SVG on pole again, Crews in P2, and Zilisch starting near the back on a flat tire that had nothing to do with pace. The O'Reilly Sonoma practice and qualifying read — who's fast, who's trapped, and who's already digging out.
Intercepted Audio “ ” Shane van Gisbergen took the pole for the third straight year — the 500th series pole in Chevrolet history — but the most important number of the day belongs to the driver starting 30th. Connor Zilisch had the fastest race pace in practice by a mile, then buried a flat tire into the grid. Here’s the file on each.
Sonoma Raceway · Pit Boss/FoodMaxx 250 · June 2026 · By PitByNumbers Staff · 8 min read Qualifying did the sorting practice couldn’t, and it confirmed the obvious: SVG is the class of the field off the pole, on a track where the final two S’s — where everyone else bleeds time — are exactly where he makes it. Beating him outright means catching a mistake he rarely makes. Brent Crews and the Viking pair qualified close enough to matter, and Crews is the one name Shane flagged by car number.
But the bet that isn’t on the front of the grid is Connor Zilisch. He posted the fastest ten-lap average in practice by 1.6 mph — the best race pace in the building — and a flat right-rear, not a lack of speed, left him starting around 30th. He’s the defending Sonoma winner with more road wins than anyone active in the series.
His grid spot is a discount, not a verdict. Justin Allgaier (a top-two track for him), Ross Chastain (a series winner already this year) and Sam Mayer (best average start in the field here) are the other names whose starting position undersells them. The full O’Reilly card drops once the lines settle.
Watch the Odds Board and the road-course numbers , and check back before the green flag. SVG is the pole-sitter and the favorite, and two sessions did nothing to argue otherwise. Corey Day was fastest in practice; Crews and the Viking cars are the realistic threats to the win; and Zilisch is the buried star who had the best race pace on the property before a tire wrecked his lap.
Allgaier, Chastain and Mayer are grid-spot traps worth more than they start. Green is digging out of a crash, Perez out of a mechanical. The order on paper is set — the one that matters gets written on Saturday.