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Shane van Gisbergen Dominates NASCAR’s Final 2026 Road Course Race at Sonoma
Rohan Mehta | June 29, 2026 6:21 PM CST

Shane van Gisbergen completed a clean sweep of NASCAR’s Sonoma weekend for the second consecutive year, clinching victory in both the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series on Saturday and the NASCAR Cup Series on Sunday.

This triumph marks van Gisbergen’s second win of the 2026 season for Trackhouse Racing and his eighth career NASCAR Cup Series victory since his breakout debut nearly four years ago at the inaugural Chicago Street Race. With eight road course victories, the former Supercars champion is now just one win away from equalling Jeff Gordon’s long-standing record for the most road course wins in the Cup Series.

Since his debut success, van Gisbergen has secured eight wins in 16 road course starts, a remarkable record that includes five victories during his impressive rookie year. However, this season has been more challenging, as NASCAR reduced the road course schedule from six to four races, dropping events in Mexico City, Chicago, and the Charlotte ROVAL, while adding the San Diego Coronado Street Race. Despite the shorter calendar, the New Zealand driver holds a 50% win rate for both this season and his overall Cup career.

Just a week earlier, van Gisbergen suffered his first-ever DNF on a road course after a collision involving his teammate Connor Zilisch and Austin Hill from Richard Childress Racing. Returning to Sonoma, the Kiwi racer redeemed himself in style by sweeping the entire weekend.

Starting from sixth on the grid, van Gisbergen opted for a strategic approach by flipping both stages to chase the overall victory rather than stage points. Given the new championship format, it’s unlikely that the Trackhouse Racing driver will advance to The Chase this season. Ty Gibbs, who claimed his first-ever Cup Series road course pole, won both stages and ultimately finished third behind his teammate Chase Briscoe.

Connor Zilisch achieved his first top-ten finish in the Cup Series, ending a tough run that included five DNFs in his previous six races.

For the first time in 2026, 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick lost his spot as the championship leader. A mechanical problem forced him into the pits early in Stage One, costing him six laps. Although he managed to recover two laps through wave-arounds, Reddick finished last in 36th position.

At one stage of the race, Reddick’s main rival and team owner, Denny Hamlin, held a comfortable lead of over 30 points. However, this advantage diminished rapidly after Hamlin was spun from behind when Brad Keselowski made contact with Carson Hocevar. Hamlin recovered to finish in 26th place, just enough to seize the championship lead from Reddick by a single point, with eight races remaining in the regular season.


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