In a bit of a West coast swing of their own, the Xfinity Series is running their second road course race in two weeks when they travel to Sonoma Raceway for the Zip Buy, Now, Pay Later 250.

Since NASCAR was last at Sonoma, the course has been repaved and the drivers are going faster.  It is the first time in 23 years that the track has been repaved.

Thirty-nine teams brought cars to Sonoma for 38 starting spots including Cup Series driver Ty Gibbs,  61 year old Boris Said, and last week’s winner at Portland, Shane van Gisbergen.

For the first time outside of Daytona, the Xfinity Series gets a full 50 minute practice session on the track.

Josh Bilicki has to have his car towed back to the garage after a crash.

Sammy Smith noted a “weird feel” in the car and the crew is under the car trying to find the issue.

Sage Karam gets off the course but keeps it going and gets through the clay…without damage to the splitter.

Jeremy Clements gets off into the clay but gets it back on the course…along with a bunch of clay on the track.

Austin Hill also gets off the course but gets moving again.

Boris Said gets off into the grass and clay after hitting the wall; causing some significant damage to the car.

Leland Honeyman gets a little wide and runs  through the grass.

Riley Herbst spins out and has a close call with drivers coming up behind him.

Ryan Ellis reports that there is no grip in the car and gets off the course, tapping the wall.

Boris Said noted that in 38 years of racing he has never .  wrecked a car in practice and feels pretty embarrassed about it.

Not surprising, last week’s winner Shane van Gisbergen tops the speed chart as he continues to learn the tracks on the NASCAR circuit.

The drivers have been divided into two groups for qualifying and will have 15 minutes to make their best lap.  The top five from each group will move om for a second round.  The top 10 will have 10 minutes to make a qualifying run to set the pole.

 Shane van Gisbergen, Ty Gibbs, Austin Hill, John Hunter Nemechek, and Jesse Love will move on to round two of qualifying from Group A.

Sheldon Creed, Justin Allgaier, AJ Allmendinger, Sam Mayer, and Sammy Smith will be moving on to round two of qualifying from Group B.

Ty Gibbs was the first driver on the track in the top 10 and set a time of 75.049 seconds.

Shane van Gisbergen is the first driver to break the 75 second mark with a time of 74.677 seconds.  And earns his first pole in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

The starting lineup for the Zip Buy Now, Pay Later 250:
Shane van Gisbergen
Ty Gibbs
Austin Hill
AJ Allmendinger
Justin Allgaier
Jesse Love
John Hunter Nemechek
Sam Mayer
Sheldon Creed
Sammy Smith
Chandler Smith
Cole Custer
Parker Retzlaff
Parker Kligerman
Riley Herbst
Anthony Alfredo
Ed Jones
Ryan Sieg
Alex Labbe
Jeb Burton
Blaine Perkins
Austin Green
Jeremy Clementjs
Preston Pardus
Kyle Weatherman
Thomas Annunziata
Brandon Jones
Josh Williams
Leland Honeyman
Brad Perez
Josh Bilicki
Kyle Sieg
Brennan Poole
Ryan Ellis
Boris Said
Matt DiBenedetto
Hailie Deegan
Garrett Smithley

Sage Karam failed to make the race this week.

Joey Logano and Daniel Suarez are joining Adam Alexander in the FOX broadcast booth for the race.  This is the final broadcast in the Xfinity Series for FOX.  Next week NBC takes over the broadcasting and next season the Xfinity Series moves to the CW Network.

Stages one is just 20 laps, stage two is 25 laps  with stage three lasting 34 laps for a total of 79 laps around the near two mile road course race.

Shane van Gisbergen brings the field down for the green flag start of the race with Ty Gibbs alongside to begin race number 14 of the 2024 season.  Van Gisbergen gets out in front for the lead with Gibbs on his bumper.  It’s just the first lap but the drivers are already getting aggressive and in a battle for position.

Lap two, Shane van Gisbergen leads the race with Ty Gibbs in second; AJ Allmendinger, Austin Hill, and Jesse Love round out the top five.

Xfinity Series stage win leader Justin Allgaier is in sixth place.

Lap three, Shane van Gisbergen has a lead of over half a second on Ty Gibbs.

Lap five, Austin Hill passes AJ Allmendinger for third.

Jesse Love and AJ Allmendinger battle for fourth.

Lap nine, Riley Herbst is reporting a very loose condition in his car.

Shane van Gisbergen is reporting that the back of his car is loose; adding that the air pressure may be a bit low.

