Latest news with #SonomaRaceway
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Sonoma Raceway Fatality Is Third Animal Death in 2025 NASCAR Season
Sonoma Raceway Fatality Is Third Animal Death in 2025 NASCAR Season originally appeared on Athlon Sports. Justin Haley started 29th on Sunday at Sonoma Raceway and had a solid day, finishing 15th for his first top 15 since he recorded that same result at Texas back in early May. While it was a good day for the No. 7 driver, he didn't leave wine country with all positive vibes. Advertisement That's because later in the race during a caution with 13 laps to go the Spire Motorsports driver had an unfortunate accident when he hit a fast-running rabbit crossing the track. The driver mentioned it on the team radio right after it happened. 'Oh God, I just hit a bunny,' he told his crew. A few minutes later and after a lap around the 1.99-mile circuit, the 26-year-old's mind returned to the sad incident. 'I can't believe I killed a bunny. Oh, I feel horrible. He was running so fast.' The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Race at Sonoma Raceway. Interestingly, Haley's isn't the first such incident this year where animal has lost to machine. There have been two other deaths during the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season. Advertisement The first occurred back in late April at Talladega when Josh Berry obliterated a bird on his windshield coming toward the start-finish line. The most recent occurred last month in Michigan when Ty Dillon was heading down pit road and just as the No. 10 driver began turning into his pit box, a squirrel unsuccessfully tried to cross in front of his car. 'I think I just murdered a squirrel getting into my damn pit box,' the Kaulig Racing driver told his team. They confirmed it and mentioned how one team member surprised everyone with a loud scream when it happened. It's always an unfortunate circumstance when it occurs but something most drivers face off the track just like everyone else. Advertisement Related: Furious Denny Hamlin Explodes in Chicago and Lets Joe Gibbs Know About It This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 15, 2025, where it first appeared.
RNZ News
6 days ago
- Automotive
- RNZ News
Nascar: Shane van Gisbergen makes it back-to-back Cup race wins
Shane Van Gisbergen celebrates after winning the Nascar Cup Series Toyota/Save Mart 350 race at Sonoma Raceway, California, July 13. Photo: AFP Kiwi motor racing ace Shane van Gisbergen has won back-to-back victories in the Nascar Cup Series, with a strong win at Sonoma Raceway in California. The three-time Supercars champion backed up his win in the Chicago Street Race last weekend with the Sonoma triumph. Van Gisbergen, 36, hasn't won an oval track this year but has won the last three road course races - in Mexico City, Chicago and Sonoma. Those three wins put him equal with Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell for most victories this season. Van Gisbergen started in pole position and led in his No 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet for 97 of the 110 laps at Sonoma, withstanding interruptions from a flurry of late caution periods before powering away late in the race. He won by 1.128 seconds ahead of Chase Briscoe. "That was pretty tough stuff. We had an amazing car," van Gisbergen said. "I had a really fun weekend here, some great races, and I hope everyone enjoyed that. "Now we need to keep getting better on the ovals and start proving some people wrong. "I had an amazing time in Australia and then to come here… the last couple of weeks or years actually has been a dream come true." The Cup Series heads to Dover in Delaware this weekend. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Pit road confrontation erupts after close call during Sonoma Cup race
In the middle of the NASCAR Cup race at Sonoma, things were getting heated between drivers and even pit crew members. Near the end of Stage 2, several drivers pitted early to gain track position ahead of the final stage. Ty Gibbs and Brad Keselowski were two of those drivers. Their pit stalls where right next to each other, and the tire carrier for Keselowski was already standing in the box as he prepared for the car to arrive. Advertisement Gibbs was ahead of Keselowski both on the track and in the pits, and as he approached his stall, he cut directly through the RFK Racing stall, getting extremely close to tire carrier, Telvin McClurkin. McClurkin later told NASCAR on TNT that the tire in his hand got clipped by the car, twisting his wrist. However, he was able to carry on with his duties for the rest of the day. Immediately after the incident, a