Shane van Gisbergen goes back-to-back, wins Xfinity Series race at Sonoma

Uh oh, Shane van Gisbergen did it again! The Kiwi could not be stopped today and would not be denied his second career win. Back-to-back wins in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for SVG.

Once Ty Gibbs was wrecked out of the race, it felt like Shane van Gisbergen’s win was inevitable. There were moments with Austin Hill. There were moments when SVG wasn’t upfront. But there weren’t many.

Pole award, one stage win, P2 in Stage 2, and a checkered flag. That wine is going to taste so sweet in Victory Lane.

TWO IN A ROW. Repost to congratulate Shane van Gisbergen on his NASCAR Xfinity Series WIN at Sonoma Raceway!@shanevg97 | #SVG pic.twitter.com/Uaw252Y69Z

— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) June 9, 2024

This solidifies Shane van Gisbergen’s position in the playoffs. It also solidifies him as the best road course racer in the series, and probably NASCAR. There is little else you can cal lit but impressive.

We know how good SVG is on these road courses. But watching him win two races back-to-back might be the best example we have had, at least here in the States. Let’s not forget this man has three Supercars championships and three Bathurst 1000 titles.

Shane van Gisbergen takes stage points

The pole winner for this race led every lap of the first stage. While drivers like Ty Gibbs decided to pit early as is the case many times at these road course races, SVG wanted the points and the playoff point, most importantly.

SVG was great in that first stage. Gibbs was the only driver who could sniff his exhaust fumes. However, staying out had consequences. It would cost SVG track position and make his job much tougher than it needed to be.

Ty Gibbs hits back in Stage 2

With track position after the stage break, Ty Gibbs was in control to start Stage 2. Gibbs, much like van Gisbergen, took off and didn’t look back. 26 laps in the lead, Gibbs was strong and didn’t show much weakness, if any.

SVG was fine running in the top-5. He managed to avoid getting into a wreck or having a major issue. However, he was going to undercut Gibbs on the pit stops before the end of the stage, but his crew chief forgot to make the call.

Once again, not an ideal situation, but one that van Gisbergen was more than capable of dealing with.

Shane van Gisbergen wins at Sonoma

With 32 laps led, Shane van Gisbergen was great on the day. Ty Gibbs led 26 total and Austin Hill led 21 of his own laps. On a late restart, SVG and Hill were dueling it out, and one of them got the short end of the stick.

Before the Hill and SVG battle though, was a huge wreck to end the final stage. 14 cars were collected in total and it led to Ty Gibbs being a DNF and then getting called out by Josh Williams.

Let me tell you, it wasn’t the guy who ended up winning the race. Van Gisbergen has learned that you have to be physical in this kind of racing. Hill showed him as much at COTA earlier this year. You want to be the aggressor, not the guy getting hit.

SVG used his door, but not in an egregious way. He had gotten to the inside of Hill going into one of the early turns. The two came together, it put Hill in a bad spot and he dropped like a rock. He would recover to finish P5.

Today all eyes were on Shane van Gisbergen. He was the fastest in practice, qualifying, and he ended up winning the race in the end. A complete weekend from start to finish.