The Post Race Inspection - 2025 Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma

Photo by Ralph Garcia for Racing Refresh

By Adam Carabine & Logan Morris

Logan Morris: Hey Adam, we’re back, and the beat goes on for SVG at road courses. He put on a masterclass and largely outclassed the field!

Adam Carabine: Hey Logan, good to be back here with you.  When you say “largely” outclassed, I think you’re being kind.  Shane Van Gisbergen showed up and made it look like he was driving on easy mode.  He was fantastic yet again, and there’s still another road course before the playoffs! He could potentially enter the playoffs with the most wins of any driver!

LM: You’re right, he could, and that is pretty remarkable to think about. He is quickly cementing himself as the greatest road racer NASCAR has ever seen. He may already be just that. However, a couple more wins on the lefts and rights, and it’ll be undeniable.

AC: It does bring up an interesting argument - because even though his oval performance has been getting better, it still leaves a lot to be desired.  If the “win-and-you’re-in” format wasn’t a thing, SVG would be 27th in points right now, far from the playoff cutline.  Does he deserve to be in the playoffs? 

LM:  I’m not trying to be coy when I tell you that Sunday softened my stance a little, as you know I’ve been hard on him as far as the playoffs go. But, after Sunday’s drubbing of the field, that argument is becoming much more difficult to make. For all of us contrarian folks who want to deny the hype behind what SVG does, Sunday was a big blow. Sonoma is a staple of the NASCAR calendar and has been for decades.  There’s no experience crutch here. Maybe, he’s a truly generational talent as far as road courses go, and after his wallop in wine country, I’m starting to believe.

AC: I understand the perils of the “win-and-you’re-in” and yet I still like it.  And I have liked it since I became a fan in 2019.  I know that it can lead to some weird moments like for example a late season Harrison Burton win at Daytona can throw everything into chaos.  But I like the emphasis on winning, and that it’s not enough to just finish well each week.  I think it encourages some more aggressive racing near the end of races, especially if it’s really close (unlike SVG at Sonoma).  

So I think SVG belongs, and that’s exactly why Trackhouse Racing brought him up to the Cup Series, because they now have two of their three drivers locked into the playoffs.  

Did anything in the race stand out to you? Other than the dominance of SVG - since we’ve probably said enough about that!

LM: The pit road brouhaha between the 6 and 54 pit crews was something to see, wasn’t it? It’s not often we see pit crews being the first to get aggressive physically. What were your thoughts on that?

AC: Yeah, it certainly has been a while since we’ve seen that.  It was disappointing we didn’t have some better camera angles to see what happened after the cars left their respective pit stalls.  At first glance, it did look like Ty Gibbs came in quite close to the Keselowski pit crew, but I do think NASCAR made the right call not to penalize anyone.  While yes, drivers are looking for any and every advantage they can get, I don’t think there was any malicious intent on Ty Gibbs’ part there.  He was focused on getting into his pit stall as fast as possible.  Brad K’s crew just happened to be getting ready there as well, and it was a close call.

LM: I completely agree. I know Ty Gibbs ruffles some feathers, but a different angle clearly showed some were too quick to assume the worst, including Steve Letarte. That came across as awkward as the day went on. Did he lose a bet? Whatever the case may be, I’m glad it ended up being much ado about nothing, really. 

AC: Hey, we got a fun little bit of drama between the crews!  Look on the bright side!

We should also talk about the in-season bracket!  Ty Dillon somehow squeaks out another win, John Hunter Nemechek limps past teammate Erik Jones, Tyler Reddick sneaks past Ryan Preece in the final 10 laps or so, and Ty Gibbs simply just laughs at Zane Smith from much farther ahead in the field.

Next weekend at Dover, we’ll have T. Dillon v. Nemechek, and Reddick v. Gibbs.   To me, this looks like anyone’s game, but what do you think?

LM: Reddick v Gibbs is a solid match-up anyway you slice it. I feel like Reddick has a slight edge based on the old eye test. But if you dig a little deeper, Gibbs has stronger average finish numbers at Dover compared to his bracket adversary by a decent margin. I think Gibbs is going to the championship. 

