As expected, Shane van Gisbergen won Saturday's NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series at Sonoma Raceway, giving him two wins in three starts this season. He also, of course, went on to win Sunday's Cup Series race at the track, giving him back-to-back victories in Wine Country at NASCAR's top level and three straight overall dating back to 2025.
Van Gisbergen drove the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, which is a part-time fifth car that the team run on occasion, in all three of his O'Reilly Series races this season. But beyond the Sonoma race, he has no plans to return to the series later this year, which stands to reason since there are no more road courses remaining on the schedule.
However, the No. 9 car is still set to be added on occasion, and one of those occasions is set to be this weekend's race at Chicagoland Speedway, which is set to be the series' first race at the track since 2019.
Shane van Gisbergen replacement confirmed for Chicagoland
Although he is now splitting time in the No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, which he drove full-time a year ago, with Connor Zilisch, who drove JR Motorsports' No. 88 car in 2025 but now competes full-time alongside van Gisbergen at Trackhouse Racing's Cup team, Carson Kvapil was able to retain his status as a full-time O'Reilly Series driver for 2026.
In races that Zilisch has been behind the wheel of the No. 1 Chevrolet, the team have added the No. 9 Chevrolet, and if somebody else, such as SVG, has been in the No. 9 car, Kvapil has driven the No. 91 Chevrolet for DGM Racing with Jesse Iwuji Motorsports.
With SVG out but Zilisch set to drive the No. 1 car for the ninth time this year at Chicagoland, Kvapil is set to be back behind the wheel of the No. 9 Chevrolet for the first time since mid-June's race at Pocono Raceway and for the fifth time this year overall.
Kvapil, who drove the No. 91 car to a sixth place finish at Sonoma, has switched cars a total of 14 times this year, and he's switched teams seven times. This weekend is set to mark 15 and eight, respectively, and it's set to mark his ninth consecutive race switching cars. He hasn't driven the same car in back-to-back events since driving the No. 1 car at both Kansas Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway in April.
Despite the constant game of musical race seats for Kvapil, who is still seeking his first career victory despite qualifying for the Championship 4 as a rookie in 2025, he finds himself well-positioned to qualify for the playoffs. He's sixth in the point standings, and he's crucially 132 points above the cut line, thanks to his 11 top 10 finishes, including six in a row leading into the Chicagoland race.
The CW Network is set to provide live coverage of the Cuervo 300 from Chicagoland Speedway beginning at 5:30 p.m. ET this Saturday, July 4. Begin a free trial of FuboTV now and don't miss it!
