Shane Van Gisbergen again pulling double duty this weekend and starts from the pole at Sonoma on Saturday.

Shane Van Gisbergen comes off a NASCAR Xfinity Series/NASCAR Cup Series double win last weekend in Chicago and looks to repeat the trick at Sonoma Raceway. His quest begins on Saturday in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Pit Boss/FoodMaxx 250 at the road course that opened in 1968. Van Gisbergen grabbed the pole position in qualifying on Friday afternoon as he looks for a second straight Xfinity victory at Sonoma. SVG moved up to the Cup Series full-time this season while still racing a part-time schedule on the second-tier circuit.

How to Watch Pit Boss/FoodMaxx 250 in NASCAR Xfinity Series Today:

Race Date: Saturday, July 12, 2025

Race Time: 4:30 p.m. ET

TV: The CW

Live stream the NASCAR Xfinity Series Pit Boss/Food Maxx 250 on Fubo: Start your free trial today!

Connor Zilisch will start outside Van Gisbergen on Saturday, with Sam Mayer and Jesse Love on the second row. William Sawalich and Sammy Smith start on Row 3 while Carson Kvapil, Brandon Jones, Sheldon Creed and defending series champion Justin Allgaier round out the top 10 in the field.

Allgaier and Austin Hill each have three wins this season and are among seven drivers provisionally qualified for the Round of 12 Playoffs that open in September. Love, Zilisch, Jones, Nick Sanchez and Smith are the other winners that have clinched spots. Mayer leads the non-winners in the field with 597 points this season and has an 86-point lead over Kvapil. Creed, Jeb Burton and Taylor Gray round out the top five non-winners, with Gray leading Harrison Burton by eight points and Ryan Sieg by 30 points for the 12th spot.

Van Gisbergen led 32 of the 79 laps in last year’s race at Sonoma to finish 1.323 seconds ahead of Creed. This is the third year the Xfinity Series has raced at the track, a 1.99-mile course with 12 turns that is broken down into stages of 20, 25 and 34 laps. Aric Almirola won the debut Xfinity Series race at Sonoma in 2023.

What Time Is The NASCAR Xfinity Series Pit Boss/FoodMaxx 250?

The Pit Boss/FoodMaxx 250 race takes place on Saturday, July 12, 2025, at 4:30 p.m. ET. Tune in and catch some great racing action.

What Channel Is The Pit Boss/FoodMaxx 250 Race On?

Looking to watch this race? Fans can tune into The CW to see the action. Make sure you subscribe to Fubo now to watch this race, as well as numerous other sports leagues.

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Shane van Gisbergen is one of just four drivers with multiple wins in the NASCAR Cup Series this year. He’s also just one more victory away from matching Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell for the most wins this year (three).

Well, SVG is off to a good start, earning pole position for the Cup race at Sonoma in his fourth consecutive pole across the Cup and Xfinity Series. Larson, who is considered to be one of the best drivers in the sport, praised SVG in a Saturday media availability before the qualifying session.

“You know, he’s so good, and it’s rare that you see somebody stand out and distance himself from the competition as much as he is,” said Larson. “He’s way, way, way better than us at the road course stuff. And he’s got his own technique, you can call it. Not his own because the rest of the world does it — right-foot braking, clutching and all that stuff.

“You can’t teach an old dog new tricks. Like, there’s zero chance I can learn how to do that. And even if I did, like there’s zero chance that I can have it be better than what I’m probably doing with left-foot braking. So yeah, he’s just so good.”

Figuring out ovals

Shane van Gisbergen, Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet

Photo by: Krista Jasso / Getty Images

Larson went on to note how van Gisbergen is showing steady improvement on ovals, adding, “He’s still new to the oval stuff, so he’s going to continue to get better at that. And, yeah, I mean, if he can figure out the ovals, he’s going to be dominant.”

Sonoma is one of the ‘legacy’ road courses on the schedule, which (along with Watkins Glen) have been part of the Cup Series calendar for decades. The field hopes to be closer to SVG than they were on the streets of Chicago or the inaugural event in Mexico City, but Larson believes “he’s still going to be the fastest” of all drivers at Sonoma.

“I would say the competition’s a little closer to him as we come to more normal road courses, like COTA and hopefully Sonoma,” said Larson. “Watkins Glen — he was still the fastest there last year, but it’s a race. In Mexico, he was super good. And then, yeah, Chicago, I think he’s just really, really, really familiar with the size of his car and what it takes to push the limits and not be over the limit. So, yeah, I don’t know. We’ll see. I hope that we’re much closer to him this week, but as good as he is, I expect him to be fastest in qualifying and execute in a good race again.”

