Not only did Shane van Gisbergen lose a race Sunday at Naval Base Coronado, but he also lost out on valuable points that he could be missing come August.
A crash not of his own doing took van Gisbergen out of Sunday’s Anduril 250, relegating him to a 38th-place finish. He earned only a single point for his efforts over the weekend, which including winning the pole.
He and the No. 97 Trackhouse Racing team now head to Sonoma five points below the Chase cut line and 17th in the Cup Series standings. In what is the final road course race weekend of the year, much will be expected of SVG, who will be the overwhelming favorite to win the race despite his setback at Coronado.
Why SVG needs to win at Sonoma
As good of a bounce-back story as it would be if van Gisbergen won at Sonoma, a victory might be more of a necessity for the Auckland, New Zealand, native on June 28 than anything. His performance on ovals has markedly improved from 2025 to 2026, but it’s hard to say that it’s improved enough for him to run equal to or better than his fellow bubble drivers over the last eight weeks of the regular season.
Cashing in on at least 55 points with a race win and as many as the 76 that are available via stages and the race’s fastest lap would be the best outcome for van Gisbergen at Sonoma. He’s the defending winner at the California road course, though he had already sewn up a postseason berth when the NASCAR Cup Series came to Wine Country in 2025.
Now, he heads to Northern California with the chances of him making the postseason hinging on his performance this weekend. Another poor result at Sonoma could spell the end of van Gisbergen’s Chase hopes in what has been an otherwise commendable second season of Cup Series racing.