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  • Next Race: Toyota/Save Mart 350
  • The Place: Sonoma Raceway
  • The Date: Sunday, June 6
  • The Time: 4 p.m. ET
  • TV: FS1, 2:30 p.m. ET
  • Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
  • Distance: 226.8 miles (90 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 20), Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 40), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 90)

NASCAR Cup Series returns to California’s Sonoma Raceway

It’s been nearly two years since the NASCAR Cup Series has competed at Sonoma Raceway due to the pandemic cancelling the event last season, but with the ease of restrictions this year, NASCAR has been given the green flag and will return to the California road course this Sunday, June 6 for the Toyota / Save Mart 350 at 4 p.m. ET on FS1, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.   

Sonoma Raceway marks the third of seven road course events on the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series schedule this season – Daytona RC (2/21), COTA (5/23), Sonoma (6/6), Road America (7/4), Watkins Glen (8/8), Indianapolis RC (8/15) and Charlotte ROVAL (10/10). The first two road course events have garnered two different winners. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell captured his first career NASCAR Cup Series win at the Daytona Road Course and then just a few weeks ago Hendrick Motorsport’s star Chase Elliott secured his first win of 2021 in the inaugural race at the Circuit of The Americas.

NASCAR has competed on two different configurations at Sonoma Raceway. The 2018 race marked the final race for “The Chute”, which was introduced in 1998 and shortened the track to 1.949 miles and eliminated the famous Carousel. The Carousel, which will be in use again this year, returned to the track layout in 2019 and brings the length of the track to 2.52 miles. Sonoma Raceway is known for its hilly, multi-elevational layout, that provides several high-speed sections for competitors to navigate the 12-turn course. This weekend’s Cup race will be 90 laps (226.8 miles) and will be broken up into the three stages. The first two stage will be 20 laps each and the final stage will be 50 laps.

Sonoma Raceway, originally known as Infineon Raceway, has hosted 31 NASCAR Cup Series races dating back to the inaugural event on June 11, 1989. The first Cup race at Sonoma was won by Ricky Rudd driving a Buick for car owner Kenny Bernstein. Rudd dominated the race leading 61 of the 74 scheduled laps.

Sonoma Raceway’s 31 NASCAR Cup Series races have produced 18 different pole winners and 19 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). Hendrick Motorsport’s driver and most recent Coca-Cola 600 winner, Kyle Larson, leads all active drivers in the series in poles at Sonoma with three (2017, 2018, 2019). Joe Gibbs Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. leads all active drivers in wins at Sonoma with three (2013, 2018, 2019).

With some pandemic restrictions still in place, this weekend’s starting lineup for the Toyota / Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway was determined by Metric Qualifying and as a result Hendrick Motorsport’s teammates Kyle Larson will start on the pole and Chase Elliott will join him on the front row.    

JGR’s Martin Truex Jr. looks for third straight Sonoma victory

This weekend, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. has the opportunity to win his third straight NASCAR Cup Series race at Sonoma Raceway and tie NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon for the series-most consecutive wins at the famous track in California. Gordon set the record of most consecutive wins at Sonoma from 1998-2000.  

“I’ve been waiting for a while to go back to Sonoma and try to get the three-peat,” Truex said. “Sonoma is such a fun track and it’s a great part of the country. It’s beautiful and always great weather. I can’t wait to get there and see all of our fans in California that we haven’t seen in quite a while.”

More impressively for Truex, is he has won the past two races on two different configurations. The 2018 race marked the final race for “The Chute”, which was introduced in 1998 and shortened the track to 1.949 miles and eliminated the famous Carousel. The Carousel, which will be in use again this year, returned to the track layout in 2019 and brings the track length to 2.52 miles. Truex and Ricky Rudd are the only two drivers to win NASCAR Cup Series races on both layouts.

In all, Truex has made 14 series starts at Sonoma posting three wins, four top fives and five top 10s. Truex leads the series in wins this season with three victories (Phoenix, Martinsville, and Darlington), but due to a 29th-place finish last weekend at Charlotte, he will start this weekend’s race at Sonoma in 19th.

Chase Elliott an early favorite on any road course

When it comes to road racing in the NASCAR Cup Series, Hendrick Motorsport’s driver Chase Elliott is instantly mentioned as one of the favorites to watch, and with good reason. Elliott has won five of the last six road course races the NASCAR Cup Series has competed at; including the most recent at Circuit of The Americas a few weeks ago. Six of the 2020 series champion’s 12 career Cup wins have come on road courses (Watkins Glen, 2018, 2019; Charlotte ROVAL, 2019, 2020; Daytona RC, 2020; Circuit of The Americas, 2021).