furious McClurkin confronted crew members from the Joe Gibbs Racing team. Some words were exchanged, and it quickly escalated into some pushing and shoving between them. RFK Racing later released video from their pit box, showing what happened to cause the scuffle. NASCAR reviewed the incident and felt there was no reason to penalize Gibbs as drivers are permitted to drive through (at most) three pit boxes when approaching their own, stating that the No. 54 did nothing wrong. Advertisement Gibbs went on to finish seventh while Keselowski ended the race in 11th. "Going in, I have the right of way," Gibbs told NASCAR on TNT, pointing out the orange lines in the pit stalls. "They're on the wall for a reason. They jump for a reason. Those guys like to push it and that's kind of the consequence you pay." Read Also: Shane van Gisbergen extends winning streak with an intense NASCAR Cup victory at Sonoma To read more articles visit our website.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Ty Dillon continues In-Season Challenge run, advances to semifinal round
Ty Dillon bumped Alex Bowman out of the way on the final corner of the final lap Sunday at Sonoma Raceway to continue his run in the In-Season Challenge and advance to the final four. Dillon, the last seed in the 32-driver field, is now two races away from winning $1 million. Advertisement The other three drivers left in the In-Season Challenge are John Hunter Nemechek, Tyler Reddick and Ty Gibbs. Dillon finished 17th to beat Bowman, who was 19th, to advance. Dillon has eliminated No. 1 seed Denny Hamlin, No. 17 seed Brad Keselowski and Bowman, the No. 8 seed. Dillon will be paired against Nemechek next week at Dover Motor Speedway. Nemechek finished 28th to eliminate Legacy Motor Club teammate Erik Jones, who finished 29th. Nemechek, the No. 12 seed, has eliminated Josh Berry (No. 21 seed), Chase Elliott (No. 5 seed) and Jones (No. 20 seed). NASCAR Cup Series Toyota/Save Mart 350 History repeats: Shane van Gisbergen wins 3rd NASCAR Cup road course race in a row Advertisement Shane van Gisbergen ties mark set by Jeff Gordon for consecutive road course wins from the pole with Sonoma victory. Reddick finished sixth Sunday at Sonoma to eliminate Ryan Preece, who placed 12th. Reddick, the No. 23 seed, has eliminated Kyle Larson (No. 10 seed), Carson Hocevar (No. 26 seed) and Preece (No. 15 seed). Reddick will be matched against Ty Gibbs next week at Dover. Gibbs, the No. 6 seed, advanced by finishing seventh to Zane Smith's 27th-place result. Gibbs has eliminated Justin Haley (No. 27 seed), AJ Allmendinger (No. 22 seed) and Smith (No. 14 seed).
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
NASCAR Sonoma results, highlights: van Gisbergen dominates for second straight win
Another week, another win for Shane van Gisbergen. The Trackhouse Racing driver made it back-to-back wins for the first time in his young NASCAR Cup Series career with a dominating victory at Sonoma Raceway. Advertisement Van Gisbergen took the pole position for Sunday's race in Sonoma after sweeping the pole positions and the race wins in both the Xfinity and Cup Series events last weekend in Chicago. This weekend was a similar story with even more dominance on race day. In all, van Gisbergen led 97 of the 110 laps of the race. He's by far the top driver on road courses this year with three wins (Mexico City, Chicago, Sonoma) out of four races. The New Zealander started Sunday's race from the pole and kept in front early. He pitted just before the end of Stage 1, ceding the stage win to fellow Trackhouse Racing driver Ross Chastain, and re-took the lead soon after his stop to win Stage 2. Advertisement Another pit stop dropped him down the order during Stage 3 but he quickly recovered to take the lead once again by lap 90. He kept control through late caution periods to secure the win. Chase Briscoe came home second – exactly where he started the race. Chase Elliott, Michael McDowell and Christopher Bell rounded out the top five. Round three of the in-season challenge saw the 32-driver field whittled down once again. Four drivers remain: Ty Dillon, John Hunter Nemechek, Ty Gibbs and Tyler Reddick. Dillon and Nemechek square off next week in the top half of the bracket, while Gibbs and Reddick face off to decide the bottom half of the bracket. Advertisement The rest of the Cup Series field will have a much better chance at victory next weekend in Dover. That's also the penultimate round of the NASCAR in-season challenge that will leave two drivers in contention for the $1 million prize. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NASCAR Sonoma results, highlights: Shane van Gisbergen wins Cup race
