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NASCAR’s top two circuits went from the downtown streets of Chicago on the holiday weekend to the hills of Sonoma, CA, this past weekend. That’s right; the Cup Series and Xfinity Series just completed two thrilling road races in California’s Wine Country.
The Xfinity Series saw a near-repeat of the Chicago results in Sonoma last Saturday at the Pit Boss FoodMaxx 250. The two best road course drivers battled it out for a second straight weekend. However, this time, the results were flipped.
The Cup Series was a carbon copy of the Chicago results as Shane van Gisbergen maintained his crown as the best road course driver in NASCAR. Despite the outcome, the Toyota Save Mart 350 still featured plenty of late cautions, wrecks and thrilling restarts.
If you missed any of the racing action from Sonoma, California, this weekend, we’ve got you covered. Continue reading our NASCAR results, race recaps, and catch up on all of the weekend’s stockcar excitement.
Additionally, check out how our NASCAR picks fared for the Cup Series and Xfinity Series Sonoma races.
NASCAR Cup Series Results
The following NASCAR Cup Series results are for the Toyota Save Mart 350:
| Cup Series Results | Driver | Team |
|---|---|---|
| Race Winner | Shane van Gisbergen | Trackhouse Racing |
| Stage 1 Winner | Ross Chastain | Trackhouse Racing |
| Stage 2 Winner | Shane van Gisbergen | Trackhouse Racing |
| Led Most Laps | Shane van Gisbergen (97/110) | Trackhouse Racing |
| Pole Position | Shane van Gisbergen | Trackhouse Racing |
No, your eyes aren’t deceiving you. The table above, is accurately filled out. Shane van Gisbergen dominated the Toyota Save Mart 350 and won his third race of the season. All three victories have come in road races: Mexico City, Chicago and Sonoma.
If you followed my NASCAR coverage, you would’ve seen the following prediction for this Sonoma race:
“After what he did last weekend in Chicago, it’s hard to bet against Shane van Gisbergen this weekend at Sonoma Raceway. SVG is now, the best road course driver in the Cup Series.
I got cute last weekend and went with the money instead of the safe, smart play of van Gisbergen. I’m not making that mistake this weekend.”
As you can see, I went with the smart play and took SVG to win. Not only did he come through for all of the NASCAR bettors that took his race-winning odds, but he did so in dominant fashion. You could’ve taken a nap during the race, woke up, and still celebrated his master class of road course driving. Yes, that’s exactly what I did!
Van Gisbergen made the following post-race comments:
“We had an amazing car. Chase Briscoe, what a great racer and gave me respect. Jumped the last (restart) a little bit, and it was pretty tense, but amazing. So stoked for Red Bull, Trackhouse, Chevy. I believe we had a really fun weekend here, some great races, and I hope everyone enjoyed that.”
Briscoe finished runner up to SVG after starting on the front row with him. He also led two laps and finished in the Top 10 on the first two stages.
Chase Elliott, who I was also high on this weekend, came in third place. Michael McDowell and Christopher Bell rounded out the Top 5. Both drivers also led at least one lap. Elliot was my selection for the best Top 5 bet of the weekend:
“Chase Elliott offers the best bang for your buck in regards to a Top 5 finish. His +250 odds are too good to pass up for a driver that has a 50% Top 5 finishing rate, three Top 5s in the last four races, and leads the field with an 11.1 average finish.”
SVG finished 1.128 seconds ahead of Briscoe. However, there were a number of wrecks and three different cautions in the final 11 laps of the race.
This created multiple restarts where Briscoe almost took the lead on the final lap, but van Gisbergen got around him and drove off for the win. In total, there were 12 lead changes and six cautions for 17 laps.
Briscoe commented on van Gisbergen’s incredible run at road courses and even compared him to Michael Jordan:
“The only opportunity I had was on the restarts. I never played basketball against Michael Jordan in his prime, but I feel like that’s probably what it was like. That guy is unbelievable on road courses. He’s just so good. He’s really raised the bar on this entire series.”
