drive at my home race. Sometimes I’m still having to pinch myself that I got to have such a cool experience. So all in all, thank you to all the fans who came out and supported us over the weekend, bared the weather, and we ended up getting a perfect sunny day in the end. So all in all, a great day.”
Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.
About General Motors General Motors (NYSE:GM) is driving the future of transportation, leveraging advanced technology to build safer, smarter, and lower emission cars, trucks, and SUVs. GM’s Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC brands offer a broad portfolio of innovative gasoline-powered vehicles and the industry’s widest range of EVs, as we move to an all-electric future. Learn more at GM.com.
NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Sonoma. NASCAR Cup Series Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway on July 13, 2025 in Sonoma, California. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
Shane van Gisbergen jumps to the lead in this week’s Top-10 Power Rankings after his third NASCAR Cup Series win of 2025 at Sonoma Raceway.
Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.
1. Shane van Gisbergen:
Van Gisbergen won Stage 2 and went on to take an easy win in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma.
“I’ve dominated in races all over the globe,” van Gisbergen said. “Now there’s another country to add to the list—‘wine’ country.”
2. Denny Hamlin:
Hamlin finished 20th in the Toyota/Save Mart 350.
“I really wasn’t happy with my performance,” Hamlin said. “And I can’t stop thinking about it. And the last thing I need now is something else keeping me up at night.”
3. Tyler Reddick:
Reddick finished a strong sixth at Sonoma, and advanced to the semifinals of the in-season tournament.
“I think it was really cool to have Chumba Casino sponsorship on a car co-owned by Michael Jordan,” Reddick said. “There’s nothing like winning a race for Michael, except maybe winning a bet for Michael.”
4. William Byron:
Byron started third and finished
“Carson Hocevar finished 32nd,” Briscoe said, “in the race, and in the hearts of his fellow drivers.”
5. Chase Elliott:
Elliott finished third at Sonoma.
“I thought I could catch SVG with new tires,” Elliott said. “But when the rubber met the road, my rubber met the dirt, and I lost all the momentum.”
6. Chase Briscoe:
Briscoe battled Shane van Gisbergen all day at Sonoma, but had to settle for second as SVG was just too good.
“SVG is in a class by himself,” Briscoe said. “In fact, he’s a professor in a class by himself.”
7. Joey Logano:
Logano finished ninth in the Toyota/Save Mart 350.
“I’ll gladly take a top-10 finish at Sonoma,” Logano said. “For me, that’s a reason to celebrate, as well as a reason to confront Ross Chastain, not that I need one.”
8. Alex Bowman:
Bowman finished 19th at Sonoma.
“Shane van Gisbergen is miles ahead of the competition on road courses,” Bowman said. “Maybe he’s not on another planet where road course talent is concerned, but he’s at least on another continent.”
9. Ryan Blaney:
Blaney finished 36th, four laps down, at Sonoma.
“I made contact with Chris Buescher on lap 62,” Blaney said, “and got spun into the dirt. It was totally Buescher’s fault, and I will exact my revenge at some point. You could say I plan to ‘torpedo’ the Build Submarines car.”
10. Ross Chastain:
Chastain won Stage 2 at Sonoma and finished 24th.
“My Trackhouse Racing teammate Daniel Suarez won’t be with the team next year,” Chastain said. “I’m not sure where he’s going, but there’s a lot of drivers that wish I’d follow him there.”
SONOMA, Calif. (July 13, 2025) – In a performance that echoed his road course mastery from seasons past, Shane van Gisbergen delivered yet another commanding victory at Sonoma Raceway, claiming his third NASCAR Cup Series win on the 2025 season. The Kiwi sensation survived multiple late-race cautions to showcase his unparalleled skill on the twisting 1.99-mile layout during Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350.
Piloting the No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet, van Gisbergen led a staggering 97 of the 110 laps, crossing the finish line with a comfortable 1.128-second advantage. It marked his inaugural Cup Series triumph at the California venue but his fourth overall on the circuit.
With the win, van Gisbergen has now captured three of the last five Cup Series events, including consecutive road course successes following his dominant showing at the Chicago Street Race just last weekend. The victory propels him into a tie for the season’s win lead alongside Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell, each boasting three checkered flags.
“Awesome job, boys,” the No. 88 crew radioed to van Gisbergen as he took the checkers. “Awesome job. What a run we’re on.”
