Winners and losers from a close NASCAR Cup race at Sonoma

Just three tenths separated Shane van Gisbergen and Chase Briscoe in the battle for the win at Sonoma Raceway. With his eighth career victory, SVG is now tied for second on the all-time road course wins list with Tony Stewart, and just one away from Jeff Gordon’s record.

Sonoma was also the final road course of the 2026 season, so it’s all ovals from here to Homestead in November. While it was a great day for SVG, the same cannot be said for our now-former championship leader, Tyler Reddick.

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Here are the biggest winners and losers from the NASCAR Cup race at Sonoma:

WINNER: Shane van Gisbergen finds redemption after San Diego frustration

Watch: SVG thrilled with Sonoma win: ‘Pretty special to make up for last week’

San Diego was the worst case scenario for SVG, scoring no stage points, crashing out of the race, and walking away with only a single point to show for his efforts. He had to win at Sonoma, and he did just that. He scored 63 of a possible maximum 76 points, even while flipping both stages, and held on despite late pressure to earn his second win of the year. It was the closest margin of victory yet in any NASCAR race won by SVG, and the win took him from five points below the Chase cut-line to 36 points above.

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LOSER: Tyler Reddick loses the championship lead for the first time this year

Watch: Reddick on ‘very odd issue’ that resulted in last-place finish

Speaking of worst case scenarios, a power steering issue put Reddick multiple laps down in a race with zero DNFs. That means he finished 36th — last — collecting just one point for his finishing position. He doubled that by collecting the Xfinity fastest lap bonus, but even with that and title rival Denny Hamlin getting spun out late in the race, it wasn’t enough. 18 races into the 2026 season, and Reddick has lost the championship lead. Just one month ago, he led by 129 points, but now, he is trailing Hamlin by a single point. The driver who finished inside the top 15 in each of the first 14 races has now placed 25th or worse in three of the last four. Hamlin wasn’t smiling after Sunday’s race either, simply because of all the points he left on the table with the late-race incident.

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No smiles from Denny Hamlin despite snatching the points lead from Tyler Reddick

WINNER: Connor Zilisch’s first-ever top ten finish as a Cup driver

Watch: Zilisch lands first career top 10: ‘Felt like we could’ve been better’

Finally, a ray of hope for Zilisch, even if it should have been more. Zilisch kept his car clean, and despite a brief stall in the pits during his final stop, went on to finish seventh — the first top ten finish of the teenager’s NASCAR Cup career. It was a much-needed result after a nightmarish rookie season. The only disappointment is that he spent a large chunk of the race inside the top five, even pursuing teammate SVG as the second-place driver at one point, but still, it’s a positive result in a otherwise negative season for Zilisch.

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LOSER: Chase Briscoe comes agonizingly close to first win of 2026

Watch: King of Wine Country! SVG holds off Briscoe to win Sonoma

Briscoe was right there. Taking away a slip-up up the hill into Turn 1 with a couple of laps to go, or the slide exiting Turn 10 on the white flag, and he could have been the race winner at Sonoma. We’d be talking about how he bested the road course master himself, but instead, we and Briscoe are left to wonder what could have been. “Not very many people get that close to him at the end of one of these road course races,” said Briscoe. “Just frustrated with myself. I felt like I definitely had the better car. I didn’t do as good of a job as he did driving.”

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Shane van Gisbergen needed to battle for his latest Cup road course win

WINNER: Ty Gibbs sweeps the stages, and still secures a top three finish

Ty Gibbs, Joe Gibbs Racing

This was perhaps the most impressive drive of the day. Gibbs sacrificed track position at the end of both stages, staying out to collect both the Stage 1 and Stage 2 victories, pocketing the 20 points that go along with it. But then, he managed to drive back through the field, reaching as high as third in a mostly green race. It was quite the run, and allowed Gibbs to bump up into fourth in the regular season standings.

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LOSER: Erik Jones falls outside of the top 16 in points

Josh Berry, Wood Brothers Racing, Austin Cindric, Team Penske, Erik Jones, Legacy Motor Club

While SVG rose back up into the Chase picture, he had to replace someone, and that driver was Erik Jones. The Legacy Motor Club driver was the biggest loser in the championship standings, as a 23rd finish dropped him three positions down the order. He is now 17th, 12 points below the cut-line.

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Complete NASCAR Cup points standings after Sonoma 2026

BONUS WINNER: Alex Bowman busts brackets with In-Season Challenge advancement

Alex Bowman, Hendrick Motorsports

The bracket challenge is back with a $1 million prize on the line! While Ty Dillon did not shock the world once again with another Denny Hamlin Round 1 defeat, another low-seeded driver slew their own Goliath. Alex Bowman was ranked No. 32 for the challenge, and was placed against No. 1 seed Tyler Reddick. We already documented his problems, but Bowman didn’t just defeat him, he had a great run, securing a top ten finish.  He was just one of three drivers to eliminate a higher-seeded driver at Sonoma Raceway.

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Who was eliminated in Round 1 of the NASCAR In-Season Bracket Challenge?

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