Latest news with #roadcourse
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Automotive
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NASCAR Through the Gears: Will the plunder from Down Under end at Watkins Glen?
Don't worry fellas, help is on the way. This plunder from Down Under might have run its (road) course after three straight poles and three straight wins. And to think, they'll have to send a kid to do a man's job. Advertisement That's right, the only guy in recent memory to beat Shane van Gisbergen on a road course is a teenager named Connor Zilisch, one of a few Next Big Things in NASCAR these days. Connor Zilisch might be the new sheriff in town when NASCAR goes to Watkins Glen in four weeks. Fresh-faced Connor Z, just 18, won a slugfest with SVG at Sonoma this past Saturday to win the Xfinity Series race. Go find yourself a replay of the final few laps and tell me that doesn't take you back to some epic battles among yesterday's heroes. Or better yet, watch it here. Like SVG, Connor Z learned to race on road courses. Unlike SVG, he's been a quick study on ovals. Along with three road-course wins in the Xfinity Series, he also won last month at Pocono, and four of his five ARCA wins last year were on ovals. He's also fourth in Xfinity points. Advertisement SVG, at 36 with a long Aussie Supercars career behind him, has many more years of road-racin' on the odometer, and perhaps that's making it harder for him to get the knack of ovals. The proof is in the points: Despite three wins, he's down there in 26th in the current point standings. And frankly, his road-course winning streak might be in danger. Trackhouse Racing, SVG's employer, also has Zilisch under contract and will presumably put him in the No. 99 seat next year, replacing Daniel Suarez. Looking ahead to that, Trackhouse is entering Zilisch in a few Cup races this year. Yep, one of them is Watkins Glen, the next scheduled road course, in four weeks. Coming soon to a right-hand turn near you: SVG versus Connor Z. Can't wait. First Gear: SVG snagging plenty of roadside playoff points You know the drill for the next three weeks: Go fast and turn left. So far, that's not Shane van Gisbergen's strength. Not even close. Advertisement But let's say it again: He has a chance to stick around the playoffs when they start at the end of August, even though nine of the 10 races are on ovals or something resembling ovals. His three dominant weeks over the past month have resulted in 17 playoff bonus points. Just two drivers have more — Kyle Larson with 23 and Denny Hamlin with 19. That could help him tremendously in navigating the three ovals in the Round of 16. After that, the Round of 12 includes the Charlotte Roval and the Round of 8 includes the ultimate wildcard, Talladega. In the midst of this recent run of road-course races, SVG has shown modest improvement on the ovals — very modest, yes, but improvement. Assuming that trajectory continues, he just might have some playoff staying power. Advertisement And speaking of which, let's catch up with a guy who's possibly becoming another Next Big Thing right before our eyes. Second Gear: Time to pay attention to The Other Chase GIve it up for Chase Briscoe, who finished second at Sonoma and made SVG work like hell to keep him there on those late-race restarts. He's never been competitive on road courses, and that's particularly true at Sonoma. Until Sunday. 'This is by far my worst racetrack. Kind of surprised myself, truthfully,' he said after the runner-up finish. Briscoe has been good on Saturdays and has steadily improved on Sundays during his first year with Joe Gibbs Racing. He clinched a playoff spot with the win at Pocono last month, and is now eighth in points. Only three drivers have more top-fives than the seven he's posted. Advertisement He turned a lot of heads five years ago when he won nine Xfinity races, but he faded into the background at the Cup level as his former team, Stewart Haas, lost its footing. But now he's definitely looking like a keeper. Third Gear: Bowman Gray stays, Chicago looks like a 'maybe' On the scheduling front, we've been dealt a non-surprise and a mild possibility of a surprise since last week. First, the predictable. NASCAR is taking the preseason Clash back to Bowman Gray Stadium next year. Everyone seemed to really enjoy it this past February, and not just because their man Chase Elliott won, though that never hurts. It's one of those rare 'new venue' moves that was met with universal enthusiasm. Probably because this new venue is actually one of the oldest, though mostly familiar to folks targeted by those reverse-mortgage commercials. Nostalgia rules, and Bowman Gray definitely brings nostalgia. Advertisement The mild surprise is the word out of Chicago, where we all assume NASCAR's three-year run has