Shane van Gisbergen delivered a statement weekend at Sonoma Raceway, sweeping both NASCAR national series races on the 1.99-mile, 11-turn road course ā backing up his 2025 Cup win at the track and proving once again why he's the benchmark road racer in NASCAR.
O'REILLY AUTO PARTS SERIES - 1st
SVG started from the pole in the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet and never looked back, leading a career-high 66 of 79 laps in one of the most dominant performances of his National Series career. He short-pitted Stage 2 on Lap 43 to regain track position after the break, then managed fuel the rest of the way to hold off a hard-charging Connor Zilisch, who started 30th after a flat tire in qualifying and fought all the way back to second. Brent Crews rounded out the podium in third for Joe Gibbs Racing.
It was SVG's sixth O'Reilly Series win ā all on road or street courses ā and his second straight at Sonoma, making him the winningest internationally born driver in series history.
"Luckily enough, I think I saved enough fuel early," van Gisbergen said postrace. "Sorry it wasn't the most exciting ā I guess boring's good when you're the one leading."
CUP SERIES - 1st
One day later, SVG backed it up at the top level. Starting sixth after a tricky Saturday practice, the No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet worked through the field and took the lead for good during a stage-flip strategy, ultimately leading 74 of 110 laps. Chase Briscoe mounted the strongest challenge of SVG's young Cup career, closing to within a foot at the Turn 11 hairpin on the final lap ā but a mistimed downshift a few laps earlier cost him his shot, and van Gisbergen held on to win by 0.357 seconds. Ty Gibbs, who swept the first two stages from pole, completed the podium in third, with Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell rounding out the top five.
It was van Gisbergen's eighth career Cup win ā all on road courses ā tying NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart for second on the all-time road-course win list, one behind Jeff Gordon's nine. It's also his second win of the 2026 season (joining Watkins Glen) and moved him three spots to 14th in points, back into a provisional Chase position.
"We were really bad yesterday, and these guys did an amazing job turning this car into a winner," van Gisbergen said. "The No. 19 was coming ā [Chase Briscoe] was really, really good, and I ran out at the end. Thank you to Red Bull, Trackhouse, Chevy. Pretty special to make up for last week."
The win comes one week after SVG was collected in a multicar wreck and eliminated early from the Naval Base Coronado street race ā a result he admitted fueled him heading into Sonoma.
"I was pretty pissed for a couple of days, and then switched my attention to this race," he said. "We did pretty well all weekend and to get both races certainly makes up for it a little bit."
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