Toyota/Save Mart 350 weekend preview: Shane Van Gisbergen looks to notch second Sonoma win in as many years to move up tracks wins list

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By Kyle Foster, photo courtesy of Eric Thompson (Shamboozled.com)

Kfost91197@gmail.com

Twitter/X: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews

The 2026 season has been wild when it comes to NASCAR. So when the series comes roaring into Wine Country for its annual Northern California visit, we should expect more of the same.

Once again, the Toyota/Save Mart 350 weekend will take place from June 26th to 28th at the famed 1.99-mile, 12-turn Sonoma Raceway. This will be the 18th race of the regular season and the 37th running of the event. 

Maybe the biggest change coming into the season has been the return to the 10-race The Chase format.  This was the format from 2004 to 2015, before NASCAR moved to the playoffs. No longer is winning a race going to lock you into the postseason. That being said, a race win is now worth 55 points instead of 40, which means winning is key to setting yourself up in the standings.   

This has also led to a change in the racing product on the track. Each point scored suddenly means a lot more. After all, where a driver is in the top-16 in points following the 26th race of the regular-season will determine their Chase seeding.  

“I thought it did at the start of the year,” reigning Sonoma winner Shane Van Gisbergen said in an interview. “I thought at the start of the year was pretty, it felt kind of calm, but now it’s going back to how it was last year. Everyone is racing really aggressively and not cutting any breaks, and yeah, I think it’s going back to normal.”

Van Gisbergen will look to defend his dominant victory, in which he led 97 laps on his first start in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2025. With a win, he’d join elite company, with 5 drivers having won a pair of races in Wine Country. He’d join the 2021 and 2024 winner Kyle Larson, big names like Ernie Irvan, Ricky Rudd, and Rusty Wallace. Van Gisbergen also won Watkins Glen in May. 

But maybe the most important of the two-time winners would be the late Kyle Busch, who passed away suddenly on May 21st. In lap 8 of each race for the three national series, everyone has gone silent to remember Busch.  

The loss of Busch has hit the NASCAR and racing community hard. He collected wins at Sonoma in 2008 and 2015.  

“He was a great competitor,” said Larson in an interview. “I had a ton of fun battles with him, and you know, those will be ones that I miss. But yeah, I think you know, just gonna miss just kind of talking about our kids, really comparing, you know, it was always fun to for me to see how intense he was with Brexton in a good way, and see how he was kind of shaping his Brexit path to the Cup series, because that’s definitely their end goal.”

Van Gisbergen has also been more than just a road ringer this season. He’s started to figure out the ovals, which is a large reason why he’s currently 17th in points. DNFs the last few weeks have hurt him after being 12th the standings at one point. 

“We just do more and more, get better and better, more comfortable, and think we’re just continually building up, getting better,” Van Gisbergen explained. “So yeah, it’s been fun to just keep progressing. Those weeks, we started up front with the right outs, and that really helped us have a good qualifying run. And yeah, it’s been cool to cool to show that we can do it. So, yeah, we just need to find a way to get better at qualifying, or find a way to get through the field better. Yeah, when we, if we run up front, or we can stay up there, we can do it. So it’s been cool to prove that, and been cool to get a little bit more confidence myself, knowing we can do it too.” 

Speaking of the points, Corning’s Tyler Reddick got off to a historic start to the season. He won 5 of the first 9 races, including the Daytona 500 and the first road-course race at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, capping off wins in the opening three races of the season. 

Right behind Reddick is Denny Hamlin by just 8 points. He’s scored wins at Las Vegas in March, the non-points-paying All-Star Race, and  Nashville. He also won at Michigan for his 63rd Cup victory to tie Kyle Busch, and then again at Pocono for three-straight wins and to pass Busch for 9th on the all-time wins list. These two have been the class of the field all season long. Over the last few weeks, he has cut the deficit significantly. But road course racing isn’t his strong suit either. 

Then, there’s a great battle for third and fifth in the points standings. Ryan Blaney is in third after winning Phoenix in March. 

Despite not having a win, Larson has had plenty of speed and has just not been able to finish the deal. That being said, a win isn’t that far off. The two-time and defending series champion sits 4th in points. 

