Shane van Gisbergen proved in his NASCAR debut to be an elite road and street course racer by winning in his first career outing.

The NASCAR Cup Series will begin its lone visit to California this year by turning laps Saturday at Sonoma Raceway. An hourlong practice will begin at 1:30 p.m. ET on the 11-turn, 1.99-mile road course, followed by qualifying for Sunday’s 110-lap race.

Connor Zilisch held off JR Motorsports teammate Shane van Gisbergen in the closing laps to win Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Sonoma Raceway for his fourth career victory. The two battled 1-2 for nearly the entire 79-lapper in Wine Country, the duo combining to lead all but nine laps and trading blows throughout the first two stages.

AJ Allmendinger and Kaulig Racing topped the charts in a busy practice session for the Cup Series at Sonoma Raceway.

The first day involved NASCAR subdivisions with the ARCA series race and qualifying for the Xfinity Series race on Saturday.

Soon-to-be NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Kurt Busch has 34 great wins in his career, but one win got away from him at Sonoma in 2012.

SONOMA COUNTY, Calif. (KGO) -- In the North Bay, the unmistakable roar of engines can be heard for miles this weekend. NASCAR is returning to Sonoma Raceway and thousands of racing fans are in Wine Country for all the thrills.

Sonoma Raceway will host NASCAR’s only California appearance this year, as around 50,000 fans gather to watch the highly anticipated Toyota/Save Mart 350 on Sunday. The three-day event at Sonoma Raceway features a packed schedule,