Shane van Gisbergen dominates NASCAR O'Reilly Series race at Sonoma

Shane van Gisbergen reportedly operated at approximately 80 percent capacity during the majority of the final segment in Saturday's NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Sonoma. Despite this, he still managed to pull away from the competition, defeating his JR Motorsports teammate, Connor Zilisch, by 1.324 seconds at the finish line.

Van Gisbergen was compelled to conserve fuel during the race's final run after a strategic early pit stop before the conclusion of Stage 2. Nonetheless, this did not hinder his performance. The road course specialist from Auckland, New Zealand, dominated the race, securing his sixth career NOAPS victory and second win of 2026.

The top two finishers mirrored the outcome of the 2025 NOAPS race at Sonoma, where Zilisch narrowly defeated van Gisbergen. Van Gisbergen led 66 of the 79 laps and will start sixth in Sunday's Cup race, aiming for a consecutive win at Sonoma.

Zilisch, Brent Crews, Anthony Alfredo, and Parker Retzlaff completed the top five, with Carson Kvapil, Corey Day, defending series champion Jesse Love, Sam Mayer, and Sheldon Creed rounding out the top ten.

Taylor Gray was positioned within the top five but ran out of fuel on the final lap, finishing 29th as the first car one lap down. Gray received an illegal push from his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Brandon Jones, to cross the finish line, which invalidated his final lap.

Zilisch impressively recovered from starting at the rear due to a flat tire in qualifying. He gained significant ground in the first stage, though a speeding penalty on pit road resulted in a drive-through penalty with three laps left in Stage 1. Zilisch successfully navigated through the field in the second stage.

Alfredo and Zilisch won Stages 1 and 2, respectively.

Van Gisbergen's victory marks Chevrolet's 18th consecutive win in road course races in the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series and the 12th in the last 13 road races for JRM.