Chase Briscoe, who started on the front row, held strong to finish second in the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Chase Elliott rounded out the podium in third, followed by Michael McDowell in fourth and Christopher Bell in fifth.
The race featured six caution periods totaling 17 laps and 12 lead changes, adding drama to an otherwise van Gisbergen-led affair.
Stage honors were split between Trackhouse teammates: Ross Chastain claimed Stage 1 for his first stage win of the year, while van Gisbergen overtook Kyle Larson on the final lap to secure Stage 2.
Van Gisbergen’s third straight road course victory in the series harkens back to his breakout 2023 debut win in Chicago, proving that when it comes to twists and turns, it’s indeed deja vu all over again for the competition.
Sonoma Raceway tickets, camping, upgrades, premium options and much more for the 2026 race weekend are available at SonomaRaceway.com or by calling (800) 870-RACE [7223].
Sonoma Raceway is a 2.52-mile, 12-turn road course and quarter-mile drag strip located at Sears Point in Sonoma County, California. Built in 1968 the track is carved into rolling hills with 160 ft of total elevation change. It is host to one of the few NASCAR Cup Series races each year that are run on road courses. It is one of the world’s busiest racing facilities, with track activity scheduled an average of 340 days a year. A complete and versatile motorsports complex, it is home to one of the nation’s only high-performance automotive industrial parks with approximately 70 tenants.
SONOMA, CALIFORNIA - JULY 13: Shane Van Gisbergen, driver of the #88 Red Bull Chevrolet, poses with the winner sticker on his car in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway on July 13, 2025 in Sonoma, California. (Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images).
Rookie Shane van Gisbergen’s dominance on road and street course events in the 2025 summer stretch continued Sunday afternoon. He scored a dominant NASCAR Cup Series victory in the Toyota/SaveMart 350 at Sonoma Raceway on Sunday, July 13, from pole position.
The three-time Supercars champion from Auckland, New Zealand, led six times for a race-high 97 of 110 scheduled laps. He dominated the event’s first two stage periods. He sacrificed the first stage victory to pit his entry strategically. This enabled him to cycle back out with the lead for the start of the second stage period. Van Gisbergen mirrored his move before the conclusion of the latter stage. He overtook Kyle Larson on the stage’s final lap and claimed the stage victory.
He continued his dominance, enduring four restarts throughout the final stage period and sharing the front row with Chase Briscoe. However, van Gisbergen managed to fend off Briscoe through all of the restarts. This included the final restart with four laps remaining. Van Gisbergen smoothly navigated Sonoma’s 12-turn circuit for four laps, cruising to an unprecedented third Cup Series victory of the 2025 season.
On-track qualifying determined the starting lineup on Saturday, July 12. Rookie Shane van Gisbergen notched his fourth Cup Series career pole position with a 96.040 mph lap in 74.594 seconds. He shared the front row with Chase Briscoe, who clocked in a qualifying lap at 95.719 mph in 74.844 seconds.
When the green flag waved and the event commenced, pole-sitter Shane van Gisbergen wasted no time. He rocketed his No. 88 Red Bull Chevrolet entry ahead of Chase Briscoe, William Byron and the field through the first turn and the uphill climb to Turn 2. With select competitors racing at the rear of the field kicked up dirt on the racing surface while navigating through the second turn, van Gisbergen maintained a steady lead from Turns 3, the backstretch chicane from Turns 4a to 7, the Esses that started from Turns 8 to 10 and a sharp right-hand turn from Turn 11. Once he navigated past Turn 12, he led the first lap.
Over the next four laps, van Gisbergen extended his early advantage to eight-tenths of a second. Both Byron and Ross Chastain overtook Briscoe to move up to second and third, respectively, on the leaderboard. AJ Allmendinger followed suit in fifth place. Van Gisbergen extended his lead to more than a second and lead to the Lap 10 mark.
Through the first 15 scheduled laps, van Gisbergen continued to stretch his early advantage. His lead stood at more than two seconds over Byron. Briscoe, Christopher Bell and Ryan Blaney trailed in the top five. Chastain fended off Allmendinger for sixth place as Ty Gibbs, Tyler Reddick and Chase Elliott occupied the remaining top-10 spots. Behind, Kyle Larson, Michael McDowell, Alex Bowman, Chris Buescher, Ryan Preece, Zane Smith, Daniel Suarez, Brad Keselowski, Austin Cindric and Joey Logano.
