Toyota/Save Mart 350

Sonoma Raceway - Sonoma, CA
Sunday June 24, 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time on FS1
2 Mile Road Course
Weather: Sunny, 78°F

Previous Five Winners and Pole Sitters

Race	Race Winner	Pole Sitter
Summer 2017	Kevin Harvick	Kyle Larson
Summer 2016	Tony Stewart	Carl Edwards
Summer 2015	Kyle Busch	Jamie McMurray
Summer 2014	Carl Edwards	Jamie McMurray
Summer 2013	Martin Truex Jr.	Jamie McMurray

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series returns to California this Sunday with the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway. A total of 38 cars are scheduled to enter the event. Who will be able to master the twists and turns of the first road course race of the season?

The Favorite

NASCAR visits its first road course track of the season this week at Sonoma Raceway. Sonoma features ten turns, both left and right, along with elevation changes and narrow straightaways. It's a much more technical track than the typical NASCAR ovals, driving ability usually trumps horsepower. The difficulty in winning this race is backed up by the results, nine different drivers have captured the last nine checkered flags.

Since the track is unique, Las Vegas simply can't make up its mind as to who should be the race favorite and will play it safe. For the first time this season we have three co-favorites: Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. No surprises here, this triumvirate has combined to win 11 out of the 15 races this year.

With his dominating performances so far this season, Kevin Harvick will be considered one of the top contenders each week until he shows any signs of dropping off. Harvick won this race last year and has finished in the top-ten in the last three races at Sonoma.

Kyle Busch leads all active drivers with four career victories at road courses, including two at Sonoma. He has also finished in the top-ten in the last three races here.

Martin Truex Jr. won this race in 2013 and won last year's race at Watkins Glen, the other road course race on the NASCAR circuit. Last year he led 25 laps before blowing an engine late in the race.

"We had strong performing road course cars last year," said Truex Jr. "We had the car to beat at Sonoma. We hit on something and had a ton of speed there. Our Furniture Row Racing team has been looking forward to getting back to Sonoma to finish what we almost completed last year."

All three drivers should be considered strong contenders once again this year, but history isn't on their side since each one is on the list of nine different winning drivers in the last nine races.

Other Drivers to Watch

Kurt Busch has watched his Stewart-Haas Racing teammates win seven races this year (Harvick 5, Bowyer 2), he has to be wondering when it will be his turn to ride into victory lane. Sonoma could be the answer to that question. Busch won this race in 2011 and has seven top-five and nine top-10 finishes here in 17 career starts. In his last seven starts, he has only finished outside of the top-ten once. Busch is one of the best road course racers currently driving in NASCAR, he will make some noise this week.

Denny Hamlin nearly won this race in 2016, but finished runner-up when a critical error on the final turn allowed Tony Stewart to slip by him for the win. Hamlin did manage to capture the checkered flag at Watkins Glen later that year. He is another veteran who is becoming a formidable road course racer, he's the only driver in NASCAR to finish in the top-five in each of the last four road course races. The key for Hamlin once again is to avoid pit road speeding penalties, they are fatal to winning at Sonoma.

"Last time we visited Sonoma, we really had a great car, we just didn’t have quite enough to contend for a win at the end," Hamlin said. "If we can improve our qualifying effort (from last year) and make some slight set-up adjustments, I think we’ll be in an even better spot to go after a win this year."

A.J. Allmendinger doesn't get mentioned in these posts very often, simply put his car isn't good on ovals. Road courses are a different story. His only career Cup Series victory came at Watkins Glen in 2015, he has started in the top-ten and led laps in each of the last four races at Sonoma. Finishing the race here has been an issue, if it weren't for bad luck he would have no luck at all. He is a dark horse this week, but a little change in luck could send him to the front of the pack.

Clint Bowyer is experiencing a career resurgence this year. After going winless for nearly six years, Bowyer has come alive at Stewart-Haas Racing by winning two races already this season. He has the track record to keep his impressive performance this year going at Sonoma. He won this race in 2012 and has finished in the top-five seven times, tying him with Kurt Busch for the most among active drivers. Last season he finished runner-up behind Harvick.

"I don’t want to jinx myself, but Sonoma is my favorite racetrack," Bowyer said. "I love that weekend. It’s a vacation for everybody involved. It’s a challenging racetrack. I’m good at it. You always look forward to going to tracks you’re good at. We’ve gotten this wave of confidence going at the moment. Hopefully, we can ride off to Sonoma and enjoy some success there, as well."

News Around the Track

Congratulations to Kyle Petty who raised $1.3 million for the Victory Junction Camp for children with life-threatening illnesses with his Charity Ride Across America. In its 24th year, the ride traveled nearly 1,200 miles from Maine to North Carolina. Petty founded Victory Junction Camp in 2004 in honor of his son Adam, who was tragically killed in a racing accident during practice at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in 2000. He was 19 years old.

"From lapping the track at New Hampshire to our homecoming at Victory Junction, this year’s Ride was a little bittersweet," Petty said. "It was more emotional for me this year than past Rides because we ended at Camp. I’ve said it a million times – when I see a camper, I see Adam in their smile and I know he’s still here with us. And there were campers everywhere as we pulled into Camp."

Roush-Fenway Racing has announced Matt Kenseth will drive the team's No.6 Ford for ten more races this season. Kenseth replaced Trevor Bayne as the car's driver for five races already this year in an effort to give the floundering team a kick start.

Matt Kenseth's 2018 Roush Fenway Racing Schedule

Track	Date
Kentucky	July 14
Loudon	July 22
Pocono	July 29
Watkins Glen	Aug. 5
Darlington	Sept. 2
Indianapolis	Sept. 9
Dover	Oct. 7
Martinsville	Oct. 28
Phoenix	Nov. 11
Homestead	Nov. 18

Kenseth has 12 career wins combined at the tracks remaining on his 2018 schedule.

Enjoy The Race!

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_{Photo credits: Don Ramey Logan CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons}

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_{Author: @chops316
Editor: @liberty-minded}

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