The regular season portion of the NASCAR schedule in 2025 is flying by, with Sunday delivering the 20th points race
The regular season portion of the NASCAR schedule in 2025 is flying by, with Sunday delivering the 20th points race of the season. On an eventful Sunday afternoon at Sonoma Raceway, the Toyota / Save Mart 350 delivered plenty of intriguing results.
Let’s jump into our winners and losers from Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Sonoma.
Winner: Shane van Gisbergen’s road dominance continues
A week after he swept the road course races in both the Xfinity Series and Cup Series at Chicago, Shane van Gisbergen nearly did the same this weekend. He took the pole position for both races, finishing just behind Connor Zilisch in a great battle to the finish on Saturday afternoon. With a lot more on the line in the Cup Series, SVG utterly dominated. Even when he pitted, the No. 88 came out near the front of the field. Sunday marked SVG’s third win this season, all three coming in the last five weeks, and he picked up an additional playoff point with a Stage 2 victory.
Related: NASCAR Xfinity results from Sonoma Raceway
Loser: Denny Hamlin’s rough Sunday
Whatever the No. 11 team did to the car for Sunday’s race failed miserably. Starting 16th on the grid, Hamlin’s position dropped like a rock in Stage 1, and he spent the majority of Stage 2 outside the top 30. He was a non-factor, getting passed by drivers who pitted after him. Hamlin has had success at Sonoma Raceway in the past, but the No. 11 car just didn’t give him any shot at being competitive on Sunday. He also took a pit-road penalty on the final stage. Fortunately for Hamlin, next week takes him to Dover and he’s fared very well (9.0 average finishing position) there in the Next Gen era.
Related: NASCAR results today, stage results from Sonoma for Cup Series
Winner: Ross Chastain’s playoff point strategy
Ross Chastain’s crew chief, Phil Surgen, said early in Stage 1 that it was evident they didn’t have a realistic chance of winning at Sonoma Raceway on Sunday. So, with a playoff spot already locked up, the No. 1 team rightfully pivoted to its second-best option. Chastain stayed out during Stage 1, securing 10 points and a desperately needed playoff point. This pushed Chastain into a tie for 10th in playoff points, and the point total also solidified his position somewhat in the regular-season standings.
Related: NASCAR points standings after Sonoma
Loser: A.J. Allmendinger’s one costly spin
The only path to the NASCAR playoffs for A.J. Allmendinger is a win. He has now had three great opportunities over the last five weeks, with road courses catering to his specialty. After finishing 13th at Mexico City and then 6th in the Chicago Street Race, Allmendinger took himself out of the mix on Sunday in the Save Mart 350. On Turn 11 of Lap 31, Allmendinger lost control of the back of the car and spun around. It dropped him from fifth place to outside the top 30. While he finished relatively well, that spin likely prevented him from a top-five finish on Sunday. He finished the day 18th.
Winner: Chase Briscoe
At this point, we might have to start focusing on the non-SVG drivers at road courses. While Chase Briscoe didn’t record the win on Sunday, he was clearly the second-best driver on the course and there was a gap between him and the next driver. Sunday’s race marked his third top-10 finish since Kansas, including four top-five finishes. After being the ‘underperformer’ at Joe Gibbs Racing, Briscoe is on a hot streak over the last two months and his playoff spot is already clinched.
Loser: Carson Hocevar
No one is happier than Carson Hocevar to be done with road courses for a while. The 22-year-old placed 34th at Mexico City (9 points) and then took out multiple drivers in a DNF 35th-place finish at Chicago last week. While he didn’t cause any wrecks this week, he did spend the majority of his Sunday afternoon at the very back of the field. Making the playoffs on points is completely out of the question now for Hocevar and while a win could get him in, oval courses will give some of his peers opportunities at revenge for his recent racing tactics.
Related: Carson Hocevar reveals odd approach to friendships with NASCAR drivers
Winner: Bubba Wallace’s stage strategy pays off
Bubba Wallace came into Sonoma Raceway knowing there was little chance of getting a win, especially after starting 30th on the grid. So, the No. 23 team took full advantage of the stage points system. By holding off on pit stops until immediately after Stages 1 and 2, Wallace picked up 15 points (the second-most stage points) on the day. Those points proved especially crucial since he was knocked off the track by Kyle Busch, which hurt his final finishing position on Sunday.
Loser: Ryan Blaney’s bad luck day
On speed and driving alone, Ryan Blaney should’ve had a top-10 finish at Sonoma. He overcame being knocked off course by Chase Briscoe, which dropped him outside the top 10. He climbed his way back to grab a few stage points, but then was knocked off the track by Chris Buescher and got stuck. Blaney really wasn’t at fault for either incident, but both took a massive toll on his overall points total today. In the end, he finished 36th.
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