Shane van Gisbergen’s victory at Sonoma was a master class in dominance, his third win of the season and fourth overall in the Cup Series. We celebrated in Victory Lane; the post-race chatter drifted toward controversy as questions arose over a maneuver involving Joe Gibbs Racing’s Chase Briscoe.
Van Gisbergen hinted that Briscoe might have jumped the restart during one of the late cautions in the final 10 laps, giving him an unfair advantage. And now, the incident has to be among fans and insiders. Briscoe got away with the borderline move and the heat of a tightly fought finish. NASCAR has made its judgment and mind, and SVG will not be too happy to hear it.
NASCAR officials find Chase Briscoe innocent
The victory has seen Shane van Gisbergen win for the fourth time in just 34 starts, becoming the quickest to win four races since Parnelli Jones won at Riverside in 1967 in his 31st Cup start. Moreover, the Kiwi reached a trio of milestones, winning his third straight road course race from pole position to equal Jeff Gordon’s feat from 1998 and 1999. Among all this glory, something didn’t sit right. In the final 11 laps, multiple cautions tightened the field, and SVG was quick to highlight the situation, reflecting on just how tense those restarts were.
Following the race, SVG acknowledged Briscoe’s talent but also directly questioned the legality of his restart. He went on to say, “Chase Briscoe, what a great racer and gave me respect. Jumped the last restart a little bit, and it was pretty intense but amazing.” And that was enough to get the media asking NASCAR officials about the verdict. Speaking on Haulker Talks, racing director, Mike Forde, made it clear that they saw nothing wrong. He went on to say, ” We felt that they went at the same time; we didn’t see it as the 19 jumping the restart. There obviously was no call, so we didn’t feel that there was anything egregious there. But we are on our toes — not just in Sonoma, but really on any restart. I mean, we have pretty clean, eagle eyes on.”
If a driver accelerates before reaching the designated restart zone or before the race leader does, it qualifies as jumping the restart. The restart zone is a marked section on the track where the leader is allowed to resume racing speed. It is a role designed to give the leader the advantage of dictating the pace and avoiding chaos during restart. A driver in second place or further back accelerating too early to gain an unfair advantage, is considered a violation.
Forde goes on to give an insight into how things work behind the scenes. He says, “We talk about the NASCAR production facility and Scott Miller, who we’ve talked about in the past — competition strategist, former Senior Vice President of Competition at NASCAR — that is one of the things he looks at to help us officiate the race with another set of eyes on those restarts. Obviously, Elton Sawyer, Brad Moran, Justin Hamilton, or Tim Berman — whoever the race director is — we’re all looking at that. And especially at the end of the race, we monitor every single restart.”
Typically, NASCAR can issue a pass-through penalty under green flag conditions or send the driver to the rear of the field if the infraction occurs under caution. However, not every close call leads to a penalty. Just like in Chase Briscoe’s case. In borderline cases like this one, NASCAR may rule no penalty if they feel both drivers accelerated simultaneously within the zone.
Forde concludes by saying, “But at the end of the race is obviously where you see a lot of the potential jumping-the-restart issues. That is where we are on high alert. And so that was one of them, and we felt that it was very, very close — but not something that warranted a penalty.” Luckily, this doesn’t affect SVG’s perfect scores on road courses. However, he has admitted to starting racing more aggressively.
SVG finally embraces oval tracks
SVG has been a force to reckon with in NASCAR’s recent road course races, but the upcoming event at Dover Motor Speedway presents a completely different challenge for the New Zealander. He referred to the upcoming race as a stone test, highlighting just how tricky this transition from road courses to a concrete oval can be.
After securing three wins on road courses this year, SVG finds himself heading into one of the most physically demanding ovals on the schedule. Dover is a unique concrete surface, and high-speed corners are a departure from the technical finesse of road racing. Ahead of the weekend, SVG sat down with Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the DJD podcast, where he offered insight into both his excitement and nerves surrounding the challenge.
When asked about his mindset going into Dover, the Trackhouse driver was candid in his response. He said, “Dover should be good. I struggled there last year. I remember all the Kaulig guys were battling for 20th. We’re all battling with our cars, but I had fun.” His honest recollection underlines how much of a learning curve Dover presents, even for accomplished racers, and how tightly packed the competition can be across the board.
Despite the difficulty, the No. 88 Driver had plenty of praise for the high-speed track. He goes on to say, “It’s just amazing how fast you can go into that corner. It feels like you’re dropping, and then all of a sudden, you’re just loading up in the banking. The load around that track and how much grip it has is mind-blowing.” With those words, he captured both the thrill and the terror that Dover presents, a place where one mistake can end a race but where mastering the rhythm brings unmatched satisfaction and results. And as NASCAR Cup garage heads there, all eyes will be on SVG to see if he can retain his streak, where he knows he’s not the best.
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