Chase Briscoe took responsibility for losing to Shane van Gisbergen on Sunday’s Toyota / Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway. The JGR driver claims he would’ve passed SVG if not for his costly mistake on the final laps.
For a second straight year, SVG had to fend off the No.19 driver at Wine Country. With lapped traffic impeding the New Zealander’s pace, Briscoe caught up to SVG on the final laps.
However, the JGR driver went wide over Turn 1 and lost ground with four laps remaining. By the final corner, Briscoe was almost at SVG’s bumper, but the road course ace edged him by 0.357 seconds.
In a post-race interview with Bob Pokcrass, Briscoe detailed his faulty chase.
“Three or four to go, getting into one, I just like mistime my downshifts and about spun out and went off the racetrack and I went from being within five car lengths to 20 back and was able obviously run him right back down and if I don’t make that mistake, I feel like I definitely pass him. I just messed up and you got to be perfect against him and I wasn’t perfect. So that one’s on me,” he said.
Chase Briscoe finished runner-up to Shane van Gisbergen on last year’s Sonoma race as well. Sunday marks van Gisbergen’s second Cup win this season, as he climbed two spots to re-enter the 16-driver Chase.
Meanwhile, SVG’s teammate Connor Zilisch finally reached his maiden top-10 in the Cup Series, finishing seventh after starting 17th.
Shane van Gisbergen commends Chase Briscoe’s charge
Shane van Gisbergen had a point to prove after last weekend’s San Diego race at Naval Base Coronado. The No.97 driver was caught up in a crash and missed out on a potential win.
This weekend, van Gisbergen had a near-perfect race with a 74-lap lead, but Briscoe made sure he worked for it.
“We had these (lapped cars) come out (of the pits) 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 (and) we would have had some problems,” SVG said in an interview via NASCAR’s official website.
Sonoma marks the final road course race this season. Shane van Gisbergen needed this win to revive his bid for the Chase.
He also beat the likes of Ryan Preece on the In-Season Challenge. The RFK Racing driver finished eighth and is now one spot behind SVG in the rankings.
The Trackhouse driver will face Ryan Blaney next weekend at Chicagoland Speedway. If his oval results are anything to go by, van Gisbergen has his work cut out for him the next few weeks.
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