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Editor’s note: A version of this story previously ran on Nov. 17. It has been updated ahead of Tulane’s game against USC in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic.

NEW ORLEANS — Tulane coach Willie Fritz pleaded ignorance during a signing day news conference last month. Someone cherry-pick his guys? How could they? He pointed out to a group of reporters that none of his guys were officially in the transfer portal — and therefore were off-limits.

“Certainly,” he said, “no one would break a rule and indirectly contact any of our guys.”

Fritz smirked. Because he knew the truth. There had been rampant speculation for weeks that his quarterback, Michael Pratt, was drawing interest from high-level FBS programs. And why not? He’d scored 35 touchdowns that season (25 passing, 10 rushing). Pratt was so tired of being asked about his future that he made an announcement he was returning. Then center Sincere Haynesworth joined him in saying he was coming back, too. The NFL, he decided, could wait.

Not to read into Fritz’s smirk too much, but reconsider the above paragraph in the context of the floundering program he inherited five years ago. To have his two offensive captains — one rebuffing interest from Power 5 programs and one turning down a head start on a pro career — was a sign of just how far Tulane has come.

Fritz himself had emerged as something of a hot commodity as a finalist for the head job at Georgia Tech. But he stayed put. Fritz confirmed that he had a contract extension on the table. And yes, he said, he would be signing it soon.

“We’re excited about the future of our program and we want to continue this momentum right now,” he said.

The 62-year-old coach knows football and knows how to turn around struggling programs. After all, he has won at nearly every level: junior college, Division II, FCS and FBS. This season, he has pulled off the rare rebuild within a rebuild. After taking over a struggling Tulane program in 2016, he led the Green Wave to three consecutive bowl games before a two-win season in 2021 in which the team was displaced by Hurricane Ida. Now they’ve bounced back again, reaching 11 wins for the first time since 1998 after claiming their first American Athletic Conference championship.

And despite the two wins in 2021, there was no mass exodus. And when they hit a bump in the road this year, losing to UCF in maybe the biggest game in program history in November, they got right back up, won out and beat UCF in the rematch for the conference title.

On Monday, Tulane will play USC in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic (1 p.m. ET, ESPN). It’s the first time the Green Wave will appear in a current New Year’s Six Game since 1940 — back when they were still charter members of the SEC and reached the Sugar Bowl.

It’s a culmination of all the program has accomplished since Fritz arrived.


DURING A TWO-HOUR November practice, Fritz carried a microphone with him, occasionally barking out orders or quick words of encouragement. He seemed to be everywhere all at once, bouncing from station to station and even wandering off into the end zone in order to get a specific point of view. Eighty-one times he whispered notes into a digital recorder — a habit he picked up from former Kansas State coach Bill Snyder.

Even now, in the middle of his 30th season as a head coach and his seventh at Tulane, Fritz sees room for improvement everywhere he looks. Take a receiver drill he watched in practice that day. Each player ran a route, caught a pass from receivers coach John McMenamin and then meandered back to the station to repeat the drill. Fritz didn’t like the optics of players walking — it drives him nuts — and besides, the extra steps were a waste of energy. So after transcribing his notes, Fritz went to McMenamin and told him the plan moving forward: Instead of the receivers coming back to him to repeat the drill, he’d run to them and they’d go in the opposite direction.

Hours spent at practice and in conversation with the coaching staff revealed no secret sauce for Tulane’s turnaround — only the little things, stacked on top of one another to form a solid foundation.

It’s not sexy, but Troy Dannen wasn’t looking for that when he became Tulane’s athletic director in 2015. If he wanted to make a splash and win the news conference with his new football coach, he would have hired someone younger, someone from the South or someone with Power 5 experience. But speaking to all those potential someones during the coaching search, Dannen said, “They almost didn’t know what to do” with such a challenging job.

Dannen needed someone who wouldn’t be turned off by what he described as an administrative “laissez-faire attitude” toward wins and losses. He needed someone who wouldn’t get “tied up in knots” by the high academic standards, either. To put chrome alongside all those old sterling silver trophies on campus, he needed a proven winner, no matter what that looked like.

