Shane van Gisbergen has continued his remarkable road course form, dominating the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Sonoma Raceway to secure his sixth career victory in the category.
Starting from pole position in the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro, the Kiwi was in control for almost the entire race, leading 62 of the 79 laps and only surrendering the lead during pit stop cycles.
The win is van Gisbergen’s 13th NASCAR national series victory and his second O’Reilly Auto Parts Series triumph at Sonoma.
“Luckily enough, I think I saved enough [fuel] early,” said van Gisbergen after the race.
“Sorry, it wasn’t the most exciting race. I guess boring is good when you’re the one leading.
“What an amazing car. To lead like that, the car was just so good the whole race. Stoked to get another one for these guys.”
Van Gisbergen got the jump at the start and quickly settled into a rhythm at the front of the field. While several cautions interrupted the opening stage, none of them threatened his hold on the race lead.
The first yellow came when tyre debris from Kyle Sieg’s car was left on the circuit after an incident involving Lavar Scott at the hairpin. Earlier, Blaine Perkins had spun after locking up his brakes.
As teams began playing the strategy game late in Stage 1, van Gisbergen pitted before the stage finish, giving up valuable stage points in favour of track position for later in the race.
That allowed Anthony Alfredo to claim the Stage 1 victory ahead of Brent Crews, while van Gisbergen was shuffled down the order. However, once the pit cycle was completed, he quickly worked his way back to the front.
The second stage followed a similar pattern. Van Gisbergen reclaimed the lead early and steadily built a gap over the field while JR Motorsports teammate Connor Zilisch charged forward after overcoming a pit road speeding penalty earlier in the race.
Another caution was required when Ross Chastain suffered a mechanical failure, leaving fluid on the track and ending his race.
Following the restart, Zilisch moved into second place, but van Gisbergen remained comfortably in control.
With a few laps remaining in Stage 2, van Gisbergen again elected to pit from the lead. Zilisch stayed out and collected the stage win, but the strategy left him deeper in the field for the start of the final stage.
When racing resumed for the final run to the finish, van Gisbergen led Jesse Love and Alfredo, while Zilisch began working his way forward from 10th.
The young American quickly carved through traffic and returned to second place, but by then van Gisbergen had built a sizeable advantage.
Although the gap narrowed in the closing laps as van Gisbergen managed his fuel and tyres, Zilisch was never close enough to challenge for the lead.
Van Gisbergen crossed the finish line 1.324 seconds ahead of his teammate to complete a JR Motorsports one-two finish.
“We probably didn’t think we were going to restart 12th when we stayed out there at the end of Stage 2,” said Zilisch.
“The numbers that Rodney (Childers, crew chief) was getting on the box let us be aggressive and push that entire last run.
“A caution or something to bunch us back up would have been nice. I felt like our car was fast enough to compete, but we were just matching each other on that last run there.
“He was probably saving fuel and managing his stuff and giving me hope. I’ll at least believe we had something for him.
“A good day for JR Motorsports. Good to get another road course win for the team and a solid run for the #1 team.”
Behind the JR Motorsports pair, Brent Crews finished third, with Anthony Alfredo and Parker Retzlaff completing the top five.
The victory gives van Gisbergen plenty of momentum heading into Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Sonoma, where he will start from sixth on the grid as he looks to complete a weekend sweep.
Header Image: NASCAR
