The Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway delivered high drama both on and off the track Sunday, as pit crews for Ty Gibbs and Brad Keselowski were involved in a heated altercation during green-flag pit stops on Lap 52.

The incident began when Gibbs, driving the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, entered his pit stall and clipped the adjacent stall occupied by Keselowski’s No. 6 RFK Racing Ford. In the process, Gibbs’ car reportedly struck a tire being carried by Telvin McClurkin, Keselowski’s front tire changer, twisting his wrist and slowing the stop.

Immediately after the stop, McClurkin approached Gibbs’ pit box to express his frustration. That confrontation quickly escalated into a shoving match between crew members from both teams before NASCAR officials intervened to break it up.

Crew Reactions:

• Jeremy Bullins, Keselowski’s crew chief, stepped in to defuse the situation, telling Gibbs’ jackman, “If we were in that pit box, I would expect him [Keselowski] to do the same [expletive] thing, so we’re good”.
• Ty Gibbs, when asked post-race, defended his actions: “It’s my right of way. They’re on the wall for a reason… that’s kind of the consequence you pay”.

NASCAR’s Verdict:

After reviewing the incident, NASCAR determined that Gibbs had done nothing wrong, citing his position as the lead car entering pit road and the tight spacing between stalls.

While the physical scuffle was brief and no serious injuries were reported, the confrontation underscored the intense pressure and razor-thin margins that define pit road during high-stakes races. With emotions running high and playoff implications looming, this flashpoint may not be the last between these two camps.

As the series heads to Dover Motor Speedway next weekend, all eyes will be on whether cooler heads prevail—or if this rivalry continues to simmer.

AO Racing’s Dane Cameron took the lead with 14 minutes to go when Inter Europol Competition’s Tom Dillmann had a mechanical failure and crashed in turn 3 Sunday (July 13). From there, he rode around under yellow to win the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Chevrolet Grand Prix along with PJ Hyett. It is the team’s first LMP2 victory in IMSA.

“Not really the way that we wanted to end the race,” Cameron told NBC Sports’ Matt Yocum in victory lane. “Honestly, I’m so proud of PJ. [His performance] was so phenomenal at the beginning. To lap half the class is incredible. We knew [winning] would be possible, but now we’re rolling.”

United Autosports’ Tom Blomqvist and Dan Goldburg ended up second, followed by TDS Racing’s Hunter McAlrea and Steven Thomas. They finished third on the road, but they were penalized due to an on-track incident and given a post-race drive-through penalty that dropped them to eighth.

TDS Racing’s penalty elevated Riley Motorsports’ Felipe Fraga and Gar Robinson to third overall. The second United Autosports ORECA 07 for Phil Fayer and Ben Hanley were fourth, while PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports’ Benjamin Pedersen and Rodrigo Sales were fifth.

AO Racing’s PJ Hyett started from the overall pole in “Spike.” While United Autosports’ Dan Goldburg had a slightly faster single lap, Hyett was able to pull out to a decent advantage early on.

Meanwhile, TDS Racing’s Steven Thomas, who started third, had an eventual start to his race. First, he spun exiting turn 9 while trying to pass Goldburg for second. Later on, he had contact with Wright Motorsports’ Elliott Skeer, nearly ripping the nose off of Skeer’s Porsche. He eventually had to make an unscheduled stop and dropped to 11th.

Following the first round of stops, there was trouble in Moss Corner. CrowdStrike Racing by APR’s George Kurtz ran in the back of Inception Racing’s Brendan Iribe, spinning both cars out. Pratt Miller Motorsports’ Chris Cumming and Riley Motorsports’ Gar Robinson were collected.

Everyone was able to continue, so the full course caution did not come out. However, both Kurtz and Cumming were forced to make unscheduled pit stops.

Hyett expanded his lead all the way up to 36 seconds when the race’s first full course caution came out 68 minutes into the race. Kurtz appeared to drop a wheel exiting turn 3. With the grass being wet after heavy rains earlier in the day, he lost control and went hard into the tires. Kurtz was able to get out of the car without assistance, but he was out on the spot.

During the caution, the LMP2 teams pitted to put their pros in the car. Cameron was able to turn in some of the fastest laps of the race after the restart in an attempt to get away from Blomqvist.

Behind Cameron, Dillmann was on the move. The defending race winner was able to get past Pedersen in lapped traffic, then made an aggressive move on Blomqvist at Moss Corner to take second. A lap later, Pedersen made a similar move on Blomqvist for third. McAlrea followed past into fourth.

No one could do the distance on fuel from the final restart. Dillmann was the first of the leaders to pit. Pedersen was next, but he was penalized for hitting one of his crewmembers, taking him out of the hunt.