One of Dannen’s first calls was to Chicago-based agent Bryan Harlan, who asked what kind of coach he was in the market for. Dannen’s mind went to someone he’d seen a few times during trips to Sam Houston State as part of the FCS championship committee. That coach seemed to have it figured out and treated people with respect. Plus, his résumé was impeccable. Sam Houston had gone 25-28 in the five seasons before he arrived, and he ended up going to two championship games. Before that, he’d taken over a Central Missouri team that had won four games in each of its previous two seasons, and he ended up winning an MIAA national title. And before that, he’d taken over a Blinn College team that had gone 5-24-1 in its previous three seasons, and he ended up winning two junior college national championships.

Dannen told Harlan, “I’m looking for a Willie Fritz type.”

Funny thing, Harland said, they signed the former Sam Houston coach a few months earlier. Fritz was in his second year at Georgia Southern at the time, having led the program to nine wins in each of its first two seasons competing at the FBS level.

Dannen was impressed when he interviewed Fritz after a National Football Foundation gathering in New York City in December. And rather than risk him getting cold feet during the flight home, Dannen hashed out contract terms that same night.

“I go back to when Brian Kelly got hired at LSU and everybody saying it was a cultural mismatch,” Dannen said a few days after Kelly and the Tigers upset Alabama. “LSU is going to dominate because Brian Kelly — the same thing — he’s won every place he’s gone. He’s been at places that maybe weren’t as resource-starved [as Fritz], but he’s never been in a place that didn’t have a cap. He doesn’t have a cap anymore. And those guys can go anywhere and coach anywhere because they know kids, they know systems, they know players and they’ve seen things happen. That’s what Willie is.”

Fritz didn’t mind that Tulane had only one winning season and a 46-110 record in the 12 years before he arrived. He’d gotten used to a good old-fashioned rebuild by then. In fact, he couldn’t understand why coaches took jobs with everything already at their disposal: impressive facilities, a massive support staff, a tradition of winning.

“I’m not quite sure what the challenge is, to be honest with you,” he said. “I’d probably be worried I’d screw it up.

“But I enjoy the challenge. It’s different every time.”

Fritz and his staff have leaned into their New Orleans location. They held official visits in the French Quarter and performed second lines through the streets with recruits and their families. They ate like kings and listened to Zydeco music.

Signing players from the most talent-rich football state in the country, the roster steadily improved. So did the quality of play. They won four games that first season and five the next. In each of the three subsequent seasons, they won six regular-season games apiece and won two of three bowl games.

So when the dip finally came last season, it didn’t set off panicked alarms.

“You can have all the talent in the world, but the situation sometimes overrules talent,” Dannen said. “And situation overruled talent a year ago.”


LAST SEASON WOULD have broken a lot of teams. Riding high after reaching three straight bowl games, Hurricane Ida struck in late August and threatened to take the wheels off the Willie Fritz Mardi Gras float.

The Category 4 storm made landfall in Louisiana a week before the season opener, and the team was forced to evacuate to Birmingham, Alabama, where it stayed for nearly a month. The Green Wave bussed to practice at Legion Field when the weather cooperated. Once, they drove an hour to the University of Alabama to use their indoor facility because it had rained. Other days, when they couldn’t find a dry field to play on, they skipped practice entirely.

And then there was everything in between football that they had to contend with. Imagine being stuck in a hotel and away from home for that long — during the height of COVID. The on-site restaurant was closed and options were limited.

“We were giving them $50 a day to call Uber Eats and order Subway,” Dannen said. “I mean, they were eating like s—. But that’s all you can do.”

When the team finally did return to New Orleans, it wasn’t back to normal. The city was still recovering. Some players’ homes had been destroyed and they had to find temporary accommodations.

Playing one of the toughest schedules in the Group of 5 — including nonconference games at No. 2 Oklahoma and No. 17 Ole Miss, and conference games against No. 21 SMU and No. 2 Cincinnati — it’s no wonder they struggled to win games.

“Most places don’t let a coach survive last year,” Dannen said.

But Tulane, for better or worse, has a healthy perspective when it comes to losing records. Dannen considered all the variables at play. While there needed to be some changes among the assistant coaches on staff, he believed the team had held together under Fritz. He was impressed how players didn’t complain about the adverse circumstances, how they kept competing and even improved down the stretch. During the final four games, they beat South Florida and lost to UCF, Tulsa and Memphis by an average of 5.3 points.