come and gone. NASCAR has a few months to decide on formally asking the city to pick up a two-year option, and though everyone assumes NASCAR is looking at other big-city options, Chicago might not be off the table. But only if NASCAR moves the race off the Fourth of July weekend — a weekend that doesn't need help drawing crowds to Chicago. If NASCAR decides to send the request for two more years, Shane van Gisbergen will gladly serve as courier. Fourth Gear: In-Season Challenge not producing any Duke-Kentucky vibes How's that bracket challenge working out? Advertisement Yikes. We knew this could happen, but still … We're down to a final four (not to be confused with the officially licensed Final Four), and next week at Dover we get Ty Dillon versus John Hunter Nemechek and Ty Gibbs versus Tyler Reddick. Gone after Sonoma are Alex Bowman, Erik Jones, Zane Smith and Ryan Preece. Nope, not exactly a Murderer's Row of heavyweights but not exactly shocking given how easy it is for the heavyweights to miss a gear in any given race. After this coming weekend at Dover, it'll be whittled down to two battling at Indy in a race within the race, with a million bucks dangling with the checkers for whomever wins an intramural battle that might be back there in mid-pack. Advertisement Given how Indianapolis can produce a thinned-out snoozer, at least there will be a wee bit of drama. — Email Ken Willis at This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR news: Connor Zilisch slows the SVG roll for one race at Sonoma
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Shane van Gisbergen 'Managed the Best He Could' Despite Issues in Historic NASCAR Cup Win
Shane van Gisbergen 'Managed the Best He Could' Despite Issues in Historic NASCAR Cup Win originally appeared on Athlon Sports. Following his second-place finish in Saturday's Xfinity Series race, Shane van Gisbergen rose to the top in the NASCAR Cup Series on Sunday afternoon. He started from the front to seal the pole position in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway, winning three straight road/street course races. Advertisement Despite finishing second in Stage 1, the Kiwi driver won Stage 2 with short pit stops to save his track position. He had to survive three cautions and late-race restarts to seal the win, extending his status as the Cup Series' winningest foreign-born driver. Ultimately, he advanced to third on the current Playoff grid with 17 playoff points. Shane Van Gisbergen during driver introductions for the Duels at Casey-Imagn Images Speaking in a post-race interview, Shane van Gisbergen revealed that his #88 Chevrolet ZL1 faced some rear grip issues during his pole-grabbing qualifying run. However, its handling became much more manageable during the official Cup race at Sonoma. "As soon as I took off—five laps in—I'm like, 'Ah, this thing's night and day better.'" van Gisbergen said. "Yesterday we were fast, but it was so loose… we still struggled with the rears, but night and day better than yesterday. Advertisement "I was complaining in the first stage, but Stephen and Josh kept telling me others were saying the same stuff. So, you just had to tell yourself everyone's got the same issues and try to manage it the best you could." Comparing NASCAR to Supercars, he admitted that NASCAR races are more difficult to win due to their chaotic and unpredictable nature, even with the fastest car. "These races are really hard to win," said SVG. "Even though we had the fastest car today, it's very rare in NASCAR for the fastest car to win the race. There's so much stuff that happens—those late-race restarts. Just to execute, make the most of it… Really, really cool." Advertisement "It ranks up there. These races are really hard to win, but luckily, a great car, great team, makes a big difference." Despite facing grip issues and late restarts, the three-time Supercars champion secured two NASCAR records from Jeff Gordon. His third straight road/street course race from pole position tied the feat of the former racer from 1998 and 1999. As a Sonoma winner, his 97 laps led even broke Gordon's mark of 92 set in 2004. On top of all this, he became the fastest Cup driver to grab four victories since Parnelli Jones won at Riverside in 1967. With eyes set on eclipsing more records, the New Zealander will now take a victory shot at the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 race. The Cup Series race falls on July 20 at Dover Motor Speedway with six races remaining in the regular season. Related: Shane van Gisbergen's Chicago Burnout and Near-Miss Sparks Debate Over Dangers in Victory Celebrations Related: Shane van Gisbergen Opens Up on 'Really Difficult' Uncertainty Ahead of Chicago Street Race This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 15, 2025, where it first appeared.
