Shane van Gisbergen won the second NASCAR Xfinity Series race in as many weeks and claimed the Zip Buy Now, Pay Later 250 checkered flag. A host of New Zealanders in the stands that traveled over 12 hours just to watch their favorite driver SVG race in Sonoma were treated to the sweet thrill of victory.
SVG led every lap of the first stage taking the green/white checkered with Ty Gibbs hot on his heels after battling for much of the stage. After pitting on the Stage 1 competition caution, Gibbs returned the favor by leading every lap of the second stage collecting the Stage 2 victory. With the reintroduction of stages in Sonoma, strategy became a focal point for contenders as SVG fought battles with his alternator switch.
“It’s never easy here and every race I’ve been in has been an adventure,” said SVG post-race. “We had to make some moves throughout the field, had some really awesome racing with people, and I had a lot of fun doing it.”
With 30 laps to go, Turn 3A, which is normally known for the field making a smooth left-to-right transition up the hill became a parking lot with Sonoma’s version of “The Big One.” The chaotic turn of events took place in the middle of the pack when Chandler Smith and Josh Williams made contact, wrecked, and nearly half the field sustained damage.
In the final stage, SVG made quick work of his fourth-place restart by passing Los Gatos, CA native AJ Allmendinger in the iconic Turn 11 hairpin with just 23 laps to go to move up to second-place. SVG and Austin Hill duked it out on the final restart with SVG bumping Hill out of the way in Turn 2 and passing him to cruise to another checkered flag victory.
When asked if his pass on the final restart was fair game, SVG responded, "100% ... that last restart, I was just making a hole no matter what. It felt like a pretty cool move and hopefully it was good to watch. It was hard racing.”
Van Gisbergen became the first driver since Austin Cindric in 2019 to win his first two races in back-to-back events on the NXS schedule. Sheldon Creed (2nd), posted his first Top 10 at Sonoma Raceway in his second start at the track. Austin Green earned a career high 4th place finish in only his third career Xfinity series start, and his second Top 10 overall.
Following Creed, Sam Mayer netted 3rd while Austin Hill rounded out the Top 5.
The last NASCAR Xfinity Series race aired on FOX truly was a special one, and the network will deliver their final broadcast of the 2024 season with tomorrow’s NASCAR Cup Series Toyota/Save Mart 350 race.
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