Once the season ended, players didn’t rush to the exits. The only consistent starter they lost to the transfer portal was defensive tackle Jeffery Johnson, who had already graduated. And not just that, Fritz and his staff went out and signed a handful of former Power 5 players, including Lawrence Keys from Notre Dame and Patrick Jenkins from TCU (both are from New Orleans).

Bouncing back wasn’t easy. But it was a whole heck of a lot easier than fixing what they walked into five years earlier. Offensive coordinator Jim Svoboda said players only needed to be reminded that they were capable. “All the ingredients were already there,” he said, referencing a core group of veterans that included Pratt, running back Tyjae Spears and cornerback Jadon Canady.

Beating UMass and Alcorn State by a combined score of 94-10 to open the season was just the confidence boost they needed. Then they went on the road to Kansas State and beat the eventual Big 12 champions in front of a sellout crowd. It was Fritz’s first Power 5 win. Being from Kansas City and having gone to college only a few hours away, he said, “It was special.”

Dannen was in the locker room for the postgame celebration.

“I’ve had tears in my eyes three times since I got here, and that was one of them,” he said. “It was a really cool experience.”

The landmark victory could be spun as vindication — for hiring Fritz and for overcoming the aberration of last season. But Dannen looked at it another way: “Affirmation of what we can be.”

If Tulane stays the course, Dannen has no doubt the school will build a statue for Fritz in front of Yulman Stadium one day. The only question is whether some other athletic director will try to lure Fritz away before then, hoping to have him rebuild yet another struggling program.

Dannen said they’re committed to keeping Fritz happy financially. But when you’ve mowed fields and painted lines yourself as a coach in the lower levels of college football, Dannen is convinced that money won’t be the determining factor.

Might competitiveness? Sure. Dannen said he’s thought about it and realizes there’s “only one link left in the chain” for Fritz.

“If you can name somebody who’s gone from a national championship coach at juco level, to Division II, to FCS, to FBS, to Group of 5 to Power 5, I don’t know who’s on that list,” he said.

But if it’s access to the playoff that’s driving Fritz, Dannen said there’s an argument for staying put and waiting for the format to expand to 12 teams in 2024, finally opening up a path to Group of 5 squads.

Fritz, for his part, doesn’t want to talk about any of that. He said he gets annoyed at coaches who are in one job and thinking about another. And frankly, it’s hard to imagine how he made the climb up from juco to FBS without taking things one step at a time.

He could’ve gotten mad when the team’s November flight to Tulsa was delayed by four hours and they didn’t get to their hotel until 9:30 p.m. But was he really going to complain about air travel when he used to take the bus? There was a time, not that long ago, when he used diesel fuel to mark the lines on the field because paint was too expensive.

A year ago, they lived in a hotel. So, yeah, they can handle just about anything.

If they find a way to beat the Trojans — college football royalty, a blue blood in the truest sense of the term — imagine how big Fritz’s smile will be.

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Shocks at No. 1 — and No. 2?! Winners, losers and takeaways from MLB draft Day 1

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Shocks at No. 1 -- and No. 2?! Winners, losers and takeaways from MLB draft Day 1

The first day of the 2025 MLB draft is complete! The Washington Nationals selected Eli Willits with the No. 1 pick, opting for the prep shortstop — who might be more likely to sign below slot — in a draft with no clear-cut top prospect. And there were plenty of other intriguing selections as the first three rounds unfolded Sunday night.

The Seattle Mariners had to have been thrilled to have Kiley McDaniel’s No. 1-ranked prospect, Kade Anderson, fall to them at No. 3, and Ethan Holliday was selected at No. 4 by his famous father’s former squad the Colorado Rockies.

We asked ESPN baseball insiders Alden Gonzalez, Jesse Rogers and David Schoenfield to break down their favorite and most head-scratching moves of the draft’s first night, as well as to predict which players will bring the most to their new teams in the long term.


A lot of us were thrown for a loop by the first two selections. What do you make of the Nationals taking Ethan Willits at No. 1 and the Angels picking Tyler Bremner at No. 2?

