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NASCAR Cup Series Fans Respond To Shane Van Gisbergen Dominating Toyota/Save Mart 350 At Sonoma Raceway

Jeff Hawkins Written by Sports EditorJeff Hawkins
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NASCAR Cup Series Fans Respond To Shane Van Gisbergen Dominating Toyota/Save Mart 350 At Sonoma Raceway

Five weeks ago, Trackhouse Racing didn’t know what it had in NASCAR Cup Series rookie Shane van Gisbergen. 

Fast-forward to three consecutive road course wins, including Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway, and the organization understands van Gisbergen’s playoff ranking has improved from the 30s to No. 3. 

“Hard to believe that, isn’t it?” van Gisbergen told TNT Sports. 

After sweeping the Cup and Xfinity Series events from the pole last weekend at Chicago Street Race, van Gisbergen also captured Sunday’s race after starting first. 

He led 97 laps at the 12-turn, 1.99-mile track. 

Recognized as NASCAR’s premier road-course talent, van Gisbergen now must focus on his oval driving. The national series visits Dover Motor Speedway, a one-mile oval, next weekend.  

“I’m so stoked,” van Gisbergen said. “We need to keep getting better on ovals and start proving some people wrong.”  

X (Twitter) users responded to the interest in Sunday’s stock-car racing event created in Northern California …

Walking the machines before work …

Christopher Bell started Cup race No. 200. Is it time for his first series championship? …

Going green in Wine Country. Check out the push William Byron gave the pole-sitter and eventual race winner just before his launch. As if he needed any additional help …

Following 21 green-flag laps, teams started following their pit-stop strategies. Van Gisbergen pitted from the lead two rotations later, opening the door for Ross Chastain to claim Stage 1 … 

Following the pit-stop cycle, van Gisbergen found himself back in front on Lap 27 and over the next 12 laps, the No. 88 Chevrolet failed to pull away like it did at Mexico City. The top seven drivers raced within 2.4 seconds of the pace-setter. Meanwhile, AJ Allmendinger spun out on Lap 31 while running P5 …

After van Gisbergen paced the lead pack into the pits on Lap 53, Kyle Larson assumed his first lead since the Coca-Cola 600 on May 25. Van Gisbergen fought through the field in three laps, overcoming Larson and winning Stage 2. How deflating was that for the other teams? …

Late trouble …

Overcoming two restarts in the final 11 laps, van Gisbergen posted his fourth Cup win in 34 starts. He reached the win mark in the fewest outings since Parnelli Jones did in 31 starts in 1967 …

 

Jeff Hawkins Written by Sports EditorJeff Hawkins
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry, in both print and digital media. He joined the Sportscasting team in 2021 following a decade of freelancing. He spent his early career as a reporter for various newspapers in Illinois, New York, Florida, North Carolina, and Michigan, with a particular emphasis as a beat reporter for the Chicago Blackhawks. Jeff earned his bachelor's degree in journalism from Oakland University. Over the course of his career he earned several sports writing awards, including two national awards from the Associated Press Sports Editors for column writing and news reporting. One of the five prized columns included a commentary on NASCAR's increasing corporate influences, particularly in northern racetracks — commentary which you might find Jeff building on as part of the Motorsports writing team at Sportscasting now.  
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