AC: At the very least, I think whoever wins this side of the bracket will be the eventual champion - though just for fun it would be hilarious to see Ty Dillon take the whole thing.  Good for him for really steering into this whole thing and showing how likeable of a character he can be.  It has certainly been some well-deserved more screen time for the oft-forgotten Dillon brother.

LM: I completely agree. I’m sold, and I hope the in-season tournament comes back in 2026. Don’t ask me who I’m rooting for to win it all, though. Whoever wins will add to their legacy, that’s for sure. 

AC: For sure.  Finally before we hit our awards for the week, I just wanted to comment on Cody Ware and his tire flying off.  First of all, it’s good to see Cody Ware back at the track after the scary collision last week at the end of the Chicago Street Course - well done by all involved on the safety crews.  But with him crashing into the tire barrier last week, then losing one this week - I suppose you live by the tire, and you die by the tire as well.

LM: It has been a rough stretch for Cody Ware, no question. Sometimes it feels like if he didn’t have bad luck, he’d have no luck at all.

AC: Agreed.  Anyway, let’s get to our awards!

Best Performer

LM: Let’s not overthink this. It’s SVG. He led 97 of 110 laps. He became the quickest driver to four victories since Parnelli Jones in 1967. 

AC: Heck of a stat, and honestly well-deserved.  The guy is a beast on road courses, and it’s got to be intimidating to even be near him on that type of track.  SVG is my choice too.

Biggest Move of the Race

LM: You know, he’s gotten a lot of grief recently, but I have to go with the Pit call by Chase Elliot’s crew chief, Alan Gustafson. That call allowed his Georgia-born driver to rally from 14th to 3rd. 

AC: That was a great call.  Risky, certainly, but it worked out well.  My biggest move of the race is going to be when SVG pitted ahead of the Stage 2 break to ‘jump the stage,’ and then he goes out and passes Kyle Larson for the lead again and wins it.  I can’t remember ever seeing someone pit ahead of the stage break and then go and win that same stage.  (And he also managed not to burn up his stuff while doing it - he went on to win the race too!)

Biggest Disappointment

LM: I’m going with AJ Allmendinger. Has anyone’s star ever dipped so low because of another driver's arrival? That’s happened to Allmendinger, thanks to the emergence of SVG. We expect “The Dinger” to contend for wins at tracks like Sonoma. Instead, he was up against it all day and brought his No. 16 Chevy home 18th.

AC: Not a bad pick, honestly.  Allmendinger is usually always a contender at road courses, and he even seemed to think that he had a good car coming into the race Sunday.  Something happened and he spun out on his own, and he spent the rest of the day battling.  I do think his P18 finish is actually impressive based on the circumstances he battled early on.  

I’m going to go with another disappointment - another driver who is notoriously good at road courses, Austin Cindric.  He was essentially a non-factor all day, and finished P30.  In Team Penske equipment, that’s not good enough.

Biggest Surprise:

LM: I have to go with Chase Briscoe here. This is, in his words, his worst track, and he was the runner-up and was the only car that wouldn’t have been completely fooling itself by simply flirting with the idea of winning. I’m not a Briscoe believer, but credit where it’s due. 

AC: For the record, Briscoe has worse tracks than Sonoma (see Iowa, Nashville, WWT Gateway).  However, I actually decided to create this new award category this week for a particular driver.  

Justin Haley - He finished in the Top 15, but what was MOST surprising for me - he earned the extra point for the fastest lap of the day.  I’m not sure where that came from, but he somehow bested SVG in this category and was rewarded with a bonus point, and a new award category in our article!

What to Watch for Next Weekend

LM: This week, we head to one of the constants of the NASCAR schedule, in Dover. It’s been on the calendar every year since 1969. The Monster Mile has unique banking combined with high speeds. What do you have your eye on?

AC: As we get closer and closer to the start of the playoffs, the cutline is getting tighter and tighter.  I think Dover is a fun track that presents its own set of challenges, and it could be ripe for the taking.  My gut says we see a veteran win, but any new winner and we’ll be breaking out the calculators once again to figure out the cut line.  Either way, it should be a great weekend!

LM: Let’s see if Dover proves to be a monster for someone’s playoff chances.