Gonzalez: I was stunned on both accounts. Though there was definitely some uncertainty around the Nationals’ approach, especially since the firing of GM Mike Rizzo, I didn’t see anybody, anywhere, projecting Willits to be their choice at No. 1 overall. But the Angels drafting Bremner was an even bigger risk. Kiley had him 18th in his latest ranking. Six pitchers were ranked ahead of him. But Bremner might be someone who can rise and impact their major league roster quickly, and the Angels are always looking for that.

Rogers: The first two picks really summed up the uncertainty of the entire draft. The Nationals’ faith in a 17-year-old will be tested over the coming years, but the pick will likely save them some money for later in this draft and give Willits time to grow. The same can be said of many of the top picks: They’re going to need time. There are far fewer sure things this year — though Bremner could be the exception. The Angles love to graduate their players quickly, and as a college arm, he could see the majors sooner rather than later. Like Willits, this could also be a cost-saving move for later spending.

Schoenfield: In a draft that not only lacked a sure-thing No. 1 overall pick but was viewed as weaker at the top than those of recent years, it’s perhaps not a huge surprise that the Nationals and Angels used their picks to strike likely underslot deals with Willits and Bremner, giving them money to spend later in the draft — which they can use on high school prospects who might have slipped, trying to buy them out from going to college. It’s a strategy teams have used with success over the years, so the drafts for the Nationals and Angels will have to be viewed in their totality and not just focused on these two players.


What was your favorite pick of the night — and which one had you scratching your head?

Gonzalez: The Rockies have done a lot of things wrong over these last few … uh, decades. But it was really cool to see them take Ethan Holliday at No. 4 after his father, Matt, starred in Colorado for so long. Outside of the top two picks, Ethan Conrad going 17th to the Cubs was my biggest surprise of the night. Kiley had him ranked 30th; others had him falling out of the first round entirely. There’s uncertainty coming off shoulder surgery. But Conrad, 21, put up a 1.238 OPS in 97 plate appearances before his season ended prematurely in March. And the dearth of college bats probably influenced a slight reach here.

Rogers: I’m loving Billy Carlson to the White Sox at No. 10. Though they lost 121 games last season, Chicago couldn’t pick higher than this spot per CBA rules — but the Sox might have gotten a top-five player. Carlson’s defense will play extremely well behind a sneaky good and young pitching staff that should keep the ball on the ground in the long term. Meanwhile, with the pick of the litter when it came to hitters — college outfielders and high school kids as well — the Pirates took a high school pitcher at No. 6. Seth Hernandez could be great, but they need hitting. A lot of it.

Schoenfield: The Mariners reportedly wanted LSU left-hander Kade Anderson all along, but they certainly couldn’t have been expecting to get him with the third pick. (Keep in mind that the Mariners were lucky in the first place to land the third pick in the lottery, so they added some good fortune on top of good luck.) They get the most polished college pitcher in the draft, one who should move quickly — and perhaps make it a little easier for Jerry Dipoto to dip into his farm system and upgrade the big league roster at the trade deadline. Even though I understand why the Angels did it, Bremner still seems a little questionable. With the second pick, you want to go for a home run, and the consensus is that Holliday or even Anderson is more likely to be a more impactful major leaguer. Bremner’s lack of a third plus pitch is an issue, and you have to wonder if the Angels are relying too much on his control — which, yes, should allow him to get to the majors — and ignoring the possible lack of upside.


Who is the one player you’d like to plant your flag on as the biggest steal of this draft?

Gonzalez: Seth Hernandez, who went sixth to the Pirates and should someday share a rotation with Paul Skenes and Jared Jones. High school pitchers are incredibly risky, especially when taken so early in the draft. But Hernandez is a great athlete who already throws hard, boasts a plus changeup and showed improvement with his breaking ball this spring. He’ll go the Hunter Greene route, from standout high school pitcher to major league ace.

Rogers: Jamie Arnold will look like a steal at No. 11, especially when he debuts in the majors well before many of the players taken around him. I’m not worried about the innings drop in 2025 — not when he was striking out 119 hitters and walking just 27. The A’s need to polish him up but will be pleased by how consistent he’ll be. You can’t go wrong with a college lefty from an ACC school — at least, the A’s didn’t.

