By Cameron Bebeau, Staff Writer

While Shane van Gisbergen swept the NASCAR Cup and O’Reilly Auto Parts Series’ races at Sonoma Raceway and Sam Corry celebrated his first ARCA Menards Series West victory, several drivers put together runs that went under the radar.

Cup Series: Brad Keselowski & RFK Racing

Brad Keselowski earns this weekend’s Cup Series under-the-radar performance recognition after putting together an important rebound at Sonoma Raceway.

Keselowski started 35th in Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 and worked his way to a 15th-place finish, ending a difficult stretch for the No. 6 RFK Racing team. Entering Sonoma, Keselowski had finished 30th or worse in four consecutive races and six times across the previous nine events.

A 15th-place finish isn’t usually the type of result that demands attention, but the context is what makes this important. Keselowski opened the season with nine consecutive top-20 finishes before the No. 6 team slipped into one of its toughest stretches of the year. Sonoma gave them a chance to stop the slide.

The result also came at a track that has not historically been one of Keselowski’s best. He entered the weekend with only three top-10 finishes at Sonoma in 16 previous starts, but managed to work through the field and avoid the hornet’s nest that collected several drivers in separate incidents.

The loop data also backed up the improvement. Keselowski posted a 19.25 average running position, spent 55 of 110 laps inside the top 15 and recorded a 69.8 driver rating. It wasn’t a race-winning performance by any stretch of the imagination, let alone RFK Racing’s best result of the weekend, but it was a clean and badly needed afternoon

For RFK Racing as a whole, Sonoma offered a step in the right direction. Ryan Preece wheeled the No. 60 to an eighth-place finish, earning his third top 10 of the season, while Chris Buescher finished 19th and advanced to the next round of the In-Season Tournament Challenge.

A 15th-place finish won’t fix everything for the No. 6 team, but after a month of difficult results, they hope it marks the reprieve of their summer slide.

O’Reilly Auto Parts Series: Austin Green & Peterson Racing Group

Austin Green’s weekend could have ended before the race even started.

During Friday’s practice session for the Pit Boss/FoodMaxx 250, Green suffered a heavy crash entering Turn 11 after losing his brakes. According to LASTCAR.info, Green tried to spin the car around and back it into the barrier, but the No. 87 struck with the left front, scattering tire barriers and heavily damaging the team’s primary car.

That left the team scrambling for a solution before Saturday’s race. With PRG’s only other car being the one Green drove to an eighth-place finish at San Diego, the team worked out a deal with Richard Childress Racing to use Austin Hill’s backup car, so long as RCR did not need it.

By race morning, Green’s team had turned the borrowed backup into a race-ready No. 87, complete with violet colored decals.

From there, Green made the most of this opportunity. After missing qualifying and starting 37th, Green drove to a 12th-place finish and completed all 79 laps. He ran as high as seventh, posted a 16.96 average running position and spent 52 laps inside the top 15.

For a Trans-Am driver still early in his O’Reilly Auto Parts Series career, the result would have been solid under normal circumstances. Considering the rebound the team made from his violent practice crash, having to find a backup car and preparing it overnight, the finish becomes one of the weekend’s more underlooked stories.

Green and Peterson Racing Group did more than just salvage their weekend at Sonoma. They turned what could’ve been a lost weekend into a competitive afternoon.

ARCA Menards Series West: Jeff Anton & Quarterley Racing

While the ARCA Menards Series West is not usually part of this column, its trip to Sonoma Raceway alongside NASCAR’s national series made Jeff Anton worth including.

Anton was not at the center of the race’s biggest storylines. Sam Corry controlled the afternoon by leading every lap en route to his first career win, while teammate Mia Lovell nearly stole the victory late in the running. Behind them, Anton put together the kind of veteran run that can get overlooked with such a young field.

Driving the No. 44 Chevrolet, Anton finished eighth in Friday’s General Tire 150. The result continued a recent return to ARCA competition for a driver whose stock-car resume stretches back more than two decades.

Anton competed in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East from 2004 to 2012, recording 19 top-10 finishes and a best points finish of ninth in 2006. After making two West Series starts in 2006 and 2009, he returned to ARCA competition in 2025, finishing eighth in his ARCA Menards Series debut at Lime Rock Park in 2025 and 10th in the ARCA West race at Sonoma.

This time, Anton improved on that Sonoma result. His afternoon also included one of the race’s best saves. After going off track in Turn 10, Anton narrowly avoided the left-side wall, earning Reese’s “Sweet Move of the Race” recognition.

For Anton, eighth place wasn’t just another top-10 finish. It was a reminder that experience is important at a technical road course like Sonoma, especially when one mistake can – and did – end several drivers’ weekends.