Lap 10, Shane van Gisbergen has a lead of over half a second on Ty Gibbs; Austin Hill, Jesse Love, and AJ Allmendinger rounds out the top five.

Lap 12, Shane van Gisbergen has led every lap so far with Ty Gibbs in second place.

Lap 15, Shane van Gisbergen holds a half second lead on Ty Gibbs; Jesse Love, AJ Allmendinger, and Sam Mayer round out the top five.

Sheldon Creed brings his car down pit road for an unscheduled pit stop with a possible tire issue.

The leaders are over nine seconds out in front of the remainder of the field.

Lap 17, leader Shane van Gisbergen and Ty Gibbs are over 10 seconds out in front of the remainder of the field..

Lap 18, some of the drivers are beginning to short pit the end of the stage for scheduled pit stops including Ty Gibbs.

Shane van Gisbergen wins stage one for his first stage win of the season.

The top 10 at the end of stage one:
Shane van Gisbergen
AJ Allmendinger
Austin Hill
Parker Kligerman
John Hunter Nemechek
Chandler Smith
Sammy Smith
Anthony Alfredo
Parker Retzlaff
Riley Herbst

Drivers come down pit road for service with Shane van Gisbergen winning the race off of pit road.  He noted that he loved the balance of the car, it just took too long to come in.

Van Gisbergen will restart the race in eighth place after seven cars stayed out on the track.

Riley Herbst and Kyle Sieg were caught speeding on pit road.

AJ Allmendinger had a slow stop after an air hose got caught on the splitter.

Several of the drivers are showing blisters on their tires.

Ty Gibbs brings the field down for the green flag start of stage two with Jesse Love alongside on lap 25.

Ty Gibbs gets out in front for the lead with Jesse Love in second; Sam Mayer, Sheldon Creed, and Justin Allgaier round out the otp five.

Shane van Gisbergen restarted the race in eighth and is already in the top five on lap 25.

Leland Honeyman gets off the track but the track stays green as Honeyman gets moving again.

Lap 26, ty Gibbs has a half second lead on Jesse Love; Sam Mayer, Shane van Gisbergen, and Sheldon Creed round out the top five.

Hailie Deegan is off the track.

Lap 27, ty Gibbs has pulled out to a lead of over half a second on Jesse Love.

Lap 30, Ty Gibbs has pulled out to a lead of a second on Jesse Love; Sam Mayer, Shane van Gisbergen, and Sheldon Creed round out the top five.

Cole Custer and Justin Allgaier battle for sixth.

Lap 31, Boris Said spins out and gets off the track after some contact form Alex Labbe, but the track stays green and Said gets moving again.  Said started the race from the back of the field in a backup car after an accident during practice on Friday.

Lap 33, Ty Gibbs has increased his lead to nearly a second and a half on Jesse Love; Sam Mayer, Shane van Gisbergen, and Sheldon Creed round out the top five.

Lap 37, Ty Gibbs has pulled out to a lead of over two and a half seconds on Jesse Love; Sam Mayer, Shane van Gisbergen, and Sheldon Creed round out the top five.

Jesse Love, Sam Mayer, and Shane van Gisbergen are in a tight battle for position.

Haillie Deegan has returned to the track and is seven laps down.  Leland Honeyman is the only other driver not on the lead lap at two laps down.

Lap 39, Sam Mayer and Shane van Gisbergen battle for third.

Lap 40, leader Ty Gibbs continues to increase his lead and is now over four seconds out in front.

Shane van Gisbergen passes Sam Mayer for third.

Lap 41, the top five are Ty Gibbs, Jesse Love, Shane van Gisbergen, Sam Mayer, and Sheldon Creed.

Lap 43, some of the drivers are coming down pit road to short pit the end of stage two including AJ Allmendinger.

Shane van Gisbergen begins to challenge Jesse Love for second.

Lap 44, Jesse Love and Shane van Gisbergen battle for second with van Gisbergen takes the spot.

Ty Gibbs wins stage two.

The top 10 at the end of stage two:
Ty Gibbs
Shane van Gisbergen
Jesse Love
Sheldon Creed
Cole Custer
Chandler Smith
John Hunter Nemechek
Parker Kligerman
Justin Allgaier
Sammy Smith

Sammy Smith is on pit road with a broken axle.

Drivers come down pit road for service with Cole Custer winning the race off of pit road with Shane van Gisbergen in second.

Jesse Love nearly missed his pit stall.

John Hunter Nenechek and Jeremy Clements were caught speeding on pit road.  Boris Said was charged with a safety violation and Riley Herbst was charged with pitting outside his pit stall.