Cameron was the last of the leaders to pit with 42 minutes to go, three laps after Dillmann. The stops were about equal, but Cameron got caught up behind slower traffic in those three laps. As a result, Dillmann beat Cameron out of the pits and took the lead.

Shortly afterwards, Forte Racing’s Mario Farnbacher slid off-course and hit the tires in turn 8 after contact from McAlrea to bring out the yellow. While Farnbacher was able to extricate himself from the tires and drive away, significant time was necessary to reset the tire barrier. McAlrea was given a drive-through penalty due to this contact, but was unable to serve it before the race ended, hence the post-race penalty.

The green came back out with 17 minutes to go. Dillmann had the lead and tried to drive away from Cameron, but trouble struck a couple of laps afterwards. The Inter Europol No. 43 appeared to suffer a mechanical failure that put him off the track and hard into the tires in turn 3.

Dillmann, who was going for back-to-back victories at CTMP, was able to get out of his car on his own, but ended up on the ground afterwards. He was eventually taken away on a stretcher, but gave the assembled fans a thumbs-up before he was loaded into the ambulance.

With the necessary barrier repairs taking up too much time, the remainder of the race ran behind the safety car. As a result, Cameron drove at a reduced pace to victory.

In GTD Pro, Paul Miller Racing’s Neil Verhagen started from pole in his BMW. He spent the first portion of the race slowly but surely driving off from Vasser Sullivan’s Aaron Telitz.

Verhagen led the race without issue until he stopped to hand over to Madison Snow. That resulted in a split pit strategy. AO Racing’s Klaus Bachler chose to stay out as long as possible.

The Kurtz crash occurred right after Bachler stopped for full service. As a result, everyone stopped under the yellow. Laurin Heinrich ended up in the class lead at the beginning of his time in the car.

Heinrich led until he made his final pit stop with 52 minutes to go. That gave the lead over to DragonSpeed’s Albert Costa.

Costa was on a fuel conservation strategy that would have likely forced him to stop with 10-15 minutes to go had the race gone green. However, the Farnbacher crash put the team in position to make their conservation strategy work. When Dillmann crashed, it locked in Costa and Giacomo Altoe into their first victory of the year.

Second went to Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports’ Nicky Catsburg and Tommy Milner. Bachler and Heinrich were third, followed by Antonio Garcia and Alexander Sims in the second Corvette. Pfaff Motorsports’ Andrea Caldarelli and Marco Mapelli were fifth in their Lamborghini.

Vasser Sullivan’s Jack Hawksworth started from the GTD pole in his Lexus. On the opening lap, he was able to open a small gap over Winward Racing’s Russell Ward.

The key to Hawksworth being able to hold off Ward was being able to put Altoe in between himself and Ward. With Altoe serving as a blocker, Hawksworth was able to pull out to a seven-second lead.

Further back, Wayne Taylor Racing’s Danny Formal and Triarsi Competizione’s Onofrio Triarsi collided and spun in turn 9. Both drivers were able to drive away. Triarsi was given a drive-through penalty for causing the incident.

The pit stops surrounding the first caution of the race created a split strategy. Wayne Taylor Racing’s Trent Hindman was trying to go the full run from the yellow to the finish, while others stopped shortly after the restart for a splash of fuel.

As a result, Hindman ended with a 23-second lead over Farnbacher with the rest of the class further back. That gave him the ability to conserve some fuel, but he wasn’t going to make it to the finish without help.

Then, Farnbacher crashed and brought out the yellow. While his 20+ second lead was gone, it opened up the possibility of making it to the finish. Dillmann’s crash after the restart allowed Hindman to stretch his fuel to finish, giving himself and Formal their first WeatherTech victory together as teammates.

Unfortunately, the aforementioned incident on the first lap knocked the drink hose loose. Hindman had to drive an un-air conditioned Lamborghini for two hours with no water and was wiped out afterwards.

Ward and Philip Ellis finished second and expanded their points lead. Hawksworth and Parker Thompson were third, then DXDT Racing’s Alec Udell and Robert Wickens. The Heart of Racing’s Roman De Angelis and Casper Stevenson were fifth.

WeatherTech teams will take the next three weeks off. Next up on the schedule is the IMSA SportsCar Weekend at Road America for all four classes. The race will air exclusively on Peacock Aug. 3 at 2 p.m. ET.

Phil Allaway has three primary roles at Frontstretch. He’s the manager of the site’s FREE e-mail newsletter that publishes Monday-Friday and occasionally on weekends. He keeps TV broadcasters honest with weekly editions of Couch Potato Tuesday and serves as the site’s Sports Car racing editor.

