NASCAR Cup Series News & Notes – Sonoma Raceway

NASCAR Cup Series

Next Race: Toyota / Save Mart 350
The Place: Sonoma Raceway
Track Length: 1.99 Mile Road Course
The Date: Sunday, July 13
The Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
The Purse: $11,055,250
TV: TNT, 3 p.m. ET
Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR (Channel 90)
Distance: 218.9 miles (110 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 25),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 55), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 110)

Where To Watch NASCAR This Weekend:

Friday, July 11

ARCA West Race: General Tire 200 (NASCAR Channel, FloRacing at 6:30 p.m. ET)

Saturday, July 12

NCS Practice & Busch Light Pole Qualifying (truTV, PRN, SiriusXM at 1 p.m. ET)
NXS Race: Pit Boss / FoodMaxx 250 (CW Network, PRN, SiriusXM at 4:30 p.m. ET)

Sunday, July 13

NCS Race: Toyota / Save Mart 350 (TNT, PRN, SiriusXM at 3:30 p.m. ET)
NCS Race: Toyota / Save Mart 350 – In Season Challenge Altcast (truTV, MRN, SiriusXM at 3:30 p.m. ET)

Sonoma Storylines and Insights:

• This weekend marks the 36th running of a NASCAR Cup Series race at Sonoma Raceway (1989-2025), third most all-time for road courses in the Cup Series.
• The stage end laps are lap 25, 55 and 110.
• Only one of the last six NASCAR Cup Series Sonoma races were won by a driver getting their first win of the season (Daniel Suarez – 2022).
• The driver leading the most laps won five of the last six Sonoma races, all but 2024.
• Kyle Larson (2), Kyle Busch (2), and Daniel Suarez (1) are the only active Sonoma winners.
• Chris Buescher finished top-five in the last three Sonoma races, the longest active streak. In the last three Sonoma races, Chris Buescher finished second, fourth and third.
• Ross Chastain and Chase Elliott finished top-10 in the last four Sonoma races, the longest active streak.
• Shane van Gisbergen won the last two road course races from pole, the record is three by Jeff Gordon between 1998 and 1999.
• Two of the seven remaining races before the Playoffs are on road courses – Sonoma and Watkins Glen.
• Five of the last 12 road course races were won by drivers getting their first road course win.
• Hendrick Motorsports leads all teams in poles, wins, top-fives, top-10s, laps led and average finish on road courses in the Next Gen era (2022-2025).
• Alex Bowman was the top-finishing Hendrick Motorsports driver for the first time in 2025 at Chicago Street Course last week by finishing eighth.
• Hendrick Motorsports drivers won five of the last 10 road course races with three different drivers winning: William Byron and Kyle Larson (twice) and Alex Bowman (once).
• The stage one winner finished outside the top-10 in each of the last six road course races.
• Chase Elliott leads all NASCAR Cup Series drivers with 10 top-five finishes in the Next Gen car on road courses but none of his seven road course wins came in the Next Gen car.
• Christopher Bell finished in the top-two in three of the last four road course races including a win at COTA this year.
• Both of Kyle Busch’s NASCAR Cup Series top-five finishes in 2025 came on road courses
• Chris Buescher has the best average finish on road courses in the Next Gen car (9.3), Shane van Gisbergen is the only other driver with a top-10 average finish on road courses in the Next Gen (9.8).
• Ryan Blaney is on a 21-race NASCAR Cup Series streak without a top-five finish on road courses.
• Brad Keselowski is on an 18-race streak without a top-10 finish on a road course.
• The driver leading the most laps won six of the last 11 road course races.
• The last three road course races Kyle Larson led; he went on to win.
• Since Mexico City three races ago, William Byron’s regular season points lead has shrunk from 67 to 13.
• The top-three drivers in 2025 regular season standings are all Hendrick Motorsports’ drivers (William Byron-1^st, Chase Elliott-2^nd, Kyle Larson-3^rd), it’s the fourth race this year that the top-three in regular season standings were all Hendrick Motorsports’ drivers (2025 is the first season since 2014 that Hendrick drivers ranked 1-2-3 in points following multiple races in the season).
• Christopher Bell will make his 200th career Cup Series start this weekend, four drivers won in their 200th start, most recently Kevin Harvick at Watkins Glen in 2006.
• Both Tyler Reddick and Christopher Bell will be making their 200th consecutive Cup starts this weekend.
• Ryan Preece has been part of the Playoff bubble following the last eight races.
• Shane van Gisbergen, with two, is the only repeat winner in the last 10 races of 2025.
• In the stage era, Daniel Suarez is the only driver to win at Sonoma from below the cutline. He was 20th, 60 points out before winning.
• Other than Suarez, every winner at Sonoma in the stage era was sixth or better in the points standings at the time of their win.
• The pole winner has not won at Sonoma in the last 19 races (2004).
• The average finish of the pole winner is 19th over those 19 races.
• Kyle Larson and Martin Truex Jr. are the only repeat winners in the last 15 Sonoma races.
• Seven of the 16 road course regular season races in the Next Gen were won by a driver ranked 16^th or worse in the Playoff standings.

