By Arthur Justin

NASCAR Xfinity Series

Next Race: Pit Boss / FoodMaxx 250

The Place: Sonoma Raceway

Track Length: 1.99 Mile Road Course

The Date: Saturday, July 12

The Time: 4:30 p.m. ET

The Purse: $1,651,939

TV: CW, 4 p.m. ET

Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR (Channel 90)

Distance: 156.95 miles (79 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 20),

Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 45), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 79)

Saturday, July 12

NCS Practice & Busch Light Pole Qualifying (truTV, PRN, SiriusXM at 1 p.m. ET)

NXS Race: Pit Boss / FoodMaxx 250 (CW Network, PRN, SiriusXM at 4:30 p.m. ET)

Sunday, July 13

NCS Race: Toyota / Save Mart 350 (TNT, PRN, SiriusXM at 3:30 p.m. ET)

NCS Race: Toyota / Save Mart 350 – In Season Challenge Altcast (truTV, MRN, SiriusXM at 3:30 p.m. ET)

NASCAR Xfinity Series

Sonoma Storylines and Insights:

·       This weekend marks the third running of a NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Sonoma Raceway (2023-25).

·       Sonoma will be the fourth of seven road course races on the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule.

·       The last nine races of 2025 were won by nine different drivers, the record streak for most different winners is 13 (three times).

·       Kyle Larson (two) is the only repeat winner in the last 11 Xfinity Series races.

·       There are eight races left in the regular season and five Playoff spots remain open.

·       Taylor Gray and Harrison Burton are separated by eight points at the Playoff cut line.

·       The drivers from 10th-13th in Playoff standings are separated by just 30 points.

·       Sheldon Creed gained 30 points to the Playoff cut line at Chicago after losing 42 points in the previous two races.

·       Taylor Gray lost 20 points to the Playoff cut line at Chicago after gaining 60 points in the previous three races.

·       JR Motorsports won nine races this season with a series-record six different drivers, all six drivers won in the last nine races.

·       JR Motorsports is three wins away from 100, only three other teams won at least 100 NXS races (Joe Gibbs Racing-217, Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing-138, Richard Childress Racing-100).

·       JR Motorsports won all three road course races this season with three different drivers.

·       JR Motorsports won the last five road course races with four different drivers, the longest win streak by a team on road courses in NXS.

·       Chicago Street Course winner Shane van Gisbergen will be back in the JR Motorsports #9 for Sonoma. Shane van Gisbergen won both Chicago Street and Sonoma races in 2024 in the NXS.

·       Shane van Gisbergen’s fourth career NXS win is one behind Marcos Ambrose for most by a foreign-born driver, currently tied with Daniel Suarez and Ron Fellows.

·       Shane van Gisbergen became the second driver all-time to sweep Cup and Xfinity poles and races in one weekend – Kyle Busch at Indianapolis 2016.

·       Shane van Gisbergen’s seven career NASCAR wins all came on road courses.

·       Shane van Gisbergen’s 57% winning percentage on road courses is the best all-time in the NXS.

·       Sam Mayer and Shane van Gisbergen lead active drivers with four career road course wins each.

·       Connor Zilisch has six straight top-five finishes since returning from back injury.

·       Connor Zilisch finished top-five in all four career road course starts, including two wins.

·       Connor Zilisch won the pole for three of his four NXS road course starts.

·       Connor Zilisch’s average finish of 2.25 on road courses is second all-time to Terry Labonte.

·       Connor Zilisch and Austin Hill are the only two drivers to finish in the top-10 in all three road course races this season.

·       Shane van Gisbergen and Connor Zilisch combined have won six of the last eight road course races.

·       Shane van Gisbergen and Connor Zilisch combined have won the last seven poles on road courses.

·       Austin Hill finished in top-10 in four straight road course races, the longest active streak.

·       Five drivers finished in top-10 in both previous Sonoma races: Justin Allgaier, Austin Hill, Sam Mayer, Cole Custer and Parker Kligerman.

·       Greg Ives will serve as crew chief for Hendrick Motorsports #17 after Adam Wall was suspended for three races for main frame rail conical receiver violation at Pocono.

·       Twelve drivers on the entry list are making their first Xfinity Series start at Sonoma; four drivers have never raced at Sonoma in any series.

·       Chevrolet won the last eleven road course races with five different drivers.

·       Five drivers entered in the Xfinity Series race at Sonoma have won on road courses: Sam Mayer (4), Shane van Gisbergen (4), Justin Allgaier (3), Connor Zilisch (2) and Jeremy Clements (1).

·        Ryan Ellis is making his 150th NASCAR Xfinity Series start this weekend.

·       Kyle Sieg is making his 100th NASCAR Xfinity Series start this weekend.

·       Five crew chiefs got their first NXS win in 2025: Chad Haney at Atlanta, Sam McAulay at Darlington, Adam Wall at Bristol, Cory Shea at Mexico City & Dale Earnhardt Jr. at Pocono.

·       JR Motorsports #88 has won three races with three different driver/crew chief combos this season.

·       Justin Allgaier’s 28 career wins are ninth on the all-time wins list and one away from tying NASCAR Hall of Famer Matt Kenseth.

