Tony Stewart was able to tough it out Sunday. He didn’t have the fastest car but took the lead when it mattered and held off a hard charging Denny Hamlin to score the win in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Toyota/Save Mart 350 Sunday at Sonoma Raceway. It was Stewart’s 49th career win, and his third at Sonoma. Here’s how it all went down Sunday.
With his third pole of the season and his first at Sonoma Carl Edwards led the field to the green; AJ Allmendinger started second and was soon fighting for the lead on the inside. Truex fell into third, Kurt Busch fourth. Edwards led the first lap with Allmendinger second, with Kurt Busch and Truex side by side for third. Busch had the third spot just after the start of lap 2. Kyle Larson took over fifth.
The top 10 had broken away from the rest of the field by lap three. By lap 5 Edwards had a lead of just over one second. The first caution came out on lap 6 when the car of Clint Bowyer began smoking with what appeared to be an electrical issue. Most of the leaders stayed out. Jimmie Johnson was among the few that did pit. The restart came on lap 9. Edwards retook the lead, but by the second turn Allmendinger was able to rocket past for the lead, Kyle Busch took over third close behind Edwards, Kurt Busch was fourth, Truex fifth.
Truex got by Busch for fourth at the start of lap 11.
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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