While SVG starts from pole position for Sunday’s race, a full 0.250s clear of Chase Briscoe on the front row, Kyle Larson qualified 11th on the grid.

Photos from Sonoma – Practice & Qualifying

Pato O’Ward becomes the fourth different driver to win a race in the 2025 NTT IndyCar Season as Team Penske seems to turn the 2025 season around with a 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place finishes at Iowa Speedway.

Pato O’Ward gets First Win for Chevy and McLaren in 2025 as Penske Rebounds in Iowa

The first of a doubleheader weekend at Iowa Speedway saw Pato O’Ward capitalize on some late race cautions. His victory, in his 100th start, earned Chevrolet and McLaren their first victories of 2025. However, the big headline was that Penske has seemingly returned to its old form, finishing 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. Josef Newgarden led the Penske trio, followed by Will Power, and a remarkable comeback for Scott McLaughlin, who started in the rear after a wreck in qualifying.

This is O’Ward’s eighth IndyCar Series victory, again his first of 2025. More importantly, this win helps him battle the two Chip Ganassi Hondas of Dixon, in second, and Palou, in first.

Wrecks Early on Dictate Strategy:

The Synk 275 at Iowa Speedway seemed to be another stinker during the opening 100 laps. Passing came in the back of the field as Josef Newgarden would lead 232 laps during the race. He held the lead even after both Jacob Abel on lap 73 and Kyle Kirkwood on lap 153 had day-ending incidents.

It has been an awful year for Josef Newgarden and his Penske teammates. With the issues at Indianapolis with tech inspection, and just a loss of pace since then. It was a return to form for the six-time Iowa Speedway winner. Unfortunately, a mistake on a late pitstop would hand the lead over to his ‘rival’ in Pato O’Ward.

Read More: Kyle Kirkwood Conquers The Night In St. Louis

Late Red and Yellow Flags Set Up Run to the Checkered:

Pato O’Ward secured the lead thanks to the slow pit stop from the No. 2 Chevy team. But it was almost thrown away due to his teammate, Nolan Siegel. Siegel would get loose in turn 4 and lose control of the car, turning the car around and slapping the outside wall. The race would be red-flagged due to repairs being necessary to the SAFER barrier.

When the race finally went back green, it was the #90 Chevrolet from Prema, Callum Ilott, meeting the wall. This incident was cleaned up in just three laps, leaving 10 laps to race to the checkered flag. While it was a great rebound day for Newgarden, he had nothing for O’Ward and the No. 5 car.

PATO O’WINNER pic.twitter.com/ixoLyfU0jF

— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) July 12, 2025

Championship leader Alex Palou would finish fifth behind the Chevys. Christian Rasmussen continues his strong run on ovals with a 6th-place finish. Daly and Ferrucci would keep it clean and finish seventh and eighth. Armstrong and Dixon would round out the top ten, finishing ninth and tenth.

Read More: Scott Dixon Secures His 59th IndyCar Career Win at Mid-Ohio

Pato Moves Up To Challenge Palou for 2025 Title:

With this win, Pato O’Ward moves past Kyle Kirkwood for second place in the championship standings. Palou, coming into Iowa, had a 113-point lead over second place in the championship, but now heads into the second race of the doubleheader with only a 105-point lead. While Palou got his first oval win at the Indianapolis 500, I don’t think his short oval abilities are there just yet.

It will be interesting to see how big the points gap between the championship contenders will be following tomorrow’s Farm To Finish 275.

Read More: IndyCar Doubleheader at Iowa Preview: Schedule, Predictions and How to Watch

Stay connected with Last Word On Motorsports for all the updates from Iowa Speedway’s IndyCar Doubleheader.

Main Photo: Andrew Skillman, Penske Entertainment

Recording Date: 7/12/2025

A week ago, Connor Zilisch was left shaking his head in disappointment as he lost out in a late-race duel with Shane van Gisbergen in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at the Chicago Street Course. Fast forward to Saturday’s Pit Boss/FoodMaxx 250 at Sonoma Raceway, and it was Zilisch who was on the winning end of a phenomenal late-race battle with Van Gisbergen.

Race Results: NASCAR Xfinity Series Pit Boss/FoodMaxx 250 at Sonoma

“Yeah, man. First, hats off to Shane. That was awesome,” Zilisch said after the race. “All race long, I felt like we were racing each other with respect. I wheel-hopped a little bit going into [Turn] 7 that one time and got into him, but other than that, it was awesome to get to race against him, finally and battle with him the whole race long.”

The 18-year-old driver held off Van Gisbergen, who started from the pole, over the final 29-lap green flag run of the race to score the win. There were several close calls, including some slight contact between the two drivers throughout the race, but in the end, both were able to bring their JR Motorsports Chevrolets home in one piece for a 1-2 finish.

