The Task Remains the Same at Sonoma: Beat SVG

SONOMA, Calif. — “You have to be perfect to beat Shane.”

Connor Zilisch’s words echoed throughout the NASCAR garage after last year’s Sonoma Raceway thriller, where the teenager held off Shane van Gisbergen in one of the season’s defining road-course battles. It wasn’t just that Zilisch won. It was that he did what few drivers have managed in recent years: execute nearly flawlessly against NASCAR’s benchmark on road courses.

Nearly twelve months later, van Gisbergen has put himself back in the same position.

The New Zealander claimed the Kennametal Pole Award for Saturday’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Pit Boss/FoodMaxx 250, turning a lap of 75.029 seconds (95.483 mph) in the No. 9 SuperFile Chevrolet for JR Motorsports. It marked his sixth career series pole, his first of the 2026 season and his third pole in three Sonoma starts.

“It’s a tricky track with the wind, the way the direction was today, especially into Turn 11,” van Gisbergen said. “It’s hard to pull the car up, but yeah, it’s always fun.”

The gusty conditions added another variable to an already technical circuit, though van Gisbergen said the consistency of the wind matters more than its strength.

“Especially today, how gusty it is, but it doesn’t really matter as long as it’s consistent,” he said. “Hopefully it’s the same direction tomorrow. If it’s no wind or changes, it’ll be a little different.”

While Friday’s pole put him in prime position for another Sonoma victory, van Gisbergen admitted last weekend’s disappointment in San Diego lingered longer than he expected.

After being collected in an incident while contending near the front, he said it took time to move on.

“It took me a couple days for sure,” he said. “Pretty pissed about that and a good opportunity going wasted. But the best thing about the sport is it either brings you back down to earth pretty quick or picks you back up. You can race again the next week and reset.”

By the time the series arrived in Wine Country, that reset had come.

“So yeah, I feel pretty reset today.”

The three-time Supercars champion also acknowledged the importance of building momentum as the season enters its final stretch.

“We really need a good weekend,” he said. “That hurt us on that cut line. I need to get some momentum going, and hopefully this weekend starts it.”

Starting up front has historically been an advantage at Sonoma, where passing can be difficult without a significant pace advantage.

“It’s hard to pass,” van Gisbergen said. “You have to be a lot quicker than someone or qualify up front.”

That reality is one reason he continues to race double duty on road-course weekends. Although the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series car differs significantly from the Cup car, van Gisbergen said the extra laps help him understand how the racing surface evolves throughout the weekend.

“You get more track time. You get to see what’s changed,” he said. “There’s always differences, and I really think it’s worth doing both.”

Asked whether NASCAR should return to last week’s inaugural San Diego street course, van Gisbergen was complimentary of the event while suggesting only minor refinements.

“For a first event, I thought it was fantastic,” he said. “There were a lot of passing zones for a street circuit, which is always tough to make happen.”

If the race unfolds anything like it did a week ago or even a year ago, van Gisbergen knows the pole guarantees nothing.

Last July, he led the field to green only to find himself locked in a race-long chess match with Zilisch, who studied the veteran’s tire management, matched his pace over a long green-flag run and ultimately delivered the kind of flawless performance he later described with a simple assessment:

“You have to be perfect to beat Shane.”

Saturday will reveal whether anyone can do it again.