Get out your wine glasses and corkscrews out, it’s time to head to Sonoma, California, the wine capital of the United States, for the NASCAR Cup Series race, the Toyota / Save Mart 350 this Sunday, June 11 at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. This weekend’s race will be the 16th of the 2023 season and the second of six road courses on the schedule this year (COTA, Sonoma, Road America, Indianapolis RC, Watkins Glen and Charlotte ROVAL). 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick took the first road course victory of the year at Circuit of The Americas back in March. Now, the NASCAR Cup Series heads to Sonoma Raceway to battle it out on the challenging 1.99-mile, multi-elevational road course for the 34th time in series history.
Sonoma Raceway was opened as a 2.52-mile, multi-elevational paved road course and drag strip in 1968. Over the course of its existence, the 12-turn facility has held a few different names – Sears Point Raceway, Sears Point International Raceway, and Infineon Raceway prior to being renamed Sonoma Raceway.
The first NASCAR Cup Series race at Sonoma Raceway was held on June 11, 1989, and was won by Ricky Rudd driving a Buick for car owner Kenny Bernstein. Rudd ran the race at an average speed of 76.088 mph and led 61 of 74 scheduled laps (82.4%).
Over the years, the format and track configuration has changed at Sonoma Raceway. The first nine NASCAR Cup Series races at Sonoma were 300 kilometers and then switched to a 350k format in 1998. The track was reconfigured to 1.949-miles in 1998 with the installation of an 890-foot chute between the original Turns 4 and 7. The track was reconfigured to 2.0 miles in 2001 and re-measured at 1.99 miles in 2002.
In 2019 and 2021, the track was reconfigured back to the original 2.52-mile configuration with races being 90 laps – 226.8 miles. Then last season, Sonoma Raceway returned the track configuration back to the 1.99-mile configuration with the return of the ‘chute’.
There have been 33 NASCAR Cup Series races at Sonoma Raceway since the first race there in 1989 – one race per season – until the 2020 season. Due to the pandemic, the series did not compete at Sonoma Raceway in 2020.
The 33 NASCAR Cup Series races at Sonoma Raceway have produced 18 different pole winners and 21 different race winners. NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon leads the series in both poles (five: 1998, 1999, 2001, 2004, 2005) and wins (five: 1998, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2006) at Sonoma Raceway.
Of the 18 different pole winners at Sonoma, three are active this weekend, led by Hendrick Motorsport’s driver Kyle Larson with four poles (2017, 2018, 2019, 2022).
| Active Sonoma Pole Winners | Poles | Seasons |
| Kyle Larson | 4 | 2022, 2019, 2018, 2017 |
| AJ Allmendinger | 1 | 2015 |
| Joey Logano | 1 | 2011 |
And five of the 21 different Cup Series Sonoma Raceway winners are active this weekend, led by Joe Gibbs Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. with three wins (2013, 2018, 2019).
| Active Sonoma Race Winners | Wins | Seasons |
| Martin Truex Jr | 3 | 2019, 2018, 2013 |
| Kyle Busch | 2 | 2015, 2008 |
| Daniel Suárez | 1 | 2022 |
| Kyle Larson | 1 | 2021 |
| Kevin Harvick | 1 | 2017 |
All the on-track action begins for the NASCAR Cup Series at Sonoma Raceway on Saturday, June 10 from 5-7 p.m. ET with practice and Busch Light Pole Qualifying on FS2.
Road course aces to watch for in California this weekend
Arriving this weekend at Sonoma Raceway, the NASCAR Cup Series has baker’s dozen (13) of former road course winners entered in the Toyota / Save Mart 350 (Sunday, June 11 at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), and five of them are looking for their first win of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season – Chase Elliott, Kevin Harvick, A.J. Allmendinger, Ross Chastain and defending Sonoma winner Daniel Suárez.
Three new drivers were added to the NASCAR Cup Series road course winners list last season; including 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick, who earned two road course wins last season driving for Richard Childress Racing at Road America and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, and also Trackhouse Racing teammates Ross Chastain, who won his first career Cup Series race at Circuit of The Americas, and Daniel Suárez, who earned his first career Cup Series win at Sonoma Raceway.
“It was such a crazy day and I had so many thoughts in my head,” said Daniel Suárez reflecting on last year’s Sonoma win. “I mean, it was a rough road getting to Victory Lane, but that moment was so worth it. Not just for me but for my family, Julia, these guys believe in me – Trackhouse Racing, Justin Marks, Ty Norris. Everyone that helped me to get to this point. A lot of people in Mexico – Jay Morales and Carlos Slim. My family, they never give up on me. A lot of people did, but they didn’t. I was just very happy we were able to make it work.”
| Active Road Course Winners (13) | Total Wins | Sonoma | WGI | Charlotte | Daytona | Indy | COTA | Road America |
| Chase Elliott | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Kyle Busch | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Martin Truex Jr | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kyle Larson | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tyler Reddick | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Kevin Harvick | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| AJ Allmendinger | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Christopher Bell | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Joey Logano | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ryan Blaney | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Denny Hamlin | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Daniel Suárez | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ross Chastain | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Of the five former road course winners entered this weekend looking for their first win of the season, Chase Elliott will most likely have the biggest spotlight focused on him on Sunday. The 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Champion, Elliott, has been sidelined twice this season from injury (six races) and suspension (one race) and returns this week needing a win to make the Playoffs this season. Elliott leads all active drivers in road course wins with seven (Watkins Glen, two wins; Charlotte ROVAL, two wins; Road America, one win; COTA, one win).
