The NASCAR Cup Series returns to a road course for only the second time in the Next Gen era as the sport’s best drivers take on Sonoma for the second time. The Toyota/SaveMart 350 (June 12 at 4 p.m. Et on FS1, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) on Sunday will return to the 1.99-mile configuration that was set aside for the last two years. The new car was designed with road courses in mind, and six are on the series this year. Drivers who’ve had success on road courses will have had the date circled on their calendars.
That includes perennial favorites like Chase Elliott and defending winner Kyle Larson, but also drivers who are still waiting on their first win. That list includes drivers like Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell, Martin Truex, and Kevin Harvick. With just eleven races to go and just six Playoff spots remaining, a win looks increasingly important,
Harvick thinks that the new car makes winning a real possibility. “It’s definitely leaning more toward handling well at the road courses just because that’s kind of the nature of how it was designed,” he said. “I think for me, our first road course was a lot more comfortable in the car than what we were last year. For the braking and things that come with this particular car, it’s been good for us on the road courses.”
Harvick has already won at Sonoma, but he doesn’t hold a candle to Truex, who’s found victory lane three times, the most of any active driver. Indeed, his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate called back his old crew chief Cole Pearn who called the shots when he scored those three wins to serve as race engineer.
California native Cole Custer said he’s excited to return to his home track but cautioned that the race will be a learning experience.
“It’s not an easy place to get around,” he said, “so having those laps definitely help, but I’m sure in the Next Gen car it’s going to be a little bit different trying to figure out how you’re going to make your way through those corners and be patient. It’s going to be a lot of learning pretty fast.”
AJ Allmendinger is the most recent road course winner, having won at Portland in the Xfinity Series the previous week. He joins full-time Cup Series driver Chase Elliott as a road course ace. Elliott as won seven times at road courses, though never at Sonoma. He was beaten by his teammate Kyle Larson last year.
Lastly, Ross Chastain didn’t acknowledge his controversy from Gateway. He did touch on the difficulty of road course racing: “It’s just unnatural when you’re used to turning left your whole life. It’s the opposite in road course racing – the seat feeling, g-forces on your body. That was super helpful to me, and I’ve just kept working on it.”
Denny Hamlin, who’s race at Gateway was ended after contact with Chastain, said after the race that his apology wasn’t enough.
Truck Series Plays Host to Cup Stars
The NASCAR Camping World Truck also heads to Sonoma for Saturday’s Doordash 250 (7:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). It’s the series’ fifth visit to the track and the first since 1998.
As the Cup Series races on a new layout of the Sonoma track, several drivers have entered to gain extra seat time. Kyle Busch will drive for his own team, Alex Bowman will race for Spire Motorsports, Austin Dillon will be in a Young’s Motorsports Truck, and Ross Chastain will make another start for Niece Motorsports.
Regarding bringing back the truck series to the track, Sonoma Raceway executive vice president and general manager Jill Gregory said she thought about “how great would it be to have the trucks out here. The racing would be incredible because a lot of those drivers — if not most, or all — probably were toddlers when this race was run here before. They’re going to have to learn it on iRacing, and so how exciting is that going to be just kind of seeing them navigate this track.”
She added that it gives fans a complete weekend, with both racing and leisure activities. “You get the best of both worlds because you can get your NASCAR fix on Saturday or Sunday,” she said, “but then when you kind of return to your hotel or wherever you’re staying within the local community, you have amazing restaurants, you’ve got wine tasting, you can jump on a bike and ride around town in Sonoma or Napa, so I think that the race isn’t the only thing going on.”
NASCAR Cup Series
Next Race: Toyota/Save Mart 350
The Place: Sonoma Raceway
The Date: Sunday, June 12
The Time: 4 p.m. ET
The Purse: $7,629,830
TV: FS1, 2 p.m. ET
Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 218.9 miles (110 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 25),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 55), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 110)
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Next Race: DoorDash 250
The Place: Sonoma Raceway
The Date: Saturday, June 11
The Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
The Purse: $675,134
TV: FS1, 7 p.m. ET
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 149 miles (75 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 20),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 45), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 75)
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