After SVG cleaned up last weekend in the streets of Chicago, NASCAR ventured west to a more classic road course circuit in Sonoma Raceway. Heading into the race, there were a lot of eyes on SVG. After all, he was the defending race winner at the course in the Xfinity Series last year. However, some of his detractors noted that Sonoma is less of a “wild card” than Chicago or even Mexico City. That was to say that most NASCAR Cup Series drivers have turned far more laps in Wine Country than SVG. So, this race was a testament to the age-old debate: experience vs. sheer skill.
SVG, for the second week in a row, captured the poles for both of the weekend’s races. Did he capitalize? Or was he one of the week’s losers? Or both? Here are the biggest losers leaving Sonoma Raceway.
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Christian Eckes was believed to have the most potential of all the drivers who graduated from the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series into the Xfinity Series. In his two full-time Truck Series campaigns, he earned eight victories (4 in each 2023 and 2024). In 2024, he was considered one of the two favorites to win the title, along with Corey Heim. Now, driving for Kaulig, which was once a top Xfinity team, the expectations were somewhat high. But Kaulig has fallen off in the last couple of years. And Eckes has had a miserable season to forget. He finished 34th on Saturday at Sonoma, taking a big hit in the rookie of the year standings. He’s in must-win territory if he wants to make the 2025 Xfinity Series Playoffs.
Heading into the third round of the In-Season Challenge, Alex Bowman was the last of the Hendrick cars remaining. This week, he was up against #32 seed Ty Dillon. It should have been a no-brainer, right? Bowman, in the Hendrick 48 vs. Dillon in the Kaulig 10? Easily, the 48 should have advanced and ended Dillon’s Cinderella Story. But that’s not what happened. Bowman, who has recently shown speed on road courses, hit the mark this week. For a bulk of the race, he and Dillon were battling it out. It all came down to the final corner. Bowman had the position. But Dillon wanted it more. The 10 of Ty Dillon moved the No. 48 to advance to the Final Four of the In-Season Challenge, further busting up everyone’s brackets.
This was a brutal hit for the 48 team. Now, they just need to focus on getting into the NASCAR Playoffs with their In-Season Challenge hopes dashed.
During the Stage 2 pit stops, Ty Gibbs came down pit road with Brad Keselowski behind him. Prior to this, Gibbs had an on-track incident with Keselowski’s teammate, Chris Buescher. Coming into his pit stall, Gibbs cut it a little too close with the right front tire changer of the No. 6 crew. According to the crew member, the 54 car hit the tire he was holding, twisting his wrist. Despite this hiccup, both teams serviced their cars and the race continued. However, as soon as Keselowski was gone, one of his crewmen went over to confront the 54 crew members. The two men pushed and shoved one another before being separated by NASCAR officials.
NASCAR looked at the incident and ruled that Ty Gibbs did nothing wrong. That said, there is an argument to be made that he broke the “Driver Code” of ethics. No penalties came of this (yet), and the two teams went the rest of the race without further issue. But, considering Gibbs’ past with dangerous controversies on pit road, it did raise some eyebrows. Anyway, nobody won in this little pit road scuffle.
In 2025, it’s something of a foregone conclusion that SVG is going to win the race if it’s on a road course. At this point, it’s all but a guarantee. However, in the Xfinity Series, he and his JRM No. 9 were a bit…off. Geeze, that makes it sound like he ran 10th to 15th or something. Come on, he still finished 2nd! And a close 2nd at that! But it’s not the standards that we’ve prescribed to Shane van Gisbergen. Despite winning the pole, SVG was outraced by his JRM teammate Connor Zilisch. The driver of the No. 88 was just better than SVG that day. For that reason, SVG is a loser for not winning a race we all expected him to. No repeat winner this year, I’m afraid!
Still, the battle we saw on Saturday should have us all excited for the years to come in Cup. SVG vs. Zilisch on road courses is bound to produce a classic NASCAR Cup Series finish or two.
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While Connor Zilisch outdueled SVG on Saturday, it was a good weekend for any driver in the number 88. Zilisch drove the No. 88 for JRM on Saturday. Then, on Sunday, Shane van Gisbergen climbed into his No. 88 Chevy for Trackhouse and proceeded to put on a clinic. I mean, the dude even pitted in the 2nd stage to flip it, but was so far ahead beforehand that he was able to chase down Kyle Larson and still win the stage. If that’s not dominance, I don’t know what is!
SVG led 97 of the 110 laps, and that’s just because of pit stops. He would have led every lap if cautions fell more his way. So, some of the biggest losers of the weekend were all the drivers of the NASCAR Cup Series who aren’t named SVG. At this point, he is the King of the Road and the whole filed was humbled on Sunday.
Did you enjoy this weekend’s races at Sonoma Raceway? What did you like most about it? Did you enjoy one race over the other? Let us know your thoughts! And be sure to join the discussion on Discord or X, and remember to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube for more updates.