Then, on Lap 20, mixed pit strategies within the field ensued. Austin Cindric pitted his No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry from 16th place. More drivers, including teammate Blaney, Chris Buescher, Larson and John Hunter Nemechek pitted their respective entries a lap later. They were followed by another wave of competitors that included Bell, Allmendinger, Gibbs, Elliott, Reddick, McDowell, Bowman, Preece, Keselowski, Logano, Daniel Suarez, rookie Riley Herbst and Denny Hamlin pitted during the next lap.
Prior to Lap 23 and before pit road became inaccessible to the field to mark the conclusion of a stage period, van Gisbergen surrendered the lead to pit under green. He was followed by runner-up Byron and third-place Briscoe on pit road. Chastain opted not to pit before the first stage’s conclusion, cycling his No. 1 Kubota Chevrolet entry into the lead.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 25, Chastain cruised to his first Cup stage victory of the 2025 season. Teammate van Gisbergen, who managed to cycle in second place, retained the spot ahead of Bubba Wallace, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Byron. Ty Dillon, Briscoe, Blaney, Gibbs and Elliott were scored in the top 10, respectively. Meanwhile, Bell, who spun in Turn 2 after he slightly over-drove the turn and made light contact with teammate Briscoe in the process on Lap 24, was mired back in 18th place.
Under the first stage break, some led by Chastain, including those who had not pitted before the first stage’s conclusion, pitted their respective entries. The rest, led by van Gisbergen, remained on the track. Among those who pitted with Chastain included Wallace, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ty Dillon, Cole Custer, Erik Jones, Austin Dillon, Noah Gragson, Todd Gilliland and Justin Haley.
The second stage period started on Lap 29 as van Gisbergen and Byron occupied the front row. At the start, van Gisbergen fended off Byron through the first three turns to retain the lead. As the field smoothly navigated through the first four turns, Blaney ran over the dirt entering Turn 4a. He got loose amid light contact with Briscoe, niy managed to keep his car racing straight. But he lost three spots in the process. Meanwhile, the field navigated through the rest of the turns smoothly as van Gisbergen led following lap.
The following lap, Allmendinger got loose and spun his No. 16 Big Sipz Chevrolet entry by himself in Turn 2. Shortly after, Nemechek spun his No. 42 Mobil 1 Toyota Camry XSE entry through the Esses just past Turn 7. Nemechek’s incident caused an oncoming bevy of competitors racing in the mid-pack region to scatter and go off the course to avoid Nemchek’s entry. Amid both incidents, the race remained under green flag conditions. Van Gisbergen retained a steady advantage over both Byron and Briscoe by Lap 32.
At the Lap 35 mark, van Gisbergen continued to lead by half a second over Byron. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Ty Gibbs, Briscoe and Bell trailed the lead by as far back as within two seconds. Meanwhile, sixth-place Blaney trailed by two seconds. ahead of Buescher, Elliott, McDowell and Bowman in the top-10 mark. Over the next five laps, Blaney and Bell swapped spots for fifth place and Preece cracked the top 10 in 10th place. Meanwhile, van Gisbergen stabilized his lead to half a second over Byron. Briscoe and Gibbs trailed in third and fourth, respectively.
Just past the Lap 45 mark, van Gisbergen extended his lead to more than two seconds. Behind, the new runner-up competitor, Briscoe, and third-place Blaney pursued and Byron dropped to fourth place in front of Bell. Meanwhile, Suarez, who was racing in 14th place, dropped to 29th place. This occurred after he received a bump and was sent for a spin in Turn 11 by his Trackhouse Racing teammate, Chastain.
With four laps remaining in the second stage period, another cycle of mixed pit strategies within the field ensued. Various drovers. including Bell, McDowell, Reddick, Bowman, Cindric, Zane Smith and Bowman pitted their respective entries under green. More names that included Byron, Buescher, Elliott, Preece, Gibbs, Keselowski, Logano, Herbst and Gilliland pitted during the following lap before the leader van Gisbergen, runner-up Briscoe, third-place Blaney and fourth-place Chastain pitted prior to the final two-lap mark of the second stage period. Amid the pit stops for the front-runners, Larson managed to cycle into the lead ahead of van Gisbergen.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 55, van Gisbergen, who overtook Larson for the lead on Lap 54 amid contact in Turn 3, notched his second Cup stage victory of the 2025 season. Larson settled in second ahead of Kyle Busch, Wallace and Stenhouse while Briscoe, Ty Dillon, Buescher, Blaney and Byron were scored in the top 10, respectively.
