Shane van Gisbergen might have become the winningest NASCAR Cup Series driver on road and street courses with his second consecutive victory at Sonoma Raceway. But neither the driver nor his Trackhouse Racing boss was happy about the team’s performance.
Despite leading 74 of the final 83 laps on Sunday, van Gisbergen spent much of the weekend unhappy with the balance of the No. 97 Chevrolet. Trackhouse managed to improve the car overnight, but the Kiwi still had to fend off a late charge from Chase Briscoe before taking the checkered flag by just 0.357 seconds.
Speaking to SiriusXM NASCAR earlier this week, Marks admitted the Sonoma victory felt different from some of SVG’s previous wins because the team never had the race car it expected to bring to one of the driver’s strongest tracks.
“Personally, it felt a little bit different yesterday after the race than I did after some of his wins because we know how good he is,” Marks said. “We know what he is capable of. And we just didn’t bring as good a race car we should have brought to the race track.”
The 45-year-old explained that although Trackhouse celebrated another win, the team knew it had work to do after struggling through practice and qualifying.
“It was great to win the race but at the same time you don’t want your driver sort of complaining all weekend. I mean, there were issues with the race car for sure. It’s one of those things where you’re celebrating and we’re happy that he won but then there is also this element of you know we could have done a better job preparing for that race. We could have done a better job looking at the data and building the car.” — Justin Marks
Sonoma has always been one of van Gisbergen’s strongest tracks, but last weekend was far from straightforward.
Unlike several of his previous road-course races, the New Zealander did not start from pole after qualifying sixth, with Ty Gibbs securing the top starting spot. Although he eventually worked his way to the lead, he never completely shook Briscoe, who in his No. 19 Toyota closed rapidly during the closing laps.
In fact, after the race, even SVG acknowledged that he was running out of pace. That is exactly why Marks wasn’t fully satisfied. Instead of having the fastest car throughout the weekend, Trackhouse had to rely on overnight adjustments, van Gisbergen’s driving ability, and a mistake from the driver chasing him.
As Marks put it, “Winning is great, but you know but you don’t want to be playing defense when you win the races… But you don’t really want to be in a position where you’re sort of crossing your fingers and holding your breath, praying for there to be no caution.”
A late caution would have erased the three-time Supercar champion’s advantage and given the Joe Gibbs Racing ace another shot at the win. For Marks, that was a sign the team had not maximized its preparation despite ending the weekend in Victory Lane.
With no more road or street courses remaining this season, Trackhouse is now forced to shift its attention to the oval-heavy stretch of the schedule. While the Sonoma win moved van Gisbergen up three spots to 14th in the standings, both he and Marks know the team will need to unload with stronger race cars if it wants to remain in playoff contention.
Stay close to the on-track action this weekend and every weekend by following our Race Weekend Dashboard for everything you need to know before, during, and after the race. Share your thoughts by joining the discussion on Discord or X, and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube for further updates.
