After the P16 finish at Chicago, Chase Elliott rolled into Sonoma with yet another opportunity to turn things around. The No. 9 Driver had shown flashes of form lately, and even broke a 44-race winless streak at Atlanta, but he couldn’t quite string together the performance he was hoping for today. Sonoma seemed like a perfect venue; he’s been strong on the road course, and after qualifying 13th, there was cautious optimism in the Hendrick Motorsports camp.

Elliot fought his way through the field and climbed into the top three, running competitive lap times and pressuring the leaders. But a late-race strategy call to pit for fresh tires didn’t pay off. It was not a disaster by any means, but not quite the finish it could have been.

The gamble that snatched a win from Chase Elliott

Chase Elliott’s Sonoma run was a masterclass in grit, up to a point. Starting 13th, Elliot methodically picked his way through the field, cracking the top 10 before the halfway mark. By lap 93, he had torn past Michael McDowell for third and was within striking distance of the leaders. With his No. 9 NAPA Chevy showing real speed, things were lining up for a potential upset.

But then again, a pivotal moment on lap 97, under caution, Elliott was the first among the frontrunners to dive into the pits, hoping that fresh tires would give him that edge. The gamble, however, came at a cost: track position. He restarted 17th, while others like Shane van Gisbergen and Chase Briscoe stayed out. Despite the setback, Chase Elliott charged forward. He muscled his way past traffic, executing bold moves to climb back inside the top five. With each lap, he closed in on the leaders, SVG and Briscoe, but dirt kicked up near the top of the hill while battling Michael McDowell, and that cost him critical time.

In a post-race interview, Elliott explained what went down. He said, “It was dirt on the road, and then I got wide, and then I ran in the rest of the dirt. So, it happens up there, you know, at the top of the hill. People get right and it slings dirt left and then, you know, you can’t see super well over the hill. So, oh yeah. I hate that.” 

The minor off-track moment robbed him of momentum where it mattered most. The Hendrick Motorsports driver still managed to bring the car home in third, but the sting of what could have been was evident. He admitted, saying, “I was obviously pushing really hard. I didn’t feel like we were quite as good that run as we were the run before. Don’t know that it would have been enough, but maybe to get [Chase] Briscoe. I’m not sure about Shane [van Gisbergen].” 

Elliott added another strong finish with his recent fiery streak, securing third place on Sunday and notching his fourth top five in the last five races. His 20th consecutive top-20 finish tightened the points battle, bringing him within 14 markers of leader William Byron. Byron’s No. 24 Valvoline Chevy ran consistently inside the top 10 throughout the race, earning seven stage points before ultimately finishing eighth.

Crew chief Alan Gustafson made an aggressive call that gave them a shot at the win, and Elliott didn’t fault that move. He credited his team, saying, “But it was a great call. You know, Alan made a great call there to get us on offense and at least give us a shot, and overall, I thought our NAPA team did a good job. You know, I had a fast NAPA Chevy all day. Just need a little bit to those guys, but we were—we were right there in the mix and gave ourselves a chance.”  In the end, it was a race where Chase Elliott did nearly everything right, but one strategic dice roll and a dusty misstep kept him off the top step of the podium.

Chase Briscoe full of praise for sublime SVG

While Shane van Gisbergen may have taken the checkered flag, it was Chase Briscoe who quietly impressed with the composed and strategic drive to 2nd place at Sonoma. Reflecting on a chaotic final step, Briscoe said, “Yeah, first, glad we were able to just maintain and finish second. You still, at the end of these races, a lot can happen. I felt pretty confident that I was going to run second if the caution didn’t come out, and you just never know.” Amid a flurry of late yellows and frantic pit calls, Briscoe and his team made the critical decision to stay out. He adds, “Even kind of a split decision there if we should pit or not pit, and we stayed out. You know, that can go a lot of different ways.”

Chase Briscoe‘s goal was to position himself right behind SVG on the restart, knowing full well that even if he got to the lead, there was a slim chance that he could hold off the New Zealander. Briscoe focused on minimizing risk from challenges behind and clinging to second. Through the restart, the #19 shadowed SVG, hoping to match his face or force an error. He said, “Even if I got the lead, I mean, there was maybe a 10% chance that I would be able to hold on to it… I was able to stay tight enough to Shane that we would kind of drive away, and I could get in behind them. So yeah, it was a fun day. I wish I had more. That’s all I got.”

Despite coming up short, Briscoe walked away proud of the effort and completely swept away by SVG’s dominance, which he likened to an NBA icon. He said, “He did an incredible job. He’s an incredible racecar driver. So yeah, I am honestly proud of running second to that guy… I’ve obviously never played basketball against Michael Jordan before, but I feel like that is very similar to what it would be like.”

But the Joe Gibbs Racing driver’s praise of Shane ran deeper. He was very candid about trying to learn from the Kiwi. He praised SVG’s driving technique, especially on road courses, saying, “Yeah, I learned that he could still go a lot faster if he wanted to. There was one time I felt like I made a push… and he just drove right back away… He does the heel-toe method, and it’s just so foreign, right, for what we do. That’s why I think on the ovals, he kind of struggles a little bit more because of how he’s using his feet. But that’s what’s natural for us, right? And it’s just such an advantage on these road courses.”

Chase Briscoe was in the backdrop to SVG’s road course dominance, but with NASCAR moving back to oval races, the field can breathe a little easier as the road course demon will not be the one to catch at Dover next week.