With his latest foray into Victory Lane at Circuit of The Americas, Elliott has locked up his sixth NASCAR road course win and with it ties a bevy of NASCAR historic figures – Bobby Allison, Richard Petty, Ricky Rudd and Rusty Wallace – for third on the all-time NASCAR Cup Series road course wins list. If Elliott were to win this weekend and get this seventh victory, he would move solely into third all-time in Cup road course wins, just one win shy of NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart in second with eight victories.

  • Next Race: B&L Transport 170
  • The Place: Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
  • The Date: Saturday, June 5
  • The Time: 1 p.m. ET
  • TV: FS1, 12 p.m. ET
  • Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
  • Distance: 169.35 miles (75 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 25), Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 50), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 75)

Left and right turns at Mid-Ohio for the Xfinity Series

This weekend the NASCAR Xfinity Series will take on the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio for the B&L Transport 170 on Saturday, June 5 at 1 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

The race will be 75 laps (169.35 miles) with Stage 1 ending on Lap 25 and Stage 2 ending on Lap 50.

This weekend’s starting lineup was determined by Metric Qualifying and as a result, Austin Cindric will start on the pole Saturday with rookie sensation Ty Gibbs starting with him on the front row. Harrison Burton, Jeb Burton, Justin Allgaier, Brandon Brown, Brandon Jones, Jeremy Clements, Riley Herbst and Justin Haley will make up the starting top 10. This will be the fifth time this season of 13 races that Cindric has led the field to the green.

This weekend’s race at Mid-Ohio will be the eighth Xfinity Series race at the track. The first was in 2013 and was won by AJ Allmendinger, then driving for Team Penske.

Most recently, road course ace and Team Penske driver Austin Cindric has won at Mid-Ohio from the pole position in 2019.

Of the seven races run at the 2.258-mile road course, all seven have had different winners. In 2018, Cindric became the youngest pole winner at the track at 19 years, 11 months, 9 days. Alex Tagliani is the oldest pole winner at 42 years, 9 months, 28 days in 2015.

Cindric went on to become the youngest race winner in 2019, too, at 20 years, 11 months, eight days. Sam Hornish Jr. is the oldest winner at 38 years, 1 month and 10 days.

Only two races have been won from the pole position (2017, 2019) and Allmendinger still holds the race record from the inaugural Xfinity Series race at Mid-Ohio in 2013 at 77.724 mph.

At the series’ most recent race at the track in 2019, there were 38 cars, 10 lead changes, eight leaders, six cautions for 17 laps and 22 cars on the lead lap at the conclusion. There were 27 cars running at the finish and Cindric led 46 laps en route to victory. The margin of victory was 3.780 seconds.

Clements has run every race at Mid-Ohio in the Xfinity Series, making him the only driver to compete in all seven events.

Kings of Road Courses

Austin Cindric has 11 career NASCAR Xfinity Series wins and four of those have come on road courses, including the last time the circuit visited Mid-Ohio in 2019. 

Cindric captured his road course Xfinity wins at Watkins Glen, Mid-Ohio, Daytona Road Course and Road America. But Mid-Ohio has seemed to be his playground in the last two races. 

In his two career starts, Cindric has sat on the pole both times and led a combined 105-of-150 laps.  He finished second in 2018 after leading 59 laps after getting passed by Justin Allgaier during the final caution. Cindric led 46 laps two years ago to win by more than three seconds.

Kaulig Racing’s AJ Allmendinger has six career NASCAR Xfinity Series wins and four of those have come on road courses, as well, including the inaugural race at Mid-Ohio in 2013.

His first career win came at Road America in 2013 from the pole position. He led 29 laps. His other two wins were at the Charlotte Road Course in 2019 and 2020. In 2013 at Mid-Ohio, Allmendinger led a race-high 73 laps of 94 total en route to victory. Most recently, in 2019, Allmendinger finished third at Mid-Ohio.

  • Next Race: SpeedyCash.com 220
  • The Place: Texas Motor Speedway
  • The Date: Saturday, June 12
  • The Time: 1 p.m. ET
  • TV: FS1, 12 p.m. ET
  • Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
  • Distance: 220.5 miles (147 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 35), Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 70), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 147)

source – NASCAR communications

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