During the stage break, some led by Larson and including Busch, Wallace, Stenhouse, the Dillon brothers, Josh Berry, Noah Gragson, Justin Haley, Erik Jones, Katherine Legge, Allmendinger and Nemechek pitted their respective entries while the rest led by van Gisbergen remained on the track.
With 51 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as van Gisbergen and Briscoe occupied the front row. At the start, Briscoe mounted a side-by-side challenge on van Gisbergen through the first three turns. But van Gisbergen managed to muscle ahead and clear Briscoe through Turns 3a to 4a.
Despite Noah Gragson spinning into the tire barriers past Turn 3A, the race remained under green flag conditions. The field navigated through the backstretch chicane, the Esses and Turn 11 before returning to the start/finish line area. Van Gisbergen led the following lap.
Then, with 49 laps remaining, the caution returned. Blaney, who was battling Buescher for third place, got bumped by Buescher after Buescher got loose entering the first turn. The contact from Buescher got Blaney loose as he went off the track. Despite missing the wall, Blaney’s No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry came to a halt at an incline within the dirt and was unable to pull away. T
his resulted in Blaney losing a lap to the field. Meanwhile, the rest of the field navigated through the second turn while the caution was displayed. Wallace and Hamlin, both of whom were racing in the mid-pack region, spun separately in Turn 2, though both managed to continue without sustaining any significant damage to their respective entries.
The next restart began with 45 laps remaining. Van Gisbergen and Briscoe dueling for the lead through the first two turns. Then, van Gisbergen muscled ahead exiting the second turn. The field fanned out, bumped and jostled for late spots through Turns 3 and 3A, the backstretch chicane and the Esses.
Van Gisbergen started to pull away. Behind, a three-car battle for the runner-up spot, involving Briscoe, Byron and Elliott, ensued entering Turns 10 and 11. With the field navigating through Turn 11 without an incident occurring, van Gisbergen led the next lap. He continued to lead with 40 laps remaining while a variety of on-track battles ensued within the field.
With less than 35 laps remaining, van Gisbergen stabilized his advantage to more than two seconds over Briscoe. Byron, Elliott, Bell, Buescher, Preece, Ty Gibbs, Keselowski and Reddick trailed in the top 10, respectively. By then, Kyle Busch was down in 36th place after he spun in Turn 7 a few laps earlier.
van Gisbergen continued to lead by more than three seconds over Briscoe with 30 laps remaining. During the following lap, select drivers including Buescher, Reddick, Bowman and Logano strategically pitted their respective entries under green. By then, Preece and Nemechek had pitted two laps prior. With 28 laps remaining, more drivers, including Elliott, Keselowski and Allmendinger, pitted under green
Then, with 26 laps remaining, the leader van Gisbergen pitted under green, a lap after the runner-up competitor Briscoe pitted. More drivers, including Byron and Ty Gibbs pitted with van Gisbergen. Bell, who led when van Gisbergen pitted, pitted during the following lap. As Chastain pitted with Bell, Larson cycled into the lead. Van Gisbergen cycled to fourth place behind Carson Hocevar and Michael McDowell.
With 24 laps remaining, the top two competitors that included Larson and Hocevar pitted their respective Chevrolet entries. This allowed McDowell to cycle into the lead and van Gisbergen followed suit in second. Van Gisbergen, however, quickly reeled in and overtook McDowell’s No. 71 Project Zin/Gainbridge Chevrolet entry through Turn 7. And, with 21 laps remaining, reassumed the lead. Van Gisbergen proceeded to extend his lead to more than two seconds with less than 20 laps remaining. McDowell retained second place ahead of Briscoe, Elliott and Buescher, respectively.
Down to the final 15 laps of the event, van Gisbergen stabilized his lead to more than two seconds over the new runner-up competitor, Briscoe. Meanwhile, McDowell was overtaken by both Elliott and Buescher, which left the former mired in fifth place and trailing the lead by more than nine seconds, while Byron, Bell, Keselowski, Ty Gibbs and Cindric occupied the remaining top-10 spots ahead of Preece, Larson, Chastain, Reddick and Bowman, respectively.