Zilisch gained the lead and advantage over Van Gisbergen during the final pit sequence of the race just before the end of Stage 2. That allowed the young phenom to control the race in the final Stage, which allowed him to play defense in the closing laps. Zilisch credited his race team for putting him in a position to succeed down the stretch.

“So proud of this Roto-Rooters Chevrolet No. 88 team. We did such an awesome job all weekend long, just executing. And our car was as fast as Xfinity Mobile from the moment we got here, and we made all the right adjustments, and here we are in victory lane. It feels good,” Zilisch explained.

While he missed out on the win, Van Gisbergen was all smiles after the thrilling battle with his JR Motorsports and Trackhouse Racing teammate Zilisch. He knows he could have been more aggressive and likely won, but he didn’t want to take the win like that.

“Yeah, but I didn’t want to be. Congrats to those guys, what an awesome race,” Van Gisbergen said. “I hope everyone enjoyed that. Yeah, I gave him a bump into [Turn] 7, wheel-hopped, and probably could have taken it, but I just waited. I didn’t want to do it like that. And then we just raced down the hill. But what an awesome race. Thank you to QuadLock, Chevy, and JR Motorsports. I had a blast all day, really, really fun.”

William Sawalich, who has had a rough rookie season behind the wheel of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota GR Supra, claimed an impressive third-place finish behind the 1-2 of Zilisch and SVG. After a win in Friday’s ARCA Menards Series West event at Sonoma, it was a very successful weekend for the 18-year-old.

“It was a great weekend for us, everybody at Joe Gibbs Racing who was on my team,” Sawalich said. “So, I can’t thank the ARCA guys enough, yesterday, and the Xfinity guys today. They put together a good Sound Gear Toyota GR Supra that was as fast as Xfinity Mobile. Just a great, great day to be honest.”

Nick Sanchez came home in the fourth position, which meant that three of the top-four finishers in the race were NASCAR Xfinity Series Rookie of the Year contenders.

Riley Herbst, Justin Allgaier, Taylor Gray, Carson Kvapil, Sammy Smith, and Sheldon Creed rounded out the top-10 finishers in the race.

For Gray, who came into the day on the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs cutline, the rally to finish seventh was important. The driver of the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota initially qualified in the 11th position on Friday, but a blown engine during his qualifying run led to the driver dropping to the rear of the field prior to the green flag in Saturday’s race.

With the rally to a seventh-place finish, Gray leapfrogged Jeb Burton, who finished 20th, in the championship standings. Gray sits 11th in the 12-driver Playoff Grid, and is six points above Burton, who is the final driver inside the cutline, and he is 22 points above Harrison Burton, who is the first driver outside the cutline.

Defending Series champion Justin Allgaier finished sixth, and in doing so held onto his regular-season point lead, which now sits at 59 points over Sam Mayer.

Next up for the NASCAR Xfinity Series is the BetRivers 200 at Dover Motor Speedway, which is scheduled for Saturday, July 19 at 4:30 PM ET. That race will be televised on The CW, while the Performance Radio Network (PRN) and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will provide the radio broadcast.

In a dramatic showdown that kept fans on the edge of their seats, Connor Zilisch emerged victorious in the Pit Boss/FoodMaxx 250 at Sonoma Raceway, claiming his third NASCAR Xfinity Series win of the season and the fourth of his career.

Zilisch, driving the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, held off teammate and road-course ace Shane van Gisbergen in a tense final-lap battle. The two traded the lead multiple times throughout the 79-lap race, combining to lead 70 of the 79 laps. Van Gisbergen, who had bested Zilisch just a week earlier in Chicago, made several aggressive moves in the closing laps, but Zilisch defended with precision, especially through the final hairpin turn.

Race Highlights:

• Margin of Victory: 0.438 seconds
• Average Speed: 81.181 mph
• Lead Changes: 9 among 4 drivers
• Caution Flags: 2 for 7 laps

Zilisch’s win also marked JR Motorsports’ 10th victory of the season and its fourth 1-2 finish, reinforcing the team’s dominance on road courses. Impressively, all five JRM cars finished in the top 10.

Top Finishers:

1. Connor Zilisch (JR Motorsports)
2. Shane van Gisbergen (JR Motorsports)
3. William Sawalich (Joe Gibbs Racing) – career-best finish
4. Nick Sanchez (Big Machine Racing)
5. Riley Herbst (Joe Gibbs Racing)

With this win, Zilisch is fourth in the championship standings, continuing a breakout rookie season that has fans buzzing.

Next up, the Xfinity Series heads east to Dover Motor Speedway on July 19.