Ty Gibbs had a slow stop with tire issues.

After staying out on the track, Austin Hill brings the field down for the green flag start of stage three with 30 laps remaining in the race.

Austin Hill has the lead but a big crash blocks up the field and brings out the caution flag.  It all began when Jeb Burton and Chandler Smith made contact.  Jesse Love, Thomas Annunziata, Brandon Jones, Josh Williams, Boris Said, Ty Gibbs, Ed Jones, Jeb Burton, Parker Retzlaff, Ryan Sieg, Preston Pardus, Chandler Smith, Kyle Weatherman, and Josh Bilicki were all involved.

Brandon Jones is out of the infield care center and fine.

Austin Hill is the race leader with AJ Allmendinger, Austin Green, Shane van Gisbergen, and Sam Mayer round out the top five.

Ty Gibbs has been checked and released from the infield care center.

Austin Hill brings the field down for the green flag restart with 24 laps remaining in the race with AJ Allmendinger alongside.  Hill edges out in front of Allmendinger with Shane van Gisbergen taking third.

Teammates AJ Allmendinger and Shane van Gisbergen battle for second with van Gisbergen taking the spot.  Cole Custer gets turned around on the track and has to wait for the traffic to clear.

Chandler Smith also gets turned around on the track.

With 23 laps to go, Austin Hill has a lead of less than half a second on Shane van Gisbergen.

With 21 laps to go, leader Austin hill has a half second lead on Shane van Gisbergen; AJ Allmendinger, Sam Mayer, and Parker Kligerman round out the top five.

With 20 to go, Shane van Gisbergen begins to challenge Austin Hill for the lead.

Eighteen laps to go, Austin Hill has held off Shane van Gisbergen and continues to lead the race by a second.

Shane van Gisbergen is reporting a possible voltage issue.

Just 16 laps to go, the top five are Austin Hill, Shane van Gisbergen, AJ Allmendinger, Sam Mayer, and Sheldon Creed.

Fifteen to go, Shane van Gisbergen puts pressure on leader Austin Hill.

Jesse Love spins out on the track before getting into the grass and brings out the caution flag with 14 laps remaining in the race.

Austin Hill brings the field down for the green flag restart with Shane van Gisbergen alongside with eleven laps remaining in the race.  Shane van Gisbergen gets past Austin Hill for the lead.  AJ Allmendinger spins out after some contact with Sheldon Creed.  The track stays green.

With 10 to go, John Hunter Nemechek gets wide but saves the car and the track stays green.

The top five are Shane van Gisbergen, Sam Mayer, Austin Green, Austin Hill, and Sheldon Creed.

Ryan Ellis spins out but gets the car moving again and the track stays green.

With seven laps to go, Shane van Gisbergen has a lead of over a second on Sam Mayer; Sheldon Creed, Austin Green, and Austin Hill round out the top five.

Five to go, Shane van Gisbergen has pulled out to a lead of over two seconds on Sam Mayer; Sheldon Creed, Austin Green, and Austin Hill round out the top five.

Three to go, Sheldon Creed passes Sam Mayer for second.

Ryan Sieg and Preston Pardus both get off the course in separate incidents but the track stays green.

Two to go; Shane van Gisbergen has a lead of over two and a half seconds on Sheldon Creed.

Shane van Gisbergen takes the white flag with a lead of over two seconds on Sheldon Creed.

Shane van Gisbergen wins his second race of the season in back to back road course races. He was doing a burnout on the track while he was passing cars on the track.

Van Gisbergen is drifting along the course!  And now the big burnout with an impressive smoke show on the front stretch. Shane played rugby as a child and now as a part of his celebration, he signs a rugby ball and kicks it into the crowd.

The unofficial results of the Zip Buy Now, Pay Later 250:
Shane van Gisbergen
Sheldon Creed
Sam Mayer
Austin Green
Austin Hill
Justin Allgaier
Chandler Smith
John Hunter Nemechek
Cole Custer
Parker Kligerman
Parker Retzlaff
Jesse Love
Riley Herbst
Brennan Poole
Ed Jones
Josh Bilicki
AJ Allmendinger
Blaine Perkins
Alex Labbe
Ryan Sieg
Matt DiBenedetto
Jeremy Clements
Kyle Sieg
Brad Perez
Preston Pardus
Ryan Ellis
Garrett Smithley
Boris Said
Leland Honeyman
Kyle Weatherman
Anthony Alfredo
Haillie Deegan
Sammy Smith
Thomas Annunziata
Ty Gibbs
Jeb Burton
Josh Williams
Brandon Jones