NASCAR Race Today: Winners, Losers from Toyota / Save Mart 350

Shane van Gisbergen largely dominated Sunday’s Toyota / Save Mart 350, with only Chase Briscoe providing a last-second challenge for him in the closing laps at Sonoma Raceway. While there’s only one winner, there is plenty of analysis to get into.

Let’s dive into our winners and losers from the NASCAR race today at Sonoma.

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Winner: Shane van Gisbergen

After a stunning DNF at Naval Base Coronado, Shane van Gisbergen found himself in must-win territory on Sunday at Sonoma Raceway. A victory and stage points were the only way he’d still have a path to making The Chase. SVG came through. Despite the car really having issues at the end, he was able to hold off Briscoe. The 63-point day now gives him a 36-point cushion heading to Chicagoland.

NASCAR Standings Today, Cup Series Points Leaders and Chase Cutline Right Now

Loser: Tyler Reddick

Tyler Reddick had an opportunity at Sonoma Raceway to create a bit of distance between himself and Denny Hamlin for the regular-season points title. Instead, the No. 45 car quickly ran into issues at the NASCAR race today. Reddick reported on the radio that he could barely go fast and he had to come in for an extended pit stop after Stage 1. The car’s power steering and hydraulics seemed to be causing issues, resulting in the car requiring significant work and dropping him multiple laps down. Just a few weeks removed from being 100-plus points ahead, Reddick has now fallen to second behind Hamlin. A season where everything seemingly went right for the No. 45 team early on has now delivered new causes of disappointment in recent weeks.

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Winner: Ty Gibbs

Heading into the NASCAR race today, sitting on the pole, Ty Gibbs sat just 1 point back of Kyle Larson in regular-season points and he was within 50 of Ryan Blaney. Perhaps the No. 54 team could’ve rolled the dice and beaten Shane van Gisbergen in the Toyota / Save Mart 350, but they took guaranteed points instead. Gibbs came through with wins in Stage 1 and Stage 2 at Sonoma, earning 20 points heading into the final stage. Remarkably, he ended the day in third and netted the second-most points at Sonoma. With how important top-five positioning will be in The Chase when the regular season ends, we believe there’s a very good chance that Gibbs’ stage points today will get him a top-five finish come postseason time.

Unofficial 2026 NASCAR Results at Sonoma, Cup Series Stage Results

Loser: Bubba Wallace

It was an all-around bad day for 23XI Racing. While Reddick had issues with the car itself, Bubba Wallace basically struggled to navigate the No. 23 car around Sonoma Raceway. After damaging the car at the end of qualifying on Saturday, Wallace showcased the same control issues on Sunday afternoon. He got loose early on Stage 2 when he was in 10th place, having to go off track and stopping to avoid a pass-through penalty. Minutes later, the No. 23 got loose again and would’ve wrecked if not for contact with Todd Gilliland. Gilliland got his revenge moments later, sending the No. 23 into the dirt and dropping him even further back in the pack. Wallace failed to record any stage points and falls even closer to the cutline.

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Winner: Christopher Bell

Heading into this weekend at Sonoma, there were lingering questions regarding Christopher Bell‘s ability to finish the race. Joe Gibbs Racing had to replace the driver of the No. 20 car in the early stages last week at Naval Base Coronado because of the limitations of driving with a fractured wrist, and that proved costly for him points-wise. Facing similar limitations in the NASCAR race today, Bell and his team made up for last week by securing 18 stage points with a strong performance across both stages. While Bell was never in danger of missing The Chase, those 18 stage points feel like they’ll at least position Bell and his team to be more creative with their racing strategies in the weeks to come.

Loser: Chris Buescher

Road courses have typically been a very good spot for Chris Buescher to showcase his wheel skills. Unfortunately for the No. 17 team, it was only Stage 1 when the car started having issues with rear grip and it began plummeting back down the field. The team could just never recover from it, with the car seemingly “off” for the entire day. The real trouble for Buescher is that the likes of Daniel Suarez, Carson Hocevar and now even Chase Briscoe are circling him in regular-season points and the gap between him and sixth place is effectively now a two-race gap. What should’ve been an opportunity to make up some ground at Sonoma instead turned into a disheartening day for Buescher and the No. 17 crew.

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Winner: Connor Zilisch

Chase Briscoe, who finished second, certainly has a case to be labeled as one of the winners in the NASCAR race today. However, Connor Zilisch and the No. 88 team desperately needed this. Coming into Sonoma, Zilisch had a 34.8 average finishing position in the last five races and he averaged just 4 points per race in that span. Finally, he avoided a major wreck and his road-course skills were put on display. The 7th place finish is his best in a points race this season and his 33 points blows past his previous career-high (23 at COTA).

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