Outside of Frontstretch, Phil is the press officer for Lebanon Valley Speedway in West Lebanon, N.Y. He covers all the action on the high-banked dirt track from regular DIRTcar Modified racing to occasional visits from touring series such as the Super DIRTcar Series.

In the middle of the NASCAR Cup race at Sonoma, things were getting heated between drivers and even pit crew members.

Near the end of Stage 2, several drivers pitted early to gain track position ahead of the final stage. Ty Gibbs and Brad Keselowski were two of those drivers. Their pit stalls where right next to each other, and the tire carrier for Keselowski was already standing in the box as he prepared for the car to arrive.

Gibbs was ahead of Keselowski both on the track and in the pits, and as he approached his stall, he cut directly through the RFK Racing stall, getting extremely close to tire carrier, Telvin McClurkin.

McClurkin later told NASCAR on TNT that the tire in his hand got clipped by the car, twisting his wrist. However, he was able to carry on with his duties for the rest of the day.

Immediately after the incident, a furious McClurkin confronted crew members from the Joe Gibbs Racing team. Some words were exchanged, and it quickly escalated into some pushing and shoving between them.

RFK Racing later released video from their pit box, showing what happened to cause the scuffle. 

NASCAR reviewed the incident and felt there was no reason to penalize Gibbs as drivers are permitted to drive through (at most) three pit boxes when approaching their own, stating that the No. 54 did nothing wrong.

Gibbs went on to finish seventh while Keselowski ended the race in 11th.  “Going in, I have the right of way,” Gibbs told NASCAR on TNT, pointing out the orange lines in the pit stalls. “They’re on the wall for a reason. They jump for a reason. Those guys like to push it and that’s kind of the consequence you pay.”

Photos from Sonoma – Race

Shane van Gisbergen from Auckland, New Zealand, took the NASCAR Cup drivers to school for the 2nd week in a row, leading 97 of 110 laps to win the Cup race at Sonoma Raceway.

In a performance that echoed his road course mastery from seasons past, Shane van Gisbergen delivered yet another commanding victory, claiming his third NASCAR Cup Series win on the 2025 season. The Kiwi sensation survived multiple late-race cautions to showcase his unparalleled skill on the twisting 1.99-mile layout during Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350.

It was van Gisbergen’s third Cup win of 2025 beating Chase Briscoe by 0.754s after a late caution.

“Unreal guys, thank you,” van Gisbergen radioed his team after taking the checkered flag.

No one had anything for him and he only lost the lead during pit stop stops. Van Gisbergen is now tied with three other drivers for the most Cup Series wins in 2025.

After starting on pole, van Gisbergen was absolutely dominant.

Van Gisbergen was so good that he even won the second stage of the race despite a late pit stop. After pitting with just over two laps to go in the stage, van Gisbergen was second to Kyle Larson on the last lap and easily passed the Cup Series champion for the stage win. Larson hadn’t pitted during the stage. That’s how much faster van Gisbergen was.

With wins in Mexico City and at the Chicago street course last week, van Gisbergen is tied with Larson, Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell as NASCAR’s win leaders this season. Those three drivers are legitimate title contenders.

The win at Sonoma made him the first driver since Jeff Gordon in 1998 and 1999 to win three consecutive road course races from the pole.

Chase Elliott rallied to third after a late pit stop. Michael McDowell placed fourth. Christopher Bell completed the top five.

Shane van Gisbergen

How was the heart rate there on all those final cautions and restarts?

SHANE VAN GISBERGEN: Yeah, it was pretty tough stuff. We had an amazing car. Chase Briscoe, what a great racer and gave me respect. Jumped the last one a little bit and it was pretty tense, but amazing. So stoked for Red Bull, Trackhouse, Chevy. I believe we had a really fun weekend here, some great races, and I hope everyone enjoyed that.

Five weeks ago this race team didn’t have a win. As it sits now you’re the No. 3 seed in the playoffs.

SHANE VAN GISBERGEN: Hard to believe that, isn’t it. I just have to thank these guys. We built up all year, got better and better, and now we need to keep getting better on the ovals and start proving some people wrong.

You’ve won championships, 81 Supercar wins over your career. You’ve done everything you could down there. How do you put into words what the last two years have meant to you?

SHANE VAN GISBERGEN: It means everything. That’s why I race cars. I had an amazing time in Australia, and then to come here and the last couple weeks or years actually has been a dream come true. I’ve really enjoyed my time in NASCAR. Thanks, everyone, for making me feel so welcome. I hope I’m here for a long time to come.

Chase Briscoe

Take us through that last one, Chase, because that was the one that I think was the closest for you to make that move.

CHASE BRISCOE: Yeah, for sure. The only opportunity I had was on the restarts. I never played basketball against Michael Jordan in his prime, but I feel like that’s probably what it was like. That guy is unbelievable on road courses. He’s just so good. He’s really raised the bar on this entire series.