Shortly after, the caution flew when the right-rear wheel from Cody Ware’s No. 51 Mighty Fire Breaker Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry rolled off of the car entering Turn 3a. The loose wheel proceeded to both roll and bounce on the course and was dodged by the field before it came to a rest off the track near the entrance of the backstretch chicane. During the caution period, a host of names led by third-place Elliott pitted while the rest led by the leader van Gisbergen and runner-up Briscoe remained on the track. Among those who also remained on the track included Buescher, Byron, Zane Smith, Hocevar, Stenhouse, Berry, Erik Jones, Gragson, Haley and Hamlin.
The start of the next restart with 11 laps remaining did not last a full lap before a series of on-track carnages ensued in Turn 7. Within the carnages, Jones and Gragson separately spun their respective entries, with Gragson sustaining damage after he got hit by Preece while Jones got rear-ended by Larson. At the moment of caution, which caused a majority of the field in the mid-pack region to scatter, van Gisbergen, who had fended off Briscoe at the start of the restart, was leading ahead of Briscoe, Buescher, Bell, Byron, Hocevar, Zane Smith, Berry, Stenhouse and Haley.
Like the previous restart, the following restart with seven laps remaining did not last long when Stenhouse, who was battling for a top-10 spot, was turned amid contact with Gibbs entering the Esses and he bounced off the tire barriers. By then, van Gisbergen, who fended off a late challenge from Briscoe from the start of the restart zone to Turn 3A, retained the lead while Bell, Buescher and Hocevar were scored in the top five ahead of Byron, Zane Smith, Elliott, Berry and McDowell.
During the next restart with four laps remaining, van Gisbergen dueled with Briscoe through the first turn before he bumped Briscoe through Turn 2, which allowed the former to muscle ahead and retain the lead exiting Turn 2. With the field getting stacked up and bumping through every turn, Larson and Blaney wrecked separately in Turn 4a and prior to Turn 7, respectively. Amid both incidents, the race remained under green flag conditions as the field navigated through the Esses before making their way through Turns 10 and 11. At the front, van Gisbergen led the following lap while Briscoe, Bell, Elliott and Byron followed suit in the top five, respectively.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, van Gisbergen remained in the lead by more than a second over Briscoe while the rest of the field behind continued to bump and jostle for final-lap spots. Amid the battles within the field, van Gisbergen was able to smoothly navigate his way through Sonoma’s turns for a final time before he cycled back through Turn 12 and streaked across the finish line in first place for his third checkered flag of the 2025 Cup Series season.
With the victory, van Gisbergen notched his fourth career win in NASCAR’s premier series, all occurring on either road courses or street courses. The New Zealander also became the first competitor to achieve three consecutive road course victories from pole position since Jeff Gordon achieved the previous feat from 1998-99 and he eclipsed Gordon’s previous record of most laps led by a race winner with his race-high 97 laps led before winning.
Van Gisbergen also became the 22nd competitor overall to win a Cup Series event at Sonoma, the first foreign-born competitor to win at Sonoma since Juan Pablo Montoya won in June 2007 and he piloted a Red Bull-sponsored car to Victory Lane in the Cup Series for the first time since Kasey Kahne won at Phoenix Raceway in November 2011. His third victory of the 2025 season, which is tied with Christopher Bell, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson for the most through 20-scheduled events, was also the ninth of the year for the Chevrolet nameplate and the fourth for Trackhouse Racing.
*Van Gisbergen, who swept both poles and race victories between the Xfinity and Cup Series divisions a week ago at the Chicago Street Course, capped off another successful race weekend in Sonoma, California. In addition to winning the Cup event on Sunday, he notched a strong runner-up result during Saturday’s Xfinity Series event at Sonoma following a late battle with his Trackhouse Racing/JR Motorsports teammate and race winner Connor Zilisch.
“[The racing] was pretty tough stuff,” van Gisbergen said on the frontstretch on TNT. “We had an amazing car. Chase Briscoe, what a great racer. [He] Gave me respect and jumped the last [restart] a little bit, but it was pretty tense. Amazing. So stoked for Red Bull, Trackhouse [Racing], Chevy. Unbelievable. I had a really fun weekend here. Some great races and hope everyone enjoyed that.”
“[It is] Hard to believe that, isn’t it?” van Gisbergen, who was mentioned that he is currently scored as the third-seeded competitor for the 2025 Playoffs, added. “I just have to thank these [No. 88] guys. We’ve built up all year, got better and better, and now we need to keep getting better on the ovals and start proving some people wrong. I had an amazing time in Australia [racing Supercars] and then to come here, the last couple of years has been [a] dream come true. I really enjoyed my time in NASCAR. Thanks everyone for making me feel so welcomed and [I] hope I’m here for a long time to come.”
