Shane van Gisbergen added another road-course victory to his growing NASCAR Cup Series record, while Chase Briscoe was left frustrated after a costly mistake denied him victory in Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway.
Briscoe pushed the Trackhouse Racing driver all the way to the finish but came up just 0.357 seconds short after making an error late in the race. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver believed he had the faster car during the closing laps and nearly erased the gap before the checkered flag. Instead, van Gisbergen secured his second straight Sonoma Raceway win and completed a weekend sweep.
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The result marked the second consecutive year that Briscoe finished runner-up to van Gisbergen at Sonoma despite showing race-winning speed throughout the final stage.
Chase Briscoe Says One Mistake Cost Him Sonoma Raceway Win
The Toyota/Save Mart 350 finished with a long green-flag run that placed extra importance on tire management and fuel strategy. Chase Briscoe made his final pit stop on Lap 81 for fresh Goodyear tires, while Shane van Gisbergen followed one lap later.
The fresh tires allowed Briscoe to close the gap quickly during the final laps. However, with about four laps remaining, he made a mistake entering Turn 1 while trying to gain more time on the race leader.
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“Yeah, just frustrated with myself. I felt like I definitely had the better car. I didn’t do as good of a job as he did driving. I just made a mistake with, like, three or four to go getting into (Turn) 1. I was having to push so hard, and that was where I would make up my ground. It was just such a razor’s edge, and I about crashed. Gave up a (full) second, and then I was able to obviously run him back down at the end. If I don’t make that mistake, I’m probably ahead of him, I feel like, at the end.”
Briscoe recovered and charged back to within a car length of van Gisbergen entering the final hairpin at Turn 11, but he ran out of time before reaching the checkered flag.
“It was odd. Not very many people get that close to him at the end of one of these road course races. Just frustrated with myself. I felt like I definitely had the better car. I didn’t do as good of a job as he did driving it. So, yeah, just bummed that at the end of the day it was my fault we didn’t win, but amazing car. Against that guy, you got to be absolutely perfect.”
Shane van Gisbergen Survives Late Pressure at Sonoma Raceway
Shane van Gisbergen led 74 of the final 83 laps to earn his eighth NASCAR Cup Series victory. Every one of those wins has come on a road or street course, further strengthening his reputation as one of the series’ best road-course drivers.
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The Trackhouse Racing driver admitted after the race that Briscoe nearly caught him before the finish.
“Chase was just really, really good. Yeah, a couple more laps we would have had some problems. We were really bad yesterday, and these guys did an amazing job turning this car into a winner. He was coming. He was really, really good, and I ran out at the end.”
Sonoma Raceway Result Changes NASCAR Cup Series Picture
The Sonoma Raceway victory moved Shane van Gisbergen to 14th in the NASCAR Cup Series standings. He also tied Tony Stewart for the second-most road-course wins in Cup Series history with eight victories.
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Ty Gibbs finished third after winning both stages. Kyle Larson placed fourth, while Christopher Bell completed the top five.
For Chase Briscoe, the second-place finish was difficult to accept because he believed his Columbia Bank Toyota was the faster car during the closing laps. His performance showed he had the speed to challenge Shane van Gisbergen, but one mistake entering Turn 1 proved to be the difference between victory and another runner-up finish at Sonoma Raceway.
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