New York Times
6 days ago
- Automotive
- New York Times
Shane van Gisbergen's disruptor-level NASCAR success opens the door to more
Imagine you are a NASCAR team owner today with a multi-car organization, and some of your cars are currently out of the playoffs with six races remaining in the regular season. You've watched as Shane van Gisbergen has won three road course races in a month to leap your cars in the standings, get his team into the playoffs, and prepare to cash in on the accompanying extra money he'll get from finishing in the top 16 of the Cup Series points. Advertisement Heck, the guy is third in the playoff standings as a rookie. He's tied for the series lead in wins this year! So what do you do as an owner? Would you be able to avoid being a prisoner of the moment? Because it sure would be tempting to allow van Gisbergen's success to change the calculation for how you run a race team. Trackhouse Racing owner Justin Marks, always with a mind on being the 'disruptor,' surely has done it this time. He figured out a way to game the NASCAR playoff system in a way no one else has. While we knew there was an opportunity for a road course ringer to win their way into the playoffs — AJ Allmendinger has long been proof of that — no road racer with this type of dominance has come along until now. You can say it's the perfect combination of van Gisbergen's background (touring cars in Australia which are a distant cousin to NASCAR's Next Gen) and timing (the Next Gen is a spec car, which gives van Gisbergen equal equipment to his competitors). But van Gisbergen hasn't just won a single race. He's won three. And no matter what playoff format NASCAR comes up with, there's always going to be a spot in the field for multi-time race winners. From winless to one of the top seeds in the #NASCARPlayoffs. Talk about a swing for @shanevg97! — NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 14, 2025 Even if they shrunk the field to 12 drivers, he'd be in. And back in the traditional 10-race Chase, NASCAR tweaked the format to allow for a 'wild card' spot (the highest driver outside the points with the most wins). So van Gisbergen, with three wins, is a playoff driver no matter how you slice it. If you don't think teams notice this, you're lying to yourself. 'This is showing the relevance of mastering (road course) races (in) NASCAR,' former open-wheel and NASCAR driver Max Papis posted Sunday night on X. 'This will open (the) door to a variety of racers that might never had a (shot) at it.' Advertisement That's how it always works in NASCAR. A short-track racer finds success in the Cup Series, and suddenly that's the hot area to look for prospects. An open-wheel driver successfully makes the transition and then team owners give someone else a try. Sprint car drivers show their adapability to stock cars and suddenly everyone races to find the next star from the dirt world. Maybe now Supercars drivers are the answer. Except it's not that simple, and it doesn't give van Gisbergen the proper credit for what he's achived. Instead of just assuming it's all because of his background or experience level, why not point to his unbelievable skill? The bottom line is team owners can hire other drivers in a similar mold, but there might be only one SVG. Because of the opportunity for drivers like van Gisbergen — who was outside the top 32 in points last month and missed the cut for the In-Season Challenge bracket — to get into the playoffs win a single victory, road course races have lately been viewed as 'wild card' events similar to superspeedways. Except … nah. Not anymore, with van Gisbergen such a heavy favorite. The playoff-bubble drivers are quite fortunate that he has won three in a row, because it has prevented someone like a Michael McDowell or Ty Gibbs from nabbing a spot and moving the cutoff line upward. Check out the bubble now: Tyler Reddick is 149 points up on the cutoff and is the only 'safe' driver on points. Chris Buescher (+34), Alex Bowman (+32) and Bubba Wallace (+3) could all see their tentative spots wiped away if there were new winners from outside the top 16. But how many more winners will there be? Let's rank the final six regular-season races by upset potential: 1. Daytona (Aug. 23): Very likely. You almost have to pencil in an upset winner here and assume that will be another new playoff entry. Advertisement 2. Watkins Glen (Aug. 10): About 50-50. Again, not really a wild card anymore, but if van Gisbergen doesn't win again, it does open the door for McDowell, Gibbs, Buescher or Allmendinger. 3. Richmond (Aug. 16): Not likely. It should be a driver from one of the big teams. Then again, remember Austin Dillon in this race last year? 4. Iowa (Aug. 3): Not likely. Probably a Christopher Bell/Kyle Larson/Ryan Blaney type win from someone already in the top 10 of the standings. 5. Dover (Sunday): No way. There hasn't been an upset at Dover in the last 20 years. 6. Indianapolis (July 27): Slim to none. Not with every team bringing their A-game for a crown jewel race. So in reality, we're looking at maybe two more different winners? That's two spots available on points, which would lock Reddick in before Daytona and make the race between Buescher and Bowman — and possibly Wallace if he can string a few good weeks together — for the last playoff position. Brad Keselowski last week argued there are too many road courses in NASCAR. 'NASCAR was successfully built as a primarily oval racing series,' Keselowski wrote on X. 