The NASCAR Sprint Cup teams had Father’s Day Weekend off, but they are back on the road in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway this weekend.
Perhaps the more accurate phrase would be “back on the road course” for this weekend’s NASCAR race. The Sprint Cup drivers will have to navigate the 1.99-mile track that features 12 turns with both uphill and downhill sections. That means they will have to be 100% focused from start to finish and pick the right spots on the track to pass if they want to have a chance to win the race.
The teams will have to bring their “A-game” as well. While you can pit even under green flag conditions without losing a lap, every second lost on pit row is hard to regain on the track. The cars will have to have great handling for turning, good acceleration for coming out of the turns and for passing and have the stamina to last 110 laps of turning and shifting.
Which of the active Sprint Cup drivers have the best performance at Sonoma Raceway? Let’s take a look.
Top 10 Driver Ratings at Sonoma
Kurt Busch – 109.3
Jimmie Johnson – 101.0
Tony Stewart – 98.1
Clint Bowyer – 96.7
Ryan Newman – 88.5
Kyle Busch – 88.3
Carl Edwards – 88.3
Jamie McMurray – 87.1
Kevin Harvick – 86.9
Kasey Kahne – 86.7
(Note: Driver Ratings compiled from 2005-2015 races {11 total} among active drivers at Sonoma Raceway)
Kyle Busch and Tony Stewart are the two active drivers who won two races each at Sonoma. Kyle won this race last year while Tony is second on the all-time road course wins list for the NASCAR Sprint Cup series behind Jeff Gordon. Tony has a total of seven road course wins in his career with the two at Sonoma and five at Watkins Glen.
There are six other active NASCAR drivers who have won a single race in their Sprint Cup careers at Sonoma Raceway. Those drivers are Carl Edwards, Clint Bowyer, Jimmie Johnson, Martin Truex Jr., Kasey Kahne and Kurt Busch.
The Toyota/Save mart 350 is race #16 of the 26-race regular season for the Sprint Cup series. That makes each week more and more important for drivers who have not all but locked themselves onto the Chase Grid for NASCAR’s playoffs. The 10 drivers who have done so are looking to better their position for the start of The Chase by gaining another win. However, a race on a road course can be a chance for a win by a less likely driver to make the Chase and have a shot at the championship later this year. That often makes for some very exciting and eventful racing at Sonoma.
Road course racing is always a little different in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series for fans, teams and drivers. The question is, will it be skill of the driver or strategy by the crew chief that ultimately wins out this weekend? Quite likely it will be a combination of both.
The Toyota/Save Mart 350 will get started at 2 pm central time (3 pm eastern time) Sunday, June 26th live from Sonoma Raceway in California and we will all find out how it all ends after 350 kilometers (219 miles) of racing.
By: Buck Stevens
