Van Gisbergen Shines at Sonoma with Dominant NASCAR Cup Series Victory

In a performance that confirmed what many already believed, Shane van Gisbergen proved once again that he is the undisputed king of NASCAR’s road and street courses, delivering a commanding victory at Sonoma Raceway in Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350.

The New Zealand driver, whose pedigree includes a landmark NASCAR debut win in Chicago last year, continued his domination of twisty circuits by claiming both pole position and the race win at the challenging Californian venue. Leading an astonishing 97 of 110 laps, van Gisbergen survived a flurry of late restarts to collect his third Cup Series victory of the 2024 season.

SVG entered the weekend off the back of a clean sweep in Chicago—winning both the Cup and Xfinity Series events, and carried that momentum into Sonoma. By Saturday, even rivals were conceding ground. 2021 Cup champion Kyle Larson, speaking ahead of qualifying, admitted that van Gisbergen’s mastery on road courses placed him in a league of his own.

“As good as he is, I expect him to be fastest in qualifying and execute in a good race again,” said Larson. True to form, that’s exactly how events unfolded.

Runner-up Chase Briscoe, who trailed van Gisbergen across the line, was effusive in his praise. “I never played basketball against Michael Jordan in his prime, but I feel like that’s probably what it was like,” Briscoe said. “That guy is unbelievable on road courses.”

Van Gisbergen’s dominance spans a variety of circuits. He has now claimed victory on the streets of Chicago twice, won the inaugural event in Mexico City, and has now conquered the long-established and technical Sonoma Raceway in his first Cup start at the venue.

The psychological edge SVG brings to any road course weekend is unmistakable, and the paddock knows it.

But the Sonoma weekend also revealed a potential challenger, or future teammate. Connor Zilisch, an 18-year-old prodigy under contract with Trackhouse Racing (van Gisbergen’s team), scored an impressive Xfinity Series win on Saturday, narrowly beating SVG in a race that went down to the wire.

Zilisch, driving for JR Motorsports at Sonoma, is already being touted as a top candidate to replace Daniel Suárez in the No. 99 Trackhouse Chevrolet next season.

Van Gisbergen, jokingly grateful not to face Zilisch in Sunday’s Cup race, was full of praise for the young star. “He’s placing the car in perfect spots and drives amazing,” he said. “If he ends up being my teammate or not next year, I hope he does, it’ll be a lot of fun.”

As the season unfolds, van Gisbergen’s road course mastery shows no signs of waning. And with young talents like Zilisch emerging in the wings, Trackhouse Racing could well be shaping up as the team to beat for years to come, at least when the road turns twisty.