Sonoma Raceway hosted the NASCAR Cup Series just one week after the Chicago Street Race and only two weeks removed from Mexico City — that’s three road courses in four weeks. So it didn’t take a genius to predict the winner. With wins in both Xfinity and Cup at Chicago and another dominant Saturday Xfinity performance at Sonoma, Shane van Gisbergen (SVG) was the obvious favorite going into Sunday. And he delivered again.
The 110-lap, 218.9-mile event kicked off under clear skies; the first in several weeks without a looming threat of rain. The race also marked the quarterfinals in the in-season bracket challenge, with four matchups: Ty Dillon vs. Alex Bowman, John Hunter Nemechek vs. Erik Jones, Ty Gibbs vs. Zane Smith, and Tyler Reddick vs. Ryan Preece.
SVG jumped out front early with Chase Briscoe settling into second, but William Byron wasted no time, passing Briscoe for the spot by Lap 4. Stage 1 ran caution-free, and while most of the field (including SVG) pitted before the stage break as part of their strategy, Ross Chastain stayed out and took the stage win.
On the Lap 30 restart, SVG cleared Byron to reclaim the lead. One lap later, Ty Gibbs kicked up dirt through Turn 2, leading to AJ Allmendinger spinning. Then on Lap 47, Chastain got into teammate Daniel Suarez in Turn 11, spinning him around. SVG pitted ahead of the Stage 2 finish, but quickly cycled back to the front and passed Kyle Larson (who was having a rough day) to win the stage anyway.
The restart brought trouble as Chris Buescher got into Ryan Blaney, sending the No. 12 car into an infield ditch. Meanwhile, Denny Hamlin and Bubba Wallace spun in a separate incident. By Lap 85, SVG once again pitted but stayed ahead of both Briscoe and Elliott, while Michael McDowell briefly led on older tires before SVG took the lead back.
The final stretch turned chaotic where cautions bred cautions. On Lap 95, Cody Ware once again became a race headline when he lost a tire and brought out the caution. Then on the Lap 99 restart, a multi-car crash in Turn 7 collected several drivers, with Noah Gragson wrecked and needing a tow. Ryan Preece also incurred front end damage but managed to remain on track. Elliott, on fresh tires, worked his way up to 11th. Just a few laps later, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. crashed into the tire barrier, and repairs to the barrier delayed the restart. On Lap 107, Ryan Blaney and Kyle Larson tangled, with Larson taking significant rear-end damage from contact with John Hunter Nemechek. However, the incident avoided another caution. Elliott moved up to 4th and was the highest-running car on fresh tires, but the constant cautions and restarts killed the momentum of his strategy.
In the end, it was another SVG road course win, with Chase Briscoe and Chase Elliott finishing second and third, respectively, just 1.3 seconds behind.
As for the in-season tournament, the four drivers advancing to the semifinals are Tyler Reddick, John Hunter Nemechek, Ty Gibbs, and Ty Dillon. While the race winner may have been easy to predict, the names moving forward in the bracket challenge came as a surprise to many fans.
Photo Credit: SONOMA, CALIFORNIA – JULY 13: Shane Van Gisbergen, driver of the #88 Red Bull Chevrolet, and Chase Briscoe, driver of the #19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota, lead the field on a pace lap prior to the NASCAR Cup Series Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway on July 13, 2025 in Sonoma, California. (Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)