Schoenfield: I’m going with Billy Carlson with the 10th pick — with the admitted caveat that the White Sox haven’t exactly been stellar at developing hitters. But Carlson looks like an elite defensive shortstop with plus power, and that alone can make him a valuable major leaguer. If the hit tool comes along, we’re looking at a potential star. OK, he’s Bobby Witt Jr. lite? That’s still an All-Star player.


What’s your biggest takeaway from Day 1 of this draft?

Gonzalez: The Nationals throwing a wrench into the proceedings by selecting Willits. It was a surprising choice, but in their minds an easy one. Interim general manager Mike DeBartolo called Willits the best hitter and best fielder available. And in a draft devoid of can’t-miss, high-impact talent, Willits is no doubt a solid pick — a polished hitter who should stick at shortstop and might consistently hit 20 homers and steal 20 bases at a premium position. He also might come under slot, allowing flexibility later in the draft. But his selection is what allowed Anderson to reach the Mariners at No. 3 and prompted the Rockies to draft Holliday at No. 4, among other dominoes. It set a really interesting tone.

Rogers: Things change quickly in baseball. Whereas college hitters are usually the safest bets early in the draft, this year high school position players dominated. (And they all play shortstop, at least for now.) Athleticism has returned to baseball, and draft rooms are acting accordingly.

Schoenfield: I’m agreeing with Jesse. The selection of that many prep shortstops stood out — and they all seem to hit left-handed and run well, and some of them have big power potential and a cannon for an arm. Look, the hit tool is the most important and the hardest to scout and project, so not all these kids are going to make it, but their potential is exciting and, to Jesse’s point, their wide range of tools is showing that baseball is still drawing top athletes to the sport.

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2025 MLB Home Run Derby: The field is set! Who is the slugger to beat?

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2025 MLB Home Run Derby: The field is set! Who is the slugger to beat?

The 2025 MLB All-Star Home Run Derby is fast approaching — and the field is set.

Braves hometown hero Ronald Acuna Jr. became the first player to commit to the event, which will be held at Truist Park in Atlanta on July 14 (8 p.m. ET on ESPN). He was followed by MLB home run leader Cal Raleigh of the Seattle Mariners, James Wood of the Washington Nationals, Byron Buxton of the Minnesota Twins, Oneil Cruz of the Pittsburgh Pirates, Junior Caminero of the Tampa Bay Rays, Brent Rooker of the Athletics and Jazz Chisholm Jr. of the New York Yankees.

On Friday, however, Acuna was replaced by teammate Matt Olson.

With all the entrants announced, let’s break down their chances at taking home this year’s Derby prize.

Full All-Star Game coverage: How to watch, schedule, rosters, more


2025 home runs: 17 | Longest: 434 feet

Why he could win: Olson is a late replacement for Acuna as the home team’s representative at this year’s Derby. Apart from being the Braves’ first baseman, however, Olson also was born in Atlanta and grew up a Braves fan, giving him some extra motivation. The left-handed slugger led the majors in home runs in 2023 — his 54 round-trippers that season also set a franchise record — and he remains among the best in the game when it comes to exit velo and hard-hit rate.

Why he might not: The home-field advantage can also be a detriment if a player gets too hyped up in the first round. See Julio Rodriguez in Seattle in 2023, when he had a monster first round, with 41 home runs, but then tired out in the second round.


2025 home runs: 36 | Longest: 440 feet

Why he could win: It’s the season of Cal! The Mariners’ catcher is having one of the greatest slugging first halves in MLB history, as he’s been crushing mistakes all season . His easy raw power might be tailor-made for the Derby — he ranks in the 87th percentile in average exit velocity and delivers the ball, on average, at the optimal home run launch angle of 23 degrees. His calm demeanor might also be perfect for the contest as he won’t get too amped up.

Why he might not: He’s a catcher — and one who has carried a heavy workload, playing in all but one game this season. This contest is as much about stamina as anything, and whether Raleigh can carry his power through three rounds would be a concern. No catcher has ever won the Derby, with only Ivan Rodriguez back in 2005 even reaching the finals.


