“I Thought We’re a Lost Cause!” Shane van Gisbergen Over the Moon After Sonoma Win Battling Chase Briscoe

Trackhouse Racing’s Shane van Gisbergen had one goal coming into the Sonoma weekend, redemption. He was beyond disappointed over the disastrous San Diego weekend and was desperate to get back to winning ways. The No:97 Chevy driver did exactly that, surviving an impressive run in the final laps from Chase Briscoe, in the No:19 Toyota Camry.

Unlike last weekend, there was a drop in confidence in the Trackhouse garage at Sonoma due to another disappointing qualifying and the rival cars, especially Toyota’s being faster. He didn’t have a good start and though car slowly gained pace, the Chevy was average. He was able to win the race over Briscoe and Ty Gibbs, who swept the stages, was the solid strategy from crew chief Stephen Doran.

I thought we were a lost cause. Yeah, the guys did a great job making setup changes, and as soon as the race started, I still felt average, but I saw other people had similar issues or worse. That gave me confidence. Yeah, Stephen made great calls all day. That group did an amazing job with the strategy and where I’d come out…

Shane van Gisbergen said after Sonoma race.

Talking about the challenge from Chase Briscoe, the Kiwi Shane van Gisbergen admitted that the No:17 TRD was really strong and might’ve outrun him if the race lasted a couple more laps. One major issue the race leader was facing in the last laps were back markers running ahead of them, as they were being too aggressive, creating problems.

The 19 [Briscoe] was coming. He was really, really good, and I ran out at the end…We had these shitboxes come out in front and they were wobbling all over the track and putting dust and I just kept struggling. Chase was just really, really good. Yeah, a couple more laps we would have had some problems.

Shane van Gisbergen asserted via motorsport.com.

The final lap fight between Chase Briscoe and Shane van Gisbergen was respectfully challenging

In the final laps, the JGR driver was looking to force a mistake from the Trackhouse driver. His Toyota was better in the breaking zone and the car was comparatively faster. The real difference maker though was the mistake-less racing from the Kiwi, which Briscoe couldn’t match.

I was pushing hard because I wanted to force him into a mistake. I kind of baited him into one in (Turn) 7 because he kind of missed it. Unfortunately, I just missed with him. I thought we were good under braking and I thought we had a better car than him but I didn’t do as good a job driving as he did.

Chase Briscoe said.

One thing that defined the duel between the two was the respectful racing, as of they were any other drivers in the mix, the fight would’ve been more aggressive. SVG highlighted this factor and asserted that Briscoe has always been respectful with him on the track.

I don’t think he’s that sort of driver but if there was a lap or two more and he would have been closer, I would have been in trouble. Then I would have had to start defending and probably deserved to get moved. I’m really thankful it wasn’t one or two laps longer, but he’s a guy I have a lot of respect for, and it seems to come back the other way too.

Shane van Gisbergen declared.

The race was won because of the clear skill advantage the three times Supercars champion had on the JGR driver. It would be interesting to see how everything is going to playout for the star driver in the coming races of the 2026 season.

Also Read: Natalie Decker Atlanta Race in Jeopardy as Sponsor Bails on Her