“I think it’s been a good last probably four to six weeks for us,” Larson explained. “I feel like we finally are finding some consistent speed and balance, which is something we’ve been searching for up to this point. So, yeah, I mean, we’re not the fastest car every week, but we’re near the top five now.” 

Ty Gibbs won his first race at Bristol and is fifth in the standings. Chase Elliott won Martinsville and Texas to sit sixth in the standings. 

Other race winners in the top 16 in points include a pair of Spire Motorsports teammates in Daniel Suarez (Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte) and Carson Hocevar (Talladega). 

Also new this season, the Cup Series will run with added horsepower at all the road courses and shorter ovals. This increase in horsepower has made things a bit tougher on the driver, which should help the product over the weekend. 

“I think there will just be more factors for Sonoma,” Van Gisbergen added. “I know it’s going to be in a hotter time of year, so yeah, the track’s going to be slicker, so the tires will fall off more, and then you do have the more horsepower, so that’ll add to it. I don’t think it’s been a massive game-changer. I think you need another 100 horsepower, probably, to really change it up. But yeah, I think just the heat and the little bit of horsepower will add up, but I don’t think it’s a night and day difference.” 

However, not all drivers have noticed the differences when turning right and left. Larson said it’s been more noticeable on the shorter, flatter ovals than the road courses. 

“I haven’t really noticed much of a difference on the road courses,” Larson added. “I would say the only ones that I’ve really noticed the difference at so far have been not the half miles like Martinsville or Bristol, but the Phoenix and Nashville, Dover. Those all felt faster to me, but the road courses and short tracks I feel like have felt very normal, and I would say have raced very normal. So we’ll see. I mean, it could be different when we get to those tracks these next couple weeks, but yeah, I don’t foresee it seeming any different than it was last year.” 

Corey Heim, who will be full-time in 2027 with 23XI, won the inaugural race at Naval Base Coronado last week. This was his first-ever win in the Cup Series. 

This will also be the first time NASCAR has had races in California since 1961. 

The 110-lap Toyota/Save Mart 350 will air once again on TNT at 12:30 pm. It will begin the second-ever in-season tournament. Stage breaks will happen at laps 25 and 55. The prerace ceremonies on Sunday will once again feature the Patriots Jet Team, which is a Sunday tradition in Sonoma. 

“The Patriots Jet Team has become an iconic part of our NASCAR weekend,” Flynn added in a March press release. “For nearly two decades, they’ve delivered an unforgettable experience for our fans and helped create an electric atmosphere before the green flag.” 

Former San Francisco Giants pitcher Matt Cain will also deliver the pre-race invocation as an honorary official. He won 3 World Series titles and appeared in 3 All-Star Games in the Orange and Black. 

“We’re thrilled to welcome Matt Cain to Sonoma Raceway as part of our Toyota/Save Mart 350 race day,” Flynn explained in a May press release. “Matt is one of the most respected athletes in Bay Area sports history, and his championship pedigree and connection with Northern California fans make him a perfect fit for this incredible NASCAR event.”

Also in the spirit of Giants baseball, former manager and current Special Advisor to Baseball Operations will serve as the Grand Marshal on Sunday. Baker won a World Series title in 2022 as well.

“Having Dusty Baker join us as Honorary Grand Marshal is a tremendous honor,” Flynn explained in a June 17 press release. “Dusty’s championship legacy, leadership, and longstanding ties to Northern California make him the perfect choice to help kick off the Toyota/Save Mart 350. His impact on the Bay Area sports community continues to resonate, and we’re excited to welcome him to Sonoma Raceway.”  

O’Reilly Auto Parts Series returns for PitBoss/Foodmaxx 250 on Saturday 

Once again, Saturday will be highlighted by the newly named NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. This will be the fourth time the series has taken on the Northern California road course. 

As is normally the case, there will be plenty of Cup Series drivers competing in the Saturday show. 

The PitBoss/FoodMaxx 250 is back for a while after the co-sponsors each signed a multi-year deal with the track to continue to sponsor the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race. 

“This partnership is a perfect fit for Sonoma Raceway and our fans,” Flynn said in an April press release. “Pit Boss® and FoodMaxx bring tremendous energy, shared values, and fan engagement that elevate our NASCAR event. We’re proud to build on this collaboration for years to come.”