2025 home runs: 24 | Longest: 451 feet

Why he could win: He’s big, he’s strong, he’s young, he’s awesome, he might or might not be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. This is the perfect opportunity for Wood to show his talent on the national stage, and he wouldn’t be the first young player to star in the Derby. He ranks in the 97th percentile in average exit velocity and 99th percentile in hard-hit rate, so he can still muscle the ball out in BP even if he slightly mishits it. His long arms might be viewed as a detriment, but remember the similarly tall Aaron Judge won in 2017.

Why he might not: His natural swing isn’t a pure uppercut — he has a pretty low average launch angle of just 6.2 degrees — so we’ll see how that plays in a rapid-fire session. In real games, his power is primarily to the opposite field, but in a Home Run Derby you can get more cheapies pulling the ball down the line.


2025 home runs: 20 | Longest: 479 feet

Why he could win: Buxton’s raw power remains as impressive as nearly any hitter in the game. He crushed a 479-foot home run earlier this season and has four others of at least 425 feet. Indeed, his “no doubter” percentage — home runs that would be out of all 30 parks based on distance — is 75%, the highest in the majors among players with more than a dozen home runs. His bat speed ranks in the 89th percentile. In other words, two tools that could translate to a BP lightning show.

Why he might not: Buxton is 31 and the Home Run Derby feels a little more like a younger man’s competition. Teoscar Hernandez did win last year at age 31, but before that, the last winner older than 29 was David Ortiz in 2010, and that was under much different rules than are used now.


2025 home runs: 16 | Longest: 463 feet

Why he could win: If you drew up a short list of players everyone wants to see in the Home Run Derby, Cruz would be near the top. He has the hardest-hit ball of the 2025 season, and the hardest ever tracked by Statcast, a 432-foot missile of a home run with an exit velocity of 122.9 mph. He also crushed a 463-foot home run in Anaheim that soared way beyond the trees in center field. With his elite bat speed — 100th percentile — Cruz has the ability to awe the crowd with a potentially all-time performance.

Why he might not: Like all first-time contestants, can he stay within himself and not get too caught up in the moment? He has a long swing, which will result in some huge blasts, but might not be the most efficient for a contest like this one, where the more swings a hitter can get in before the clock expires, the better.


2025 home runs: 23 | Longest: 425 feet

Why he could win: Although Caminero was one of the most hyped prospects entering 2024, everyone kind of forgot about him heading into this season since he didn’t immediately rip apart the majors as a rookie. In his first full season, however, he has showed off his big-time raw power — giving him a chance to become just the third player to reach 40 home runs in his age-21 season. He has perhaps the quickest bat in the majors, ranking in the 100th percentile in bat speed, and his top exit velocity ranks in the top 15. That could translate to a barrage of home runs.

Why he might not: In game action, Caminero does hit the ball on the ground quite often — in fact, he’s on pace to break Jim Rice’s record for double plays grounded into in a season. If he gets out of rhythm, that could lead to a lot of low line drives during the Derby instead of fly balls that clear the fences.


2025 home runs: 19 | Longest: 440 feet

Why he could win: The Athletics slugger has been one of the top power hitters in the majors for three seasons now and is on his way to a third straight 30-homer season. Rooker has plus bat speed and raw power, but his biggest strength is an optimal average launch angle (19 degrees in 2024, 15 degrees this season) that translates to home runs in game action. That natural swing could be picture perfect for the Home Run Derby. He also wasn’t shy about saying he wanted to participate — and maybe that bodes well for his chances.

Why he might not: Rooker might not have quite the same raw power as some of the other competitors, as he has just one home run longer than 425 feet in 2025. But that’s a little nitpicky, as 11 of his home runs have still gone 400-plus feet. He competed in the college home run derby in Omaha while at Mississippi State in 2016 and finished fourth.


2025 home runs: 17 | Longest: 442 feet

Why he could win: Chisholm might not be the most obvious name to participate, given his career high of 24 home runs, but he has belted 17 already in 2025 in his first 61 games after missing some time with an injury. He ranks among the MLB leaders in a couple of home run-related categories, ranking in the 96th percentile in expected slugging percentage and 98th percentile in barrel rate. His raw power might not match that of the other participants, but he’s a dead-pull hitter who has increased his launch angle this season, which might translate well to the Derby, even if he won’t be the guy hitting the longest home runs.

