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FWC on Sport Nation guideSupercars champ cruises to another NASCAR win
Reuters • June 28th, 2026 2:00 pm
Shane Van Gisbergen has been enjoying success in NASCAR on street and road circuits | Photo: AP
Supercars legend Shane van Gisbergen has continued to assert his road course mastery on NASCAR and secured a convincing victory in the Pit Boss/FoodMaxx 250 at Sonoma Raceway.
The New Zealander crossed the finish line on Saturday (Sunday AEST) 1.324 seconds ahead of runner-up Connor Zilisch, who had to come from the rear of the field twice to achieve the second-place result.
Van Gisbergen's victory was his second at Sonoma in the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series and the sixth of his career, all on road or street courses.
With van Gisbergen and Zilisch running 1-2, JR Motorsports extended their streak of at least one car in the top 10 to 76 races, three behind all-time series leader RFK Racing (2008-2010).
Van Gisbergen led 66 of 79 laps, short-pitting the second stage on Lap 43 to regain the top spot after the stage break.
From that point to the finish, he saved fuel while maintaining the gap to Zilisch until the final lap, when Zilisch closed in as SVG was content to run behind traffic to the finish line.
Shane van Gisbergen dominated Supercars in Australia and New Zealand for a number of years | Photo: Dan Himbrechts/AAP
"Luckily enough, I think I saved enough (fuel) early," said van Gisbergen, after executing his signature rugby ball kick into the grandstands.
"Sorry it wasn't the most exciting. I guess boring's good when you're the one leading...
"What an amazing car, to lead like that. The car was so good the whole race. It's great to get another one for these guys."
If van Gisbergen spent most of the afternoon at the front of the field in the No.9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, Zilisch spent the bulk of the race passing cars and working his way to the front.
He started in the rear after changing a tire that had leaked air during qualifying - an unapproved adjustment. After cracking the top 15 in the opening stage, Zilisch short-pitted the 20-lap stage on Lap 17 but sped on pit road-earning a pass-through penalty that left him 33rd in the running order at the start of Stage 2.
Another march through the field brought him to second behind van Gisbergen on Lap 35, and when van Gisbergen brought his car to pit road on Lap 43, Zilisch had the lead in the No.1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet and went on to win the stage.
After pitting, Zilisch restarted 10th and quickly dispatched the cars in front of him, passing Jesse Love for second on Lap 57. But there was no catching van Gisbergen over the final 21 circuits.