Understanding the In-Season Challenge:

• The top 32 in driver points following Nashville were eligible for the In-Season Challenge (Shane van Gisbergen, Cole Custer, Riley Herbst and Cody Ware failed to qualify among full-time drivers).
• The three races at Michigan, Mexico City and Pocono established the seeding for the challenge based on the best driver finishing positions over those races.
• The five races for the In-Season Challenge are Atlanta, Chicago, Sonoma, Dover and Indianapolis.
• The drivers will compete in a bracket-style tournament until the final two drivers face off in the finale at Indianapolis with the best-finishing driver winning $1 million.

In-Season Challenge Round 3 Matchups:

• Alex Bowman (No. 8 seed) Vs. Ty Dillon (No. 32 seed)
• Bowman has made eight Cup starts at Sonoma compared to Dillon’s five.
• Bowman (17.2) has a better average finish at Sonoma than Dillon (26.8).
• Bowman has two top 10s at Sonoma; Dillon’s best finish at Sonoma is 23rd.
• John Hunter Nemechek (No. 12 seed) Vs. Erik Jones (No. 20 seed)
• Jones has made seven Cup starts at Sonoma compared to Nemechek’s just one.
• Jones has an average finish of 17.7 and two top 10s at Sonoma.
• Nemechek finished 29th in his series track debut at Sonoma last season.
• Ryan Preece (No. 15 seed) Vs. Tyler Reddick (No. 23 seed)
• Both Preece and Reddick have each made four starts in the Cup Series at Sonoma.
• Reddick has one top-10 finish, Preece’s best finish at Sonoma is 13th.
• Preece (20.2) has a slightly better average finish than Reddick (23.8) at Sonoma.
• Ty Gibbs (No. 6 seed) Vs. Zane Smith (No. 14 seed)
• Both Gibbs and Smith have made two Cup Series starts at Sonoma Raceway.
• Smith (25.0) has the edge in average finish over Gibbs (27.5) at Sonoma.
• Smith’s best finish at Sonoma is 16th and Gibbs’ best finish is 18th.

NASCAR & Sonoma, Etc.

Historical and Significant Events at Sonoma Raceway:

• The track known today as Sonoma Raceway, was opened as a 2.52-mile, multi-elevational paved road course and drag strip in 1968 located just outside of Sonoma, California.
• The Sonoma track also has a 1.99-mile configuration of the road course and that is what the NASCAR national series currently compete on.
• Considered the largest motorsports facility in Northern California.
• The Road Course features more than 160 ft. of elevation change from its highest point (Turn 3a, 174 ft.) to its lowest point (Turn 10, 14 ft.) – the largest of any track on the NASCAR circuit.
• Over the course of its existence, the 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. He led 61 of 74 scheduled laps.
• The first nine NASCAR Cup Series races at Sonoma Raceway were 300 kilometers and then switched to a 350k format in 1998.
• In Nov. 1996, O. Bruton Smith, the founder of Speedway Motorsports, purchased Sonoma Raceway, then “Sears Point Raceway” from owner “Skip” Berg.
• 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.
• Starting in 2022, Sonoma Raceway returned the track configuration back to the 1.99-mile configuration with the return of the ‘chute’.
• More than 10 million viewers in over 90 countries watch events televised from Sonoma each year.
• In 2011, in a partnership with Panasonic Corporation of North America, the raceway installed nearly 1,700 solar panels, which offset 41% of the raceway’s energy usage.
• Nearly 4,000 sheep that live on track property provide an invaluable service, helping to maintain the grass and fire lanes around the facility.
• Drivers who complete the Toyota/Save Mart 350 NASCAR Cup Series race on the Chute configuration will make a total of 1,100 turns around the road course. The race spans 110 laps.
• The property on which the raceway was built was a working farm called Sears Point farm in the early 1900s.
• The raceway houses a motorsports industrial park of more than 70 businesses in 104 shops.
• Sonoma Raceway and Humboldt Sawmill Company, the leader in environmentally-certified redwood decking, are pleased to bring shade and comfort to race fans with custom-built fan amenities including the “Real. Strong. Humboldt Sawmill Redwood Deck” above Turn 2.
• Mat Mladin (AMA), Josh Hayes (AMA), Doug Kalitta (NHRA – Top Fuel), John Force (NHRA – Funny Car), and Jeff Gordon (NASCAR) are the only riders/drivers to three-peat in a major racing series at Sonoma Raceway.
• Winners in Sonoma celebrate with a sip from the Champion’s Goblet in Victory Lane. The goblet, which is handcrafted by a Bay Area glass blower, was introduced in 2006 and incorporates the raceway’s rich wine country heritage.
• The raceway has collected more than 734 tons of recyclable material (1,469,341 pounds) since the inception of the recycling program in 2004.
• Twenty owl boxes placed around Sonoma Raceway encourage owls to nest and help with natural rodent mitigation.
• In total there have been 35 NASCAR Cup Series races at Sonoma Raceway since the inaugural race there in 1989 – one race per season, until the 2020 season due to the pandemic the series did not compete at Sonoma Raceway.