Proud of the effort. I thought there was one restart I was maybe going to get clear of him, but truthfully even if I cleared him, he was probably going to pass me back by the end of the lap. Yeah, proud of the effort. We were a second-place car all day and obviously ended up second with it.

Yeah, I honestly don’t know what more I need. I feel like my car is extremely good, and I feel like every time I would run down Shane he would just pick up the pace himself and start driving back away. It was frustrating at times, but I was honestly happy with the effort. This is by far my worst racetrack. Kind of surprised myself truthfully.

We thought you might be able to get by him on one of the restarts. One of the stories of the day was just kind of managing tires. We saw some guys go well at the beginning of a run and then fade a lot. What was your plan today? Were you aggressive at the beginning or did you try to take it easy so you had something at the end?

CHASE BRISCOE: Yeah, definitely were just trying to maintain — the first initial start of the race, I didn’t do a good job of maintaining. I fell back to fourth and cost myself too much time trying to save tires.

But yeah, I thought other than that I did a really good job of just trying to stay disciplined and manage my stuff, and I felt like it paid off. I was typically the second best car. I just never had anything for Shane. I felt like he still had more left in the tank as well. But yeah, it was fun. We were slipping and sliding around all over the place. It’s fun when you can do that in these types of race cars. It was a really fun day behind the wheel.

Yesterday after you qualified second you were right behind SVG and you said, I had more in the tank there. You felt like you could have been closer to him in qualifying. One of the things I’ve noticed, I know you’ve won on road courses in Xfinity, but in the Cup Series it seems like you’ve stepped in this 19 car you’ve had a ton of pace at these road courses. Have you been working on something behind the scenes for the road courses?

CHASE BRISCOE: Yeah, I think the car, honestly. I don’t really feel like I’m doing a whole lot different. Certainly going into this week I was saying how this is my worst racetrack.

I felt like the 19 team did a really good job of just trying to show me little things that Martin did that made him excel here, and I just tried to replicate that. But for the most part, honestly, it’s just been doing my typical deal. The car has so much more pace and balance. So it makes it really enjoyable.

Just so honored and thankful that I get to drive this 19 car with Bass Pro Shops on the hood. I cannot thank Johnny Morris, J.P. Morris, the entire Toyota family, Bass Pro Shops family, and obviously Joe Gibbs Racing for giving me this opportunity because I am certainly having the time of my life right now. It’s fun running week in and week out in the Cup Series and feeling like you have a shot to go win.

Sonoma Cup Race Results

The setup for a breakout season and career year continued Sunday at Sonoma Raceway for Chase Briscoe.

After starting second in the Toyota / Save Mart 350, Briscoe collected nine stage points across the opening two stages, led twice for two laps and collected a runner-up finish to Shane Van Gisbergen.

Briscoe, who posted his seventh Top-5 finish of the year, started side-by-side with SVG during late-race restarts, but couldn’t clear the No. 88 for the lead.

“I felt like every time I would get close, he would just start driving back away,” Briscoe said. “We were definitely the second-best car. I don’t really know what more I need – maybe a little bit a grip, but even if I had a little more grip, I don’t know if I’m going to be able to gain the speed that he had.”

Briscoe’s second-place effort moved the Joe Gibbs Racing driver to eighth in points, gaining one position. He is now the highest he has ranked in points at any point during a season — and at any point in his career after 20 Cup Series races during any of his prior seasons.

Before Sunday, Briscoe’s highest finish at the Northern California road course was a 13th-place finish in 2022.

“This is by far my worst race track, so to run second to him, it definitely means a lot, so proud of the day,” Briscoe said.

In terms of stats, Briscoe has already set personal bests in 2025 in the Top-5 finishes and poles (4) categories.

One more Top-10 finish will match the fifth-year driver’s best of 10 such finishes, set in 2022, and an additional victory will see Briscoe earn his first multi-victory season in the NASCAR Cup Series.

Dominic Aragon is currently the editor-in-chief for The Racing Experts.

From Grants, New Mexico, USA, Aragon started watching NASCAR in 2004 and has been covering the sport since 2009. Aragon is a 2012 graduate of Grants High School and a May 2016 graduate of the University of New Mexico with a B.A. in Mass Communications & Journalism. Aragon has worked in local and national media, as a musician, and an educator. He is co-author of the 2024 book “All of It: Daytona 500 Champion Tells the Rest of the Story” with racer Geoff Bodine.

Aragon, his wife Feliz, and son Christopher currently reside in Grants, New Mexico, USA.

You can reach Dominic at daragon@theracingexperts.net.