“For me personally, just looking forward to getting back to work and just trying to get in a groove because I don’t really feel like I’ve been in one throughout the year,” Elliott said. “It’s been kind of stop-and-go all season, unfortunately. But the way I see it is there’s 11 races left, and we pretty much need to go win one of those to get in (the Playoffs). So that’s where my head’s at right now.”
Though Elliott hasn’t won at Sonoma, he has made six series starts posting two top fives and four top 10s. His average finish at Sonoma is 13.3. Plus, he has some stout pre-race Loop Data stats as well – Average Running Position (11.474, second-best), Driver Rating (97.6, second-best), Fastest Laps Run (27, eighth-best), and Laps in the Top 15 (410 laps, 65.9%, 11th-most).
Though Elliott undoubtedly will be a force to contend with this weekend, the remaining four drivers that are former road course winners looking for their first win of 2023 are nothing to sneeze at.
Defending Sonoma winner, Daniel Suárez, has made five series starts at Sonoma posting one win and average finish of 12.2 – best among active drivers with more than one start. Suárez has also led 47 laps on the 1.99-mile track.
Suárez’s Trackhouse Racing teammate Ross Chastain has made three starts at Sonoma posting two top-10 finishes, including a seventh-place finish in last season’s race.
Kaulig Racing’s A.J. Allmendinger is always a contender for the win when the NASCAR Cup Series competes on road courses. Allmendinger not only has a two Cup Series road course wins, but he also has the all-time most road course wins in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with 11 of 16 career wins coming on road courses. Allmendinger has made 11 series starts at Sonoma posting two top-10 finishes.
Last but not least, is Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick who will be competing at Sonoma Raceway for the final time this weekend, as Harvick has announced his retirement from full-time racing at the end of the season. In his illustrious career, Harvick has already put up two road course wins in the NASCAR Cup Series; including one at Sonoma Raceway in 2017, and one at Watkins Glen International in 2006. In total, Harvick has made 21 series starts at Sonoma putting up one win, seven top fives and 11 top 10s.
Defending Sonoma winner Daniel Suárez looking to go back-to-back
Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suárez returns to Sonoma Raceway to defend his last season win and try to become just the third driver in NASCAR Cup Series history to win consecutive races at Sonoma; joining NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon (three straight: 1998, ’99, ‘00) and Joe Gibbs Racing driver Martin Truex Jr. (2018, ’19).
Suárez, from Monterrey, Mexico, became just the second driver in the NASCAR Cup Series to earn his first career win in the series at Sonoma Raceway, joining Bogota, Columbia native Juan Pablo Montoya (2007).
“Every time we head to a road course, whether it’s Sonoma (Raceway), or somewhere else, I am excited,” said Suárez. “I feel at home, and I am excited to go back to a place where we had great memories last time and hopefully, we can repeat it.”
Last season, Suárez led 47 of the 110 scheduled laps (42.7%) at Sonoma and won the NASCAR Cup Series race from the eighth starting position. With the victory Suárez became one of 41 different drivers all-time to have won in all three of NASCAR’s national series.
Keep an eye on the No. 99 on Sunday. In five series starts at Sonoma, Suárez has put up one win (2022) and an average finish of 12.2 – the best among active drivers with more than one start.
NASCAR will run the Road Course and Selected Short Track Package at Sonoma
NASCAR has announced this season updates to the components of the NASCAR Cup Series car for races held at road courses and short tracks (excluding Bristol and Dover). The Road Course and Selected Short Track Package will consist of the following:
- 2” Spoiler
- Remove Engine Panel Strakes
- Remove Center and Inner Diffuser Strakes. Only the Outer Diffuser Strakes will remain installed. Spacers will be installed between the diffuser flap and diffuser due to removing the inner diffuser strakes.
- Remove Diffuser Fences and Replace with Baseline Fences.
- Splitter stuffers will remain unchanged from the current components.
The rules are in place at the following tracks: Charlotte Roval, Chicago Street Course, Circuit of The Americas, Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, Martinsville, New Hampshire, North Wilkesboro, Phoenix, Richmond, Sonoma and Watkins Glen.
Playoff Bubble Shuffle: Chastain loses points lead, Bowman outside Playoff cutoff looking in
While Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch was grabbing his third win of the season last weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway, several positions on the Playoff bubble started to shuffle. One of the biggest moves from last week, was the winless Ross Chastain losing the points lead and his guaranteed spot in the postseason. With Chastain dropping to fourth and Ryan Blaney taking the NASCAR Cup Series driver standings lead already having a win this season, it has opened-up an additional spot for drivers to get in on wins or points. Heading to Sonoma Raceway this weekend, six spots are up for grabs in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.
The 10 drivers that have earned a spot in the Playoffs by virtue of wins this season are William Byron, Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson, Ryan Blaney, Martin Truex Jr., Christopher Bell, Denny Hamlin, Tyler Reddick, Joey Logano and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
The six drivers currently occupying the remaining postseason spots on points are 11. Kevin Harvick (+166 points ahead of cutoff), 12. Ross Chastain (+159), 13. Brad Keselowski (+96), 14. Chris Buescher (+86), 15. Bubba Wallace (+27) and 16. Daniel Suárez (+6).
Falling one spot to 17th after a 26th-place finish at Word Wide Technology Raceway last weekend, Alex Bowman is six points back from defending Sonoma Raceway winner, Daniel Suárez in 16th – the final transfer spot on points to the Playoffs. Not far behind Bowman is rookie Ty Gibbs in 18th in the Playoff outlook, 15 points back from Suárez.
Currently five drivers that made the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs last season are below the cutline this year – Alex Bowman (17th, -6 points), Austin Cindric (19th, -33 points), Chase Elliott (27th, -98 points), Austin Dillon (29th, -113 points), and Chase Briscoe (31st, -138 points).
NASCAR PR