·       Justin Allgaier is seven top 10s away from 300 in his career, he would be the first driver with 300 top-10 finishes.

·       Justin Allgaier leads all drivers with 10 top-five finishes and 648 laps led in 2025.

·       Justin Allgaier’s 10 top-five finishes in 2025 are his most ever after 18 races in a season.

·       Justin Allgaier won the Fastest Lap Award five times this season, no other driver has more than two.

·       Sam Mayer is the only driver to finish top-15 in 15 of 18 races this season.

·       Five races this year ended with a last lap pass. Last season’s Sonoma Xfinity race had the final pass for the lead with 11 laps to go.

·       Six of the last eight races this season had a pass for the win in the final six laps.

·       Seven of the 18 races this season went to overtime.

·       Chevrolet led 2,294 of 3,014 laps this season.

·       Chevrolet won 16 of 18 races, the most all time by a manufacturer through 18 races in series history.

Crunch Time: Only Five Spots Remain In Playoffs

• It’s possible to get more than 12 series winners with eight races remaining in regular season.
• If there are more than 12 winners after 26 races, the winner with the fewest regular season points will miss the Playoffs.
• Taylor Gray and Harrison Burton are separated by 8 points at the Playoff cut line.
• Sheldon Creed in 10th to Harrison Burton in 13th are separated by 30 points.
• Sheldon Creed in 10th to Ryan Sieg in 14th are separated by 52 points, less than one race
• The three drivers behind Ryan Sieg are all rookies.

NASCAR & Sonoma, Etc.

Historical and Significant Events at Sonoma Raceway:

• The track known today as Sonoma Raceway, was opened as a 2.52-mile, multi-elevational paved road course and drag strip in 1968 located just outside of Sonoma, California.
• The Sonoma track also has a 1.99-mile configuration of the road course and that is what the NASCAR national series currently compete on.
• Considered the largest motorsports facility in Northern California.
• The Road Course features more than 160 ft. of elevation change from its highest point (Turn 3a, 174 ft.) to its lowest point (Turn 10, 14 ft.) – the largest of any track on the NASCAR circuit.
• Over the course of its existence, the facility has held a few different names – Sears Point Raceway, Sears Point International Raceway and Infineon Raceway prior to being renamed Sonoma Raceway.
• The first NASCAR Cup Series race at Sonoma Raceway was held on June 11, 1989 and was won by Ricky Rudd driving a Buick for car owner Kenny Bernstein. Rudd ran the race at an average speed of 76.088 mph. He led 61 of 74 scheduled laps.
• The first nine NASCAR Cup Series races at Sonoma Raceway were 300 kilometers and then switched to a 350k format in 1998.
• In Nov. 1996, O. Bruton Smith, the founder of Speedway Motorsports, purchased Sonoma Raceway, then “Sears Point Raceway” from owner “Skip” Berg.
• The track was reconfigured to 1.949-miles in 1998 with the installation of an 890-foot chute between the original Turns 4 and 7.
• The track was reconfigured to 2.0 miles in 2001 and re-measured at 1.99 miles in 2002.
• In 2019 and 2021, the track was reconfigured back to the original 2.52-mile configuration with races being 90 laps – 226.8 miles.
• Starting in 2022, Sonoma Raceway returned the track configuration back to the 1.99-mile configuration with the return of the ‘chute’.
• More than 10 million viewers in over 90 countries watch events televised from Sonoma each year.
• In 2011, in a partnership with Panasonic Corporation of North America, the raceway installed nearly 1,700 solar panels, which offset 41% of the raceway’s energy usage.
• Nearly 4,000 sheep that live on track property provide an invaluable service, helping to maintain the grass and fire lanes around the facility.
• Drivers who complete the Toyota/Save Mart 350 NASCAR Cup Series race on the Chute configuration will make a total of 1,100 turns around the road course. The race spans 110 laps.
• The property on which the raceway was built was a working farm called Sears Point farm in the early 1900s.
• The raceway houses a motorsports industrial park of more than 70 businesses in 104 shops.
• Sonoma Raceway and Humboldt Sawmill Company, the leader in environmentally-certified redwood decking, are pleased to bring shade and comfort to race fans with custom-built fan amenities including the “Real. Strong. Humboldt Sawmill Redwood Deck” above Turn 2.
• Mat Mladin (AMA), Josh Hayes (AMA), Doug Kalitta (NHRA – Top Fuel), John Force (NHRA – Funny Car), and Jeff Gordon (NASCAR) are the only riders/drivers to three-peat in a major racing series at Sonoma Raceway.
• Winners in Sonoma celebrate with a sip from the Champion’s Goblet in Victory Lane. The goblet, which is handcrafted by a Bay Area glass blower, was introduced in 2006 and incorporates the raceway’s rich wine country heritage.
• The raceway has collected more than 734 tons of recyclable material (1,469,341 pounds) since the inception of the recycling program in 2004.
• Twenty owl boxes placed around Sonoma Raceway encourage owls to nest and help with natural rodent mitigation.
• In total there have been 35 NASCAR Cup Series races at Sonoma Raceway since the inaugural race there in 1989 – one race per season, until the 2020 season due to the pandemic the series did not compete at Sonoma Raceway.

COURTESY NASCAR COMMUNICATIONS