'IMSA was built as the primary road course series in North America. IMSA will always do road racing better than NASCAR and that's OK.' He's right. For a series that had traditionally had two per year (Sonoma and Watkins Glen) as novelties, to have expanded to six in less than a decade has felt like overkill — especially with the IMSA-like Next Gen car, which doesn't put on particularly compelling shows on those circuits. But what is the sweet spot for NASCAR road racing? Keselowski said two to four is 'plenty enough.' We'd lean toward four, because that would perhaps cut the Roval and Circuit of the Americas (despite being a beautiful track in a great market) and leave NASCAR with: Sonoma and Watkins Glen (the traditional NASCAR road races), a street race (Chicago, San Diego, etc.) and an international race (Mexico City, Montreal, somewhere in Europe). Any more than that starts to give road-course fatigue, when in reality most NASCAR followers are oval fans first who will tolerate the occasional right turns — as long as it's not overdone. And right now feels like it's too much. The two teams suing NASCAR for being an illegal monopoly, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, filed another request for a preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order on Monday in a last-ditch attempt to retain their charter status for this weekend's race at Dover Motor Speedway. NASCAR has until Wednesday to respond, and a ruling by the district court judge could come before the Dover weekend begins. Advertisement With a federal appeals court overruling an earlier preliminary injunction that allowed the teams to race with charter status for 2025 while their lawsuit is pending, their combined six entries would have to race as 'open' cars at Dover, barring a legal victory this week. Further adding urgency to the matter is NASCAR's letter to the teams informing them there is interest to reassign or sell the charters, which puts the teams at risk of going out of business should they lose their charter status permanently. NASCAR has said in court it does not want to be forced into a contractual relationship with teams it does not want to do business with, which describes its current feelings about 23XI and Front Row. While the teams have committed to running as 'open' for the remainder of the season and paying the financial difference out of pocket, being non-charter teams does not appear to be a viable model for NASCAR organizations in the long run. There's simply too much money at stake. Plus, Reddick could become a free agent as soon as this week if the charters go away; a clause in his contract requires the team to provide him with a chartered entry. Of course, another preliminary injunction from the district court would buy more time and possibly get the teams through to the end of the season and the Dec. 1 trial date. But without that order, the teams will be facing a different reality beginning at Dover. (Top photo of Shane van Gisbergen celebrating Sunday's win: Trinity Machan / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
NASCAR Sonoma road-course Race: Time, TV channel for TNT coverage from California
NASCAR went nearly five decades of modern-era Cup Series racing with just two road courses on the schedule. First it was Riverside and Watkins Glen, then Sonoma replaced Riverside. A third was finally added in 2018 when Charlotte Motor Speedway went road-racing for its second race of each season, and along the way invented the word roval to define its combination of road course and traditional oval, which is actually a quad-oval, but let's move along. Advertisement These days there are five road courses. Not only that, this weekend the Cup Series runs its second road-course race in seven days. A week after the Chicago Street Race, they disturb the peace in California's wine country, where Sonoma Raceway is host to a Cup race for the 36th time since 1989. VOTE Where should NASCAR host next street race after Chicago? Sonoma Raceway in Northern California provides one of NASCAR's most scenic backdrops. The best current road-course racer in NASCAR, Shane van Gisbergen, attempts the hat trick after winning the past two Cup roadies — in Mexico City last month and Chicago last week. And if you're thinking, "I'd like to watch that, I wonder if I can," you're in luck. You can watch that, along with other NASCAR racing, and if you thought we were gonna keep the times and channels a secret, you're sadly mistaken. Advertisement Friday: Right-hand turns for Xfinity Series 4 p.m.: Xfinity Series practice (CW app) 5:05 p.m.: Xfinity Series qualifying (CW app) Saturday: NASCAR Cup qualifying, Xfinity race at Sonoma 1:30 p.m.: Cup Series practice (TruTV). 2:40 p.m.: Cup Series qualifying (TruTV). 4:30: Xfinity Series, Pit Boss/FoodMaxx 250 (CW). Sunday: Can SVG win a third straight road race? 3:30 p.m.: Cup Series, Toyota/Save Mart 350 (TNT). This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR race at Sonoma: Time, TV channel for another road-course race
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
NASCAR driver power rankings: Denny Hamlin rolls on; William Byron falling like a rock
Stop me if you've heard this before: It just might be Denny Hamlin's year. Did you see who finished fourth in Chicago? That's right, it was Denny, who hadn't finished better than 14th in his previous seven road-course starts. Advertisement In fact, it was just his second top-10 in his last 19 roadies. This week will tell us more, but if he's going to start handling right-hand turns without issue, he's definitely on all cylinders. Things are going well for Denny Hamlin, who posted a rare top-10 on a road course this past weekend in Chicago. On the other end of the spectrum, what in the world is wrong with William Byron? Here are his last five finishes: 28, 9, 27, 37, 40. This week's power rankings: 1. Denny Hamlin Congrats on that fourth-place in Chicago. It was just his second top-10 in his last 19 road races. 2. Chase Elliott Often leads at Sonoma, but hasn't won there. 3. Kyle Larson Seven straight races without a bonus point, which seems weird. 4. Ryan Blaney 0-for-32 on road courses since winning the Roval in 2018. Advertisement 5. Christopher Bell Mr. Hunch says he's the man to beat this weekend. 6. Alex Bowman Finding decent form in time for a shot at the million-dollar bracket battle. 7. Chris Buescher Still collecting points in steady fashion, but you can't put points on the mantel. 8. Ross Chastain Ross the Boss generally holds his own at road courses. Not great, not bad. 9. William Byron You thought it couldn't get worse, then he finished 40th in Chicago. It's a full-blown mini-slump now. 10. Chase Briscoe It was a toss-up between him and Ryan Preece for our 10th spot. This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR Power Rankings: Is William Byron reaching for the rip-cord yet?