Why he might not: Most of the guys who have won this have been big, powerful sluggers. Chisholm is listed at 5-foot-11, 184 pounds, and you have to go back to Miguel Tejada in 2004 to find the last player under 6 foot to win.

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Van Gisbergen takes Sonoma to extend win streak

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Van Gisbergen takes Sonoma to extend win streak

SONOMA, Calif. — Shane van Gisbergen extended his winning streak to two straight and three victories in the past five weeks with yet another dominating run on a road course.

The New Zealander once again showed he’s in a completely different class on road and street courses than his rivals as he led 97 of 110 laps Sunday to win from pole at Sonoma Raceway. All three of his wins this year have been from pole — which tied him with Jeff Gordon for a NASCAR record of three consecutive road course victories from the top starting spot.

Gordon did it between the 1998 and 1999 seasons.

Victory No. 4 for van Gisbergen — who stunned NASCAR in 2023 when he popped into the debut Chicago street course race from Australian V8 Supercars and won — seemed a given before teams even arrived at the picturesque course in California wine country. His rivals have lamented that “SVG” has a unique braking technique he mastered Down Under that none of them — all oval specialists — can ever learn.

That win in Chicago two years ago led van Gisbergen to move to the United States for a career change driving stock cars for Trackhouse Racing. He and Ross Chastain have pumped energy into the team over this summer stretch with Chastain kicking it off with a Memorial Day weekend victory at the Coca-Cola 600.

Van Gisbergen is the fastest driver to win four Cup Series races — in his 34th start — since Parnelli Jones in 1969.

“It means everything. That’s why I race cars. I had an amazing time in Australia, and then to come here and the last couple weeks, or years, actually, has been a dream come true,” said van Gisbergen. “I’ve really enjoyed my time in NASCAR. Thanks, everyone, for making me feel so welcome. I hope I’m here for a long time to come.”

The Sonoma win made it four victories for Trackhouse in eight weeks. Van Gisbergen was second from pole in Saturday’s Xfinity Series race.

Although he dominated again Sunday, van Gisbergen pitted from the lead with 27 laps remaining and then had to drive his way back to the front. He got it with a pass of Michael McDowell with 19 laps remaining, but two late cautions made van Gisbergen win restarts to close out the victory in his Chevrolet.

Chase Briscoe was second in a Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing.

“I’ve never played against Michael Jordan, but I imagine this was very similar,” Briscoe said after not being able to pass van Gisbergen on the two late restarts — the last with five laps remaining. “That guy is unbelievable on road courses. He’s just so good. He’s really raised the bar on this entire series.”

Briscoe was followed by Chase Elliott in a Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. McDowell in a Chevy for Spire Motorsports was fourth and Christopher Bell in a Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing was fifth.

In-season challenge

The midseason tournament that pays $1 million to the winner is down to four drivers.

Alex Bowman finished 25th and eliminated Ty Dillon, who finished 26th. Tyler Reddick (11th) knocked out Ryan Preece (16th), John Hunter Nemechek knocked out teammate Erik Jones as they finished 21st and 22nd, and Ty Gibbs, with a seventh-place finish, eliminated Zane Smith.

Bowman, at eighth, is the highest-seeded driver still in the challenge, which debuted this year.

Crew fight

NASCAR officials had to separate the crews for Brad Keselowski and Gibbs when members from the two teams scrapped on pit road during the race.

Keselowski’s crew confronted Gibbs’ crew after Gibbs drove through their pit stall and narrowly missed hitting some of Keselowski’s crew members already in place waiting for him.

The confrontation appeared to be contained to pushing and shoving and NASCAR officials quickly stepped between them. Both crews were given an official warning for fighting but NASCAR said Gibbs did nothing wrong.

Clean race — for a while

It took 61 of the 110 laps for the first caution for an on-track incident — when Ryan Blaney was knocked off the course and into the dirt early in the third stage. The contact from Chris Buescher left Blaney stranded, and right before NASCAR could throw the yellow, Bubba Wallace and Denny Hamlin both spun.

It was technically the third caution of the race, but the first two were for natural stage breaks.

The race ended with six cautions — two in the final stretch.

Up next

The Cup Series races Sunday at Dover Motor Speedway in Delaware, where Hamlin won last year.

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