Toyota Save Mart 350
Sonoma Raceway
By Richard Tix
This weekend the Sprint Cup Series takes a week of rest as the head out to the West Coast to make a few right turns at Sonoma. Sonoma will up the pressure for some win-less drivers in 2015 as this race could put them in the Chase.
Different then most tracks, even the underdogs think they have a shot at a road course win. This simple fact makes racing that much more exciting, not to mention that road course's in general have been growing within the NASCAR fan base.
So, the big question will be, will someone steal a win at Sonoma and lock in a Chase spot? If someone does, it not only locks in a Chase spot for that driver but narrows down the spots that will be left for drivers trying to get in on points.
Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart both need wins in 2015 and both have been great here. Clint Bowyer is also another driver who has run well at Sonoma and is win-less on the season. Newman, Biffle, and Allmendinger (2014 Watkins Glen winner) all could have good days too, but will it be enough?
The Good
- Jeff Gordon- Unless he finds bad luck or a crash, mark Gordon down for a top 10. He has 9 straight top 10's here which includes 1 win, 3 runner up finishes, and 6 top 5's. Plus he has 18 top 10's in 22 career starts at Sonoma.
- Clint Bowyer- Bowyer has four straight top 10's here even through the last two years in which he has struggled on the season overall. He won back in 2012 and has 7 top 10's in 9 career starts.
- Jimmie Johnson- Speaking of top 10 streaks, JJ is going 6 strong at Sonoma. In that time he also has a win (2010) and 3 top 10's. Not many people thing JJ and road course, but he has held his own here.
The Middle
- Ryan Newman- Crazy stat of the day: In 13 starts Newman has a 12.9 average finish, yet only 5 top 10's. Crazy. Finishing in the top 10 less than 50% of the time yet an average finish under 13. That just shows how consistent he is, but he might not push for a win. If you look at his recent results he has been trending towards the "Bad" category that falls below.
The Bad
- David Ragan- In 8 career starts at Sonoma Ragan has only managed two top 25. Obviously much of his career has been in a underfunded car, but he needs to start finiding more top 30's and top 25's.
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr- Small sample size, but Ricky's first two finishes here were about as good looking as his mullet. A 27th place finish in 2013 and a 31st place finish in 2014 will not have his confidence too high. His starting position is also a horrendous 30.5 which will not help him at the end of the day.
- Denny Hamlin- Did you know Hamlin hasn't finished better than 23rd in 5 years at Sonoma? He actually only has two top 30's since 2010, which is terrible for a driver of his caliber and in the equipment he has.
Track Stats
- 9 current drivers have a win at Sonoma. However, only two have multiple wins (Gordon and Stewart).
- 18 total drivers have won a Cup race at Sonoma. Only five have multiple wins (Gordon, Stewart, Ricky Rudd, Rusty Wallace, and Ernie Ervan).
- Of those five, only one has more than 2 wins (Jeff Gordon- 5)
- Gordon also has the most top 5's (14) and top 10's (18) in a career
- Gordon has the most career poles (5) and Ricky Rudd the second most (4)
- Gordon has the best career average finish (8.0) followed by Dale Earnhardt (8.6)
- Rusty Wallace had an average start position of 6.9 over 17 career starts
- A Chevy has only won once (2010- Johnson) in the last 8 races. Dodge has won three times since then and has been out of the sport since after 2012.
- Before that, Chevy had won 7 of 9 races.
- Sonoma has been won by the Pole 5 times in 26 Cup races
- The last Pole win was 2004- Jeff Gordon (11 races ago)
Track Info
- Surface
- Asphalt
- Length
- 1.99 miles
- Turns
- 12
Sonoma
Raceway
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Race
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Date
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Cars
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Winner(s)
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St
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Make / Model
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1989-12
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6/11/1989
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42
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Ricky Rudd
|
4
|
Buick
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1990-12
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6/10/1990
|
44
|
Rusty Wallace
|
11
|
Pontiac
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1991-12
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6/9/1991
|
43
|
Davey Allison
|
13
|
Ford
|
1992-12
|
6/7/1992
|
43
|
Ernie Irvan
|
2
|
Chevrolet
|
1993-10
|
5/16/1993
|
43
|
Geoffrey Bodine
|
3
|
Ford
|
1994-10
|
5/15/1994
|
43
|
Ernie Irvan
|
1
|
Ford
|
1995-10
|
5/7/1995
|
43
|
Dale Earnhardt
|
4
|
Chevrolet
|
1996-10
|
5/5/1996
|
44
|
Rusty Wallace
|
7
|
Ford
|
1997-09
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5/4/1997
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44
|
Mark Martin
|
1
|
Ford
|
1998-16
|
6/28/1998
|
43
|
Jeff Gordon
|
1
|
Chevrolet
|
1999-16
|
6/27/1999
|
43
|
Jeff Gordon
|
1
|
Chevrolet
|
2000-16
|
6/25/2000
|
43
|
Jeff Gordon
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5
|
Chevrolet
|
2001-16
|
6/24/2001
|
43
|
Tony Stewart
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3
|
Pontiac
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2002-16
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6/23/2002
|
43
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Ricky Rudd
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7
|
Ford
|
2003-16
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6/22/2003
|
43
|
Robby Gordon
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2
|
Chevrolet
|
2004-16
|
6/27/2004
|
43
|
Jeff Gordon
|
1
|
Chevrolet
|
2005-16
|
6/26/2005
|
43
|
Tony Stewart
|
7
|
Chevrolet
|
2006-16
|
6/25/2006
|
43
|
Jeff Gordon
|
11
|
Chevrolet
|
2007-16
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6/24/2007
|
43
|
Juan Pablo Montoya
|
32
|
Dodge
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2008-16
|
6/22/2008
|
43
|
Kyle Busch
|
30
|
Toyota
|
2009-16
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6/21/2009
|
43
|
Kasey Kahne
|
5
|
Dodge
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2010-16
|
6/20/2010
|
43
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Jimmie Johnson
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2
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Chevrolet
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2011-16
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6/26/2011
|
43
|
Kurt Busch
|
11
|
Dodge
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2012-16
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6/24/2012
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43
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Clint Bowyer
|
6
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Toyota
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2013-16
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6/23/2013
|
43
|
Martin Truex, Jr.
|
14
|
Toyota
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2014-16
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6/22/2014
|
43
|
Carl Edwards
|
4
|
Ford
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Sonoma Weekend Articles:
- Entry List (coming soon)
- TV Schedule (coming soon)
- Power Rankings
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