In the field for JR Motorsports is Connor Zilisch, who won the 2025 race and is a Cup rookie. Zlilisch won at Watkins Glen already this season in the series. Joining him will be Van Gisbergen, who won at Circuit of the Americas already this season with the series. 

With these two in the field, it would appear that everyone else is running for third. 

“I mean, to be honest with you, you pretty much just end up racing for third when they’re out there,” NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts series rookie Corey Day explained. “I’d love to be able to hopefully one day say that I can go race against those guys, but it’s they’re just on a completely different level, and you’re honestly pretty silly for a guy like me, at least, to go out there and think I’m gonna have a shot to race against them.”

Ross Chastain will also be in the Saturday field racing for Jordan Anderson Racing. Chastain won at Charlotte earlier this season for JR Motorsports. 

In the secondary series, it has been a dominant season by JR Motorsports. They have been the winningest team in the series. 

However, they also happen to have Justin Allgaier, who has already clinched a spot in the 12-driver Chase. He’s also won a whopping five times already at Phoenix, Darlington, Martinsville, Nashville, and Pocono. 

Allgaier has done this by being so experienced over the years and having a top team under him. 

“Justin, they’re just doing a great job, they’re just executing races week after week,” Day continued. “His advantage on me, at least, is I usually spend these first stages at tracks, kind of feeling things out, and he’s done it multiple times at every single race track, so he gets to go win stage one. Most of the weeks he qualifies good and have a good run in stage two, and his stage points are just ridiculous, along with his wins this year. So yeah, they’re doing a great job, he’s going to be hard to beat in this, chase format, for sure.”

Defending series champion Jesse Love from Redwood City sits second in points. He hasn’t won yet, but has been one of the best series regulars. 

Austin Hill, who has been the replacement driver for Busch on Sundays, won at Daytona and Naval Base Coronado last week. He’s also fifth in points. 

However, taking the series by storm has been the third-place points runner Day, who is full-time in the legendary Hendrick 17 car. He’s also collected a pair of wins at Talladega and Dover. 

“Yeah, super gratifying for sure,” Day said of getting his first two NASCAR wins this season. “This hasn’t been an easy learning process for me, to say the least. It honestly has been really difficult and tough for me. I was at a point in my sprint car career where I could win at the top level any given night, and to go from that to back to a rookie, pretty much, and just struggling, it was tough. But it made the wins and the celebration that much better, just being that, you know, came from (being) a rookie to win in my first race there within a year.” 

Other series regulars to pick up wins were Austin Hill at Daytona, Sheldon Creed in Atlanta, William Sawalich at Rockingham, and Taylor Gray at Kansas. 

Larson won races at Las Vegas in March and Texas in May in the series. 

You can watch the PitBoss/FoodMaxx 250 on Saturday, June 27th at 2:30 pm on the CW, which is KRON 4 here in the Bay Area. The 79-lap event will have stage breaks at laps 25 and 45.

ARCA West returns on Friday with the General Tire 150

The main show on Friday will be the ARCA Menards Series West as they take on the road course. 

This race has been shortened from 200 kilometers to 150 kilometers this season. This means it will be 47 laps with a halfway break coming at lap 23 or 24.  

Even with the distance being shorter, it is sure to create chaos. This race is always known for getting wild.  

Trevor Huddleston leads the series in points and has wins at Shasta and Colorado National Speedway. Other winners are Cole Denton at Tucson and Tri-City, with Carson Brown winning in Phoenix and Mason Massey at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway. 

You can watch the General Tire 150 at 3:30 pm on FloRacing. A subscription to Flo will be needed to watch. It will also be streamed live on the NASCAR Channel on Roku and Tubi. 

Notably missing from this year’s events are the Historic Trans-Am Series, which has been a staple for the last few years. It just didn’t work out with the scheduling this year. But the hope is that it will return.   

“The schedule got moved around, and then we had some placements for them, and it just didn’t work out,” Flynn said of how Historic Trans-Am isn’t a part of this year’s event. “So, I think they’ll be back, and we’ll see what happens next year.”

For all ticketing information, go to sonomaraceway.com.