The best race tracks generally provide three things to fans: great racing, great views and great strategy.
This week, the NASCAR Cup Series will have all three.
A trip to Wine Country is on tap, with 110 laps around Sonoma Raceway’s 12-turn, 1.99-mile road course set to be run. California native Kyle Larson won last year’s race at Sonoma before winning the championship, making him the fifth driver to do so in the same year.
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Will Larson repeat, or is another competitor ready to take the chalice? Here’s everything you need to know about the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma:
Sonoma entry list
Thirty-six drivers are on the Sonoma entry list. Up to 40 cars can qualify for a race, so all 36 entrants will race on Sunday. Here's the full list:
When is the NASCAR Sonoma race?
This race weekend features a practice and qualifying session before the race on Sunday. The 36-car field will be split into two groups, and each group will get a 20-minute practice session on Saturday, June 11, beginning at 4:30 p.m. ET.
Two-round qualifying begins immediately after practice at 5:30 p.m. ET. Each group will have 20 minutes to freely run as many laps as they want, with the five fastest drivers in each group advancing. In the final round, the 10 remaining drivers will have 10 minutes to turn their fastest lap, and the quickest driver will be awarded the pole.
The Toyota/Save Mart 350 begins at 4 p.m. ET on Sunday, June 12.
How to watch NASCAR this weekend
Sonoma marks the end of FOX’s race coverage for this season, with NBC taking over starting next week at Nashville through the championship in November.
Practice and qualifying coverage on Saturday will be on FS2. All coverage on Sunday will be on FS1, with NASCAR RaceDay beginning at 2 p.m. ET and the race starting at 4 p.m. ET.
All coverage before, during and after the race can be streamed online here and in the FOX Sports app.
NASCAR standings entering Sonoma
Sonoma is the 16th of 26 regular season races, so it’s time to start thinking about the playoffs. Only 16 drivers make the playoffs, and drivers secure a berth by winning a race or scoring the most points among non-winners. Here’s a look at the current playoff standings, where winners are locked in and non-winners are fighting for every point:
- Ross Chastain, 490 points, 2 wins
- Joey Logano, 467 points, 2 wins
- William Byron, 438 points, 2 wins
- Denny Hamlin, 319 points, 2 wins
- Chase Elliott, 507 points, 1 win
- Kyle Busch, 498 points, 1 win
- Kyle Larson, 444 points, 1 win
- Alex Bowman, 439 points, 1 win
- Chase Briscoe, 362 points, 1 win
- Kurt Busch, 333 points, 1 win
- Austin Cindric, 330 points, 1 win
- Ryan Blaney, 479 points
- Martin Truex Jr., 470 points
- Christopher Bell, 434 points
- Aric Almirola, 434 points
- Tyler Reddick, 379 points
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- Kevin Harvick, 377 points
- Erik Jones, 353 points
- Austin Dillon, 350 points
- Daniel Suarez, 319 points
Which active drivers have won at Sonoma?
Five of the 36 drivers racing Sunday have won at Sonoma: Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Harvick, Truex and Larson.
Truex leads active drivers with three Sonoma wins, including two of the last three races there. Kyle Busch is the only other active driver with multiple Sonoma wins (2), while Larson is the defending Sonoma winner.
NASCAR Sonoma betting odds, favorites, predictions
Sonoma is unlike most other road courses, from the scenery to the elevation changes and much more. So, even if a driver is a usual road course ace, this track is often tricky,
Elliott, who leads all drivers with seven road course wins, has never won at Sonoma and has a 14.4 average finish with two top-fives in five starts. The leaders in career average finish at Sonoma are Jones (12.8 in four starts), Harvick (13.2 in 20 starts), Kurt Busch (13.2 in 20 starts) and Logano (13.4 in 12 starts).
Last year, Larson held off Elliott in overtime for the victory at his home track. The 2021 champion won three road course races last season, while Elliott won two.
Here are some of the favorites to win at Sonoma, courtesy of our partner, PointsBet:
- Chase Elliott, +600
- Kyle Larson, +700
- Martin Truex Jr., +900
- Kyle Busch, +1000
- Ross Chastain, +1100
- Denny Hamlin, +1400
- Ryan Blaney, +1500
- Christopher Bell, +1500
- Austin Cindric, +1500
- Chase Briscoe, +1600
- Tyler Reddick, +1800
- Joey Logano, +1800
- Kurt Busch, +2000
- William Byron, +2200
- Alex Bowman, +2500
- Erik Jones, +4000
- Kevin Harvick, +4000
Editor's note: All odds are provided by our partner, PointsBet. PointsBet is our Official Sports Betting Partner and we may receive compensation if you place a bet on PointsBet for the first time after clicking our links.