Chase Briscoe, who finished no higher than 13th through his previous four starts at Sonoma, settled in second place for his seventh top-five result of the 2025 season.
“I never played basketball against [23XI Racing co-owner] Michael Jordan in his prime, but I feel like that’s probably what it was like,” Briscoe said. “[van Gisbergen] is unbelievable on road courses. He’s just so good. He’s really raised the bar on this entire series. I thought there was one restart I was maybe going to get clear of him, but truthfully even if I cleared him, he was probably going to pass me back by the end of the lap. We were a second-place car all day and ended up second with it.”
Chase Elliott finished in third place for his seventh top-five result of the 2025 season while Michael McDowell and Christopher Bell claimed the remaining top-five spots of fourth and fifth, respectively. Tyler Reddick, Ty Gibbs, William Byron, Joey Logano and Kyle Busch completed the top 10 in the final running order.
*Meanwhile, Sonoma, which also hosted the third In-Season Tournament of the year, featured a bevy of late-race drama between the initial group of eight competitors who were still in contention for the million-dollar prize. When the checkered flag flew, the following names that included John Hunter Nemechek, Tyler Reddick, Ty Gibbs and Ty Dillon transferred to the challenge’s fourth and penultimate round after the quartet eliminated Erik Jones, Ryan Preece, Zane Smith and Alex Bowman, respectively.
The Sonoma event featured 12 lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 17 laps. In addition, 33 of 37 starters finished on the lead lap.
Following the 18th event of the 2025 Cup Series season, William Byron leads the regular-season standings by 14 points over teammate Chase Elliott, 44 over teammate Kyle Larson, 53 over Tyler Reddick, 62 over Denny Hamlin and 71 over Christopher Bell.
Results:
1. Shane van Gisbergen, 97 laps led, Stage 2 winner 2. Chase Briscoe, two laps led 3. Chase Elliott 4. Michael McDowell, three laps led 5. Christopher Bell, one lap led 6. Tyler Reddick 7. Ty Gibbs 8. William Byron 9. Joey Logano 10. Kyle Busch 11. Brad Keselowski 12. Ryan Preece 13. Josh Berry 14. Daniel Suarez 15. Justin Haley 16. Chris Buescher 17. Ty Dillon 18. AJ Allmendinger 19. Alex Bowman 20. Denny Hamlin 21. Austin Dillon 22. Todd Gilliland 23. Cole Custer 24. Ross Chastain, four laps led, Stage 1 winner 25. Riley Herbst 26. Bubba Wallace 27. Zane Smith 28. John Hunter Nemechek 29. Erik Jones 30. Austin Cindric 31. Katherine Legge 32. Carson Hocevar 33. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 34. Cody Ware, two laps down 35. Kyle Larson, two laps down, three laps led 36. Ryan Blaney – OUT, Accident 37. Noah Gragson – OUT, Accident
Next on the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Dover Motor Speedway for the penultimate In-Season Tournament event of the year. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, July 20, and air at 2 p.m. ET on TNT.
Hard Battle for Austin Dillon and the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/Winchester Chevrolet Team at Sonoma Raceway
Finish: 21st Start: 33rd Points: 28th
“It was a hard battle for the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/Winchester Chevrolet team today at Sonoma Raceway. We didn’t really have a lot of speed this weekend, but we did make it better. We made some adjustments mid-race, and then those cautions came out at the end of the final stage. I had to go through the grass and lost around 15 spots. We got a couple back there at the end, but it’s not what we wanted. Overall, a decent recovery to come from 33rd to 21st. We’ll keep digging. We’ve had some good Chevrolets the last couple of weekends. Unfortunately, this week we weren’t as good as we’ve been, but we’ll get better.” -Austin Dillon
Kyle Busch and the No. 8 zone Chevrolet Team Earn Top-10 Finish at Sonoma Raceway
Finish: 10th Start: 17th Points: 15th
“We had to come from behind all day with our zone Chevrolet. On the initial start, our car had no drive or rear lateral in any direction. After falling to the back, crew chief Randall Burnett and the guys made the call for major chassis adjustments to get the rears working. Those adjustments definitely helped. I just wish I could have had that same adjustment again without giving up the track position. We kept working on the balance and in Stage 3, the car was the best it had been. It was simply avoiding wrecks at the end. Proud of the No. 8 team for pushing through and getting a top-10 finish.” -Kyle Busch
