Driver's specialty: Road course guru | Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Shane van Gisbergen kept his remarkable run on NASCAR road and street courses going with another Sonoma Raceway win, but the victory required sustained defense. Racing for Trackhouse Racing, he earned his second consecutive win at the 1.99-mile road course north of San Francisco. Van Gisbergen led 74 of the final 83 laps after starting sixth, then fended off a late surge from runner-up Chase Briscoe. Briscoe finished 0.357 seconds behind and later pointed to a mistake entering Turn 1 with four laps remaining, while also describing a razor-thin margin. Briscoe drove the No. 19 Toyota, while van Gisbergen won in the No. 97 Chevrolet that had seemed imperfect since practice. The win marked van Gisbergen’s eighth career road-course victory, breaking a tie with 2020 Cup champion Chase Elliott. His second win of the season moved him up three spots to 14th in points and back to a provisional position in the Chase, even as no road or street courses remain in the final 18 races.