Rounding out the Top 10 were Tyler Reddick, Ty Gibbs, William Byron, Joey Logano and Kyle Busch. Speaking of Logano, he was my longshot driver of the week and someone that I proclaimed should be a Top 10 driver:
“We’re fading his race-winning odds this Sunday, but taking a flier on his Top 10 odds of +250. That’s a 2.5X return on investment for the three-time Cup champ to slide into a Top 10 spot. I like those odds and that kind of return on a driver who usually starts to heat up at this time of the year.”
Byron continues to lead the Cup Series driver standings, but his teammates Chase Elliott (-14) and Kyle Larson (-44) have closed the gap.
The Cup Series returns to oval racing next weekend as they head to Dover Motor Speedway for the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400. Yes, that’s a tongue twister if you try to say it five times fast. You can see the race in its entirety on TNT and MAX beginning at 2pm ET.
As for the In-Season Challenge, we’re down to the final four drivers after Dillon, Nemechek, Reddick and Gibbs all advanced. Next weekend’s Dover race will see Dillon vs. Nemechek and Reddick vs. Gibbs. The winners of those two matchups will then face each other for $1 million dollars the following week.
NASCAR Xfinity Series Results
The following NASCAR Xfinity Series results are for the Pit Boss FoodMaxx 250:
| Xfinity Series Results | Driver | Team |
|---|---|---|
| Race Winner | Connor Zilisch | JR Motorsports |
| Stage 1 Winner | Sam Mayer | Haas Factory Team |
| Stage 2 Winner | Brandon Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| Led Most Laps | Connor Zilisch (46/79) | JR Motorsports |
| Pole Position | Shane van Gisbergen | JR Motorsports |
The Pit Boss FoodMaxx 250 was a fun race to watch and bet on this past weekend. We knew it was going to come down to Connor Zilisch and Shane van Gisbergen. However, while we zigged, Zilisch zagged and edged out SVG for a thrilling victory. It also crushed our prediction:
“Last week, I picked SVG to win but I was hoping Zilisch could score the victory. They finished 1-2 in the results. I see the same thing happening again this weekend. These are the top two road course drivers in the Xfinity Series.”
It wasn’t hard to imagine a 1-2 finish for Zilisch and SVG. And, while I was rooting for the kid to win both weeks in a row, I still put my money on van Gisbergen. Dale Earnhardt Jr. won no matter who finished first or second, as he owns both cars.
As for Zilisch, he was able to hold off SVG and reverse the results from Chicago. The kid is a fast learner and one of the best young talents I’ve seen behind a wheel since Jr. himself. Zilisch made the following post-race comments:
“First, hats off to Shane. That was awesome. All race long, I felt like we were racing each other with respect. I wheel-hopped a little bit in Turn 7 one time and got into him. Otherwise, it was awesome to get to race against him finally and battle with him the whole race long.”
Zilisch also spoke about getting to race van Gisbergen again, when the Xfinity Series heads to Watkins Glen. For those of us looking forward to that battle, it will take place on Saturday, August 9.
As for SVG, he was just as excited about the race and gave respect to his teammate for the weekend in Zilisch. Van Gisbergen had won the 2024 edition of this event. And, as you can see from above, he would go on to win Sunday’s Cup Series race. That’s three wins in the last four races spanning both the Cup Series and Xfinity Series.
Rounding out the Top 5 were William Sawalich, Nick Sanchez and Riley Herbst. Justin Allgaier finished 6th and extended his lead in the standings to 59 points over Sam Mayer who won the first stage but faded late in the race to a 17th finish.
Taylor Gray, Carson Kvapil, Sammy Smith, and Sheldon Creed finished in the Top 10. My longshot pick of the race was Austin Green and he came in 11th overall, after starting 33rd.
The race only saw two cautions for seven laps. There were nine lead changes overall. Zilisch took the lead on lap 48 and held on for the final 32 laps despite the hard-charging van Gisbergen on his rear bumper.
Like the Cup Series, Xfinity will head to Dover Motor Speedway for Saturday’s BetRivers 200 race. This event can be seen on The CW beginning at 4:30pm ET on July 19. Ryan Truex will enter this race and it will be his second Xfinity start of the year. Truex, who will be driving for Sam Hunt Racing, has won the last two Xfinity races at Dover.
