NASCAR Cup Series Newsletter — Sunday, June 28, 2026

🏁 Samwise NASCAR Cup Series Newsletter

Sunday, June 28, 2026

Next Race: FireKeepers Casino 400 at Chicagoland Speedway — July 5, 2026
■ Race-Day Preview Edition — Toyota/Save Mart 350
Road Course

Ty Gibbs Edges Hocevar by 0.025 Seconds to Capture Sonoma Pole

Ty Gibbs earned his first road course pole and third career Busch Light Pole Award Saturday at Sonoma Raceway, clocking a lap of 74.829 seconds (95.738 mph) to edge Carson Hocevar by just 0.025 seconds in qualifying for Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350. The margin separated the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota driver from Spire Motorsports’ Hocevar, who set a lap of 95.706 mph. Two-time Sonoma winner Kyle Larson qualified third at 95.686 mph, with Michael McDowell fourth and Ross Chastain fifth. Shane van Gisbergen, the defending Sonoma champion, will start sixth in Sunday’s race after topping the opening group in Saturday practice.

Sources: NASCAR.com  Racer.com  Motorsport.com  Jayski.com   ✉︎ Email 💬 Text

Championship

NASCAR’s $1 Million In-Season Challenge Bracket Kicks Off at Sonoma

NASCAR’s 2026 In-Season Challenge, a 32-driver single-elimination bracket tournament offering a $1 million prize, opens its first round Sunday at Sonoma Raceway. Seeded by championship points, all eligible Cup drivers compete in head-to-head matchups across the race—the higher finisher in each pairing advances to Round 2. Ty Gibbs, last year’s defending champion, earned the top seed with Saturday’s pole. The five-race series spans Sonoma, Chicagoland Speedway, EchoPark Speedway, North Wilkesboro Speedway, and Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where the champion will collect the seven-figure check. NASCAR also offers fans a $1 million bracket challenge for correctly predicting every matchup outcome.

Sources: NASCAR.com   ✉︎ Email 💬 Text

Playoffs

Seven Drivers Separated by 26 Points as NASCAR Chase Bubble Heats Up

The NASCAR Cup Series playoff picture could not be tighter entering Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma, with drivers in positions 14 through 20 separated by just 26 points with eight regular-season races remaining after today. Erik Jones has been the bubble’s most notable riser, climbing from 21st to 14th over the previous four races, sitting at 372 points. Ryan Preece holds the 16th and final Chase transfer position with 367 points—just five ahead of Shane van Gisbergen’s 362 in 17th. Austin Cindric occupies 15th with 370 points, placing three drivers within five points of each other around the cutline.

Sources: NASCAR.com   ✉︎ Email 💬 Text

Driver News

AJ Allmendinger Joins Rare Company with 500th Cup Start at Home State Track

AJ Allmendinger makes his 500th NASCAR Cup Series start Sunday at Sonoma Raceway, becoming the 48th driver in series history to reach the milestone in his home state of California. The Kaulig Racing driver launched his Cup career at Bristol Motor Speedway on March 25, 2007, and has since accumulated three victories, 23 top-five finishes, 90 top-10s, and five pole awards. All three of Allmendinger’s Cup wins have come on road courses. Sonoma, however, has been the one road course to deny him: Allmendinger enters Sunday 0-for-14 at the track with no top-five finishes across his appearances there despite his established road course pedigree.

Sources: NASCAR.com   ✉︎ Email 💬 Text

Technical

NASCAR Tightens Sonoma’s Turn 11 with New Permanent Barriers

NASCAR has installed new permanent barriers in Turn 11 at Sonoma Raceway ahead of Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350, tightening the defined track limits at the corner. Senior managing director Brad Moran explained the modification in a video published Saturday, describing it as designed to remove ambiguity around the outer boundary of the sweeping right-hander during racing. Turn 11 sits near the end of the 1.99-mile California road course and has historically offered drivers some flexibility on exit. The barriers eliminate that gray area and are expected to standardize how officials enforce the boundary, reducing the need for post-race steward decisions on track limits violations.

Sources: NASCAR.com   ✉︎ Email 💬 Text

Road Course

Blaney Leads Sonoma Practice at 94.6 mph Then Qualifies 33rd

Ryan Blaney posted the fastest time in NASCAR Cup Series practice Saturday at Sonoma Raceway, turning a lap of 75.808 seconds (94.619 mph) around the 1.99-mile California road course. Blaney’s practice pace did not translate to qualifying, however: the No. 12 Team Penske Ford driver qualified 33rd and will face a difficult path through traffic in Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350. Shane van Gisbergen led the opening practice group before Blaney took the overall fastest time in group two. Blaney sits third in the championship standings with 583 points, over 130 behind points leader Tyler Reddick, and needs a strong points day to stay in contention.

Sources: NASCAR.com  Jayski.com   ✉︎ Email 💬 Text

PlayoffsRoad Course

Van Gisbergen Chases Playoff Lifeline at Sonoma After San Diego Crash

Shane van Gisbergen enters Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 carrying championship urgency after a crash at Naval Base Coronado last week dropped him three positions in the standings to 17th, leaving him five points outside the Chase cutline. The Trackhouse Racing driver had been running competitively at San Diego when the crash ended his race early. Van Gisbergen dominated Sonoma in his 2025 Cup debut there—leading 97 of 110 laps before winning the race—and arrives as one of the primary pre-race favorites despite starting sixth. A victory Sunday would push him back inside the playoff field, making the Kiwi road course specialist the driver with the most to gain.

Sources: NASCAR.com  NASCAR.com (SVG preview)   ✉︎ Email 💬 Text

Championship

Suárez’s Stunning 2026 Revival Has Him 8th in Points, 111 Above Cutline

Daniel Suárez has quietly assembled one of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series’ more compelling stories, climbing from 29th in the standings at this point last season to eighth heading into Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma. The Spire Motorsports Chevrolet driver, born in Monterrey, Mexico, secured a crown-jewel victory at the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte earlier this campaign, earning the wins bonus that has fortified his playoff position. Suárez enters the Sonoma weekend with 478 points—111 above the Chase cutline—a stark reversal from the team’s positioning in previous seasons and a testament to Spire’s steady growth as a Cup organization.

Sources: NASCAR.com   ✉︎ Email 💬 Text

🏁 Driver Standings (entering Race 18 — Sonoma)

PosDriverCarPts
1Tyler ReddickToyota716
2Denny HamlinToyota708
3Ryan BlaneyFord583
4Kyle LarsonChevrolet536
5Ty GibbsToyota535
6Chase ElliottChevrolet534
7Chris BuescherFord500
8Daniel SuárezChevrolet478
9Carson HocevarChevrolet476
10Chase BriscoeToyota431
11Bubba WallaceToyota429
12Christopher BellToyota422
13William ByronChevrolet421
14Erik JonesChevrolet372
15Austin CindricFord370
16Ryan PreeceFord367
17S. van GisbergenChevrolet362 (5 out)

🌟 Manufacturer Standings (approximate order, Race 18)

PosManufacturerNotes
1ToyotaLeads (pts unconfirmed at publication)
2Chevrolet2nd (pts unconfirmed at publication)
3Ford3rd (pts unconfirmed at publication)

ⓘ Driver standings via Motorsport.com (June 22, 2026). Manufacturer points unavailable from verified sources at publication time.