Van Gisbergen smokes ‘em in Sonoma

No one could compete with Shane van Gisbergen as he cruised to a hat-trick of NASCAR Cup Series road course wins in Sonoma.

Van Gisbergen smashed the stars in the Toyota Save Mart 350 and was never passed, having only lost the lead during pit cycles and won by a commanding 2s amid some late-race restarts.

The only car that could compete with the #88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet was Chase Elliott skippered by Aussie crew chief James Small.

But the only windows of hope for Elliott were the rare moments when he was side by side with the Kiwi at each restart.

Having also won in Mexico and Chicago, the crushing performance is the latest step in SVG’s path to becoming the best ever on road courses as the last driver to win three in a row from pole was Jeff Gordon back in 1999.

The win will be celebrated on both sides of the Tasman as Sonoma proved to be the one road course Marcos Ambrose could never quite conquer after many close calls.

Van Gisbergen immediately enjoyed a big jump on the field, leaving fellow front row starter Chase Briscoe for dust.

As SVG sped away, Briscoe had his work cut out keeping hold of second ahead of Byron as the first lap was negotiated cleanly despite the odd sight of door rubbing.

The kiwi pulled seven tenths across the first three laps and Byron saw enough, snaring second from Briscoe with a dive at the hairpin.

A lap later Chastain pulled the same move to put two Trackhouse Racing Chevrolets into the top three, but Briscoe hit back nine laps later.

It quickly became clear that Byron was the only driver who could keep up with van Gisbergen as the pair pulled more than 5s up the road.

However, van Gisbergen was never placed under serious threat and controlled a 1s advantage throughout before putting the foot down in the final 10 laps.

Despite stressing “my left rear is starting to hurt” over the radio, SVG grew his lead to 7s before pitting three laps before the end of the stage.

The first incident of note was not until Lap 24 when Christopher Bell spun at Turn 2 after a tangle with teammate Briscoe.

Chastain ended up staying out and taking out the stage with SVG, making it a Trackhouse one-two after a battle with Bubba Wallace, who stayed out.

With many pitting under caution, van Gisberegn resumed control of the race at the start of the second stage.

But he struggled to break free initially with Byron and Briscoe hanging on as the #88 tried to save tyres.

Gibbs was also on the move and snared third from Briscoe as he started the second stage with the foot down.

One of his biggest rivals, AJ Allmendinger found trouble lost it on a dirty track at Turn 2 and spun out, falling from the top five to the back of the pack.

John Hunter Nemecheck also rotated in front of the pack after losing a three-wide battle through the esses.

Hamlin and Haley were also lucky to escape a trip through the dirt that saw them lose significant ground.

As the stage went on van Gisbergen was able to slightly skip away, but not as much as before, while Briscoe put the foot down.

In a short period he progressed from fourth to second.

As SVG cruised 3s clear of the field, his Trackhouse teammates tripped over each other.

Chastain tried to outbrake Suraez, who blocked the move going into the hairpin, but the #1 carried too much speed and sent the Mexican into a spin.

Despite these moments, the stage stayed green the whole way through and van Gisbergen had 4s up his sleeve over Briscoe before pitting.

The Kiwi still rejoined second, only behind Larson and the pair battled hard for stage victory.

Van Gisbergen made a late move at Turn 3, and Larson did not make it easy with contact on corner exit.

After a little wiggle, SVG held on to impressively take the stage despite pitting.

For the first time, van Gisbergen had to fight for the lead as Briscoe nailed the restart.

The pair went door to door across the first four corners before the #88 prevailed again.

But the racing did not last long as a number of incidents sparked the first caution of the day.

Noah Gragson was the first to find trouble as he spun into the infield coming out of Turn 2.

The fight for third carried on for the first lap after the resumption until it got ugly.

Chris Buescher and Ryan Blaney were battling door to door until they could not quite hold on and contact sent the latter into the weeds on the exit of the first turn.

In fact, the #12 went so far off he got stuck in a gutter and lost a lap.

Two corners later Bubba Wallace and Denny Hamlin also rotated, seeing the yellows arrive for the first time.

On this occasion, Briscoe could not get the same launch and tried to hang tough around the outside of Turn 2, but had to concede up the hill.

By the end of the lap the #88 was already checking out as Briscoe had his mirrors full of Byron and Elliott.

Tempers flared on pit road between the Bell and Keselowski crews after some close calls.

Knowing they can’t catch him on track, Joe Gibbs Racing tried to make a move in the lane by undercutting Broscoe.

But he was only given a lap as Trackhouse reacted and protected a commanding 4s margin.

The only cause for concern were the likes of Hocevar and McDowell staying out on older tyres, hoping for a caution, but they were never going to keep the Kiwi behind.

SVG was patient and easily regained the lead from McDowell at Turn 7 with 21 laps to go.

However, thanks to the smarts of Small, Briscoe was not going away and reduced SVG’s lead to 2s with less than 20 to go.

However, van Gisbergen’s Sunday drive was interrupted with 16 to go when a late caution arrived under strange circumstances.

After a stuffed tyre change, the right rear wheel came loose of Cody Ware and went for a roll down the hill at Turn 2.

This created a strategy dilemma, and van Gisbergen and Briscoe made late calls to stay out and hold track position.

However, most of the field led by Elliott ventured to pit road and get fresh rubber, adding a new challenge and complexion to the race.

Although SVG’s crew chief Stephen Doran “did not want to see that” he was still confident the Kiwi had enough rubber and speed up his sleeve.

At the restart van Gisbergen cleared Briscoe at Turn 2, while Buescher was lucky to keep hold of third after a slide.

For some, the gamble on fresh tyres backfired after just seven corners after a multi-car tangle at the right-hander at the bottom of the hill.

Gragson spun in front of the pack and copped a big hit by Preece as countless cars took to the dirt and created a standstorm with Berry also rotating.

At the next attempt, Briscoe was a lot more competitive as the #19 hung tough for four corners until van Gisbergen again used the inside line to stay in charge.

But once again an incident brought out the yellows with Ricky Stenhouse Jr being sent into the Turn 8 tyres by Gibbs, who had bounced off the kerb.

A four-lap dash was now set and Briscoe again fought hard at the launch with the leaders even banging doors through the first two corners.

But once again, the Kiwi won the contest and blazed away to enjoy at least three car lengths after the first lap.

Despite Larson and Blaney spinning at Turn 4 and Hocevar doing the same at Turn 2 a lap later, the track stayed green with no more interruptions.

However, Elliott was flying on fresh tyres and looked dangerous working his way up to third, but any hope of the #9 challenging for victory was denied when he found the dirt on the penultimate lap.

Next up is the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at the “Monster Mile” in Dover which starts at 4.00 AEST Monday, July 21.

Image: Trackhouse

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