Van Gisbergen earns Michael Jordan comparison from – Sports News
Chase Briscoe likened Shane van Gisbergen to at least one of the best gamers in NBA historical past moments after falling short to the No. 88 Chevrolet driver at Sonoma Raceway.
The Toyota Save Mart 350 was rife with rigidity, that includes a close to bodily altercation between Ty Gibbs and Brad Keselowski’s pit crews, Noah Gragson expressing his displeasure with Kyle Larson, Daniel Suarez turning down Ross Chastain’s apology and Ryan Blaney’s blunt response to being run off the monitor by Chris Buescher.
Despite the varied on-track scuffles, van Gisbergen easily sailed to victory en path to tying Larson, Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell for essentially the most wins in 2025. Perhaps even more spectacular, he turned the primary driver since Jeff Gordon in 1998 and 1999 to win three-straight street course races from pole place.
Following van Gisbergen’s dominant efficiency — during which he led a whopping 97 of 110 laps — Briscoe in contrast competing in opposition to the 36-year-old on street programs to enjoying basketball with Michael Jordan on the peak of his profession.
“Really the only opportunity I had was on the restarts,” stated Briscoe, who settled for a P2 end in Sunday’s occasion. “I obviously never played basketball against Michael Jordan in his prime, but I feel like that’s what it was probably like. That guy’s just unbelievable on road courses. Just so good. He’s really raised the bar of this entire series. Proud of the effort. I thought there was one restart I was maybe gonna get clear of him, but I mean, truthfully, he was probably gonna pass me back by the end of the lap.
“We were second-place car all day and obviously ended up second with it. Man, 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 kind of run down Shane, he would just pick up the pace himself and start driving back away. So, yeah, it was frustrating at times, but I was honestly happy with the effort. This is by far my worst race track. So, kind of surprised myself, truthfully.”
On the heels of his journey down victory lane, van Gisbergen applauded Briscoe for placing up a robust battle within the last laps. “Yeah, it was pretty tough stuff, we had an amazing car,” he stated. “Chase Briscoe, what a great racer. He gave me respect and jumped the lights on a little bit. It was pretty tense, but amazing.
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“This is why we go racing. I had a great time. It’s awesome to have Red Bull on the car this weekend. Trackhouse Racing gave me a great Chevrolet again. What a great couple of weeks.
“Just to execute, make no mistakes, have great pit stops, great strategy and be able to hold them off there at the end — it’s incredible. Chase was driving really well. We had a lot of fun there. … On the last restart, I thought he jumped a little bit. I was just trying to do what I could to get in position in Turn 2. That last one, I had to give him a bit of rub, but that was it. I’m just over the moon.”
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