Preview of the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma
By Jake Mosbach
After more than 15 weeks of only left turns, road course fans rejoice! On Sunday, the heavyweights of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series head west to take the green flag for the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway, the first road course event of the 2015 season.
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series began visiting Sonoma in 1989, when the now 1.99-mile (then 2.5-mile) course replaced the iconic Riverside International Raceway, another road course that had been on the circuit for years. Immediately, the northern California course, which had been mainly used for sports car racing, saw side-by-side racing and close finishes in NASCAR’s top series.
As of late, road course races have continued to be some of the most entertaining on the schedule, often times resembling a short track race. Old-fashioned beating and banging have become commonplace for Sonoma (and Watkins Glen), resulting in some fantastic finishes. Names such as Gordon, Stewart, Johnson and Busch have highlighted the list of winners at Sonoma Raceway. Can another driver etch their name on to that list this Sunday and win the Toyota/Save Mart 350, or will a familiar face be standing in victory lane? Here’s a quick preview.
Kurt Busch heads to wine country as the Sprint Cup Series’ most recent winner, taking the checkered flag in a rain-shortened Quicken Loans 400 from Michigan International Speedway on June 14. The series settles in Sonoma after an off-week, the second of the season. The next, and last, off-week for the Sprint Cup Series occurs after the August 22 Irwin Industrial Night Race at Bristol.
Carl Edwards is the defending champion of the race, winning last year’s event by six-tenths of a second over runner-up (and track legend) Jeff Gordon. With his somewhat surprising fuel-mileage win in May’s Coca-Cola 600, Edwards and crew can perhaps gamble a little down the stretch heading in to the Chase for the Sprint Cup. It isn’t uncommon for a Sonoma race to come down to fuel mileage, so crew chief Darian Grubb could show some more fearlessness on top of Edwards’ pit box near the end of Sunday’s race.
Jeff Gordon is, without a doubt, the track’s most successful driver. The statistics speak for themselves. Five wins, five poles, 18 top-tens and 14 top-fives are just some of the ludicrous numbers that Gordon has amassed in his 22 career races at Sonoma, and there’s no reason to think that the 2015 result could be any different. With a solid season already in the making (although he remains winless), Gordon heads to northern California with a great chance to snag his first win of 2015, and officially earn himself a spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
Need a dark horse favorite for Sunday’s race? Look no further than Michael Waltrip Racing driver Clint Bowyer. Despite a pretty dismal start to 2015, the Emporia, Kansas native has a brilliant track record at Sonoma. With an average finish of just over 9th-place, Bowyer has racked up seven top-10 finishes in his nine career starts at the track, including a win in 2012.
While Bowyer may be the dark horse, who should the real favorite be for Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350? It has to be the aforementioned Jeff Gordon. Gordon is due for a victory in 2015, and is a threat each and every time the series heads to Sonoma. Look for four-time series champion Gordon to return to his winning ways on Sunday.
The green flag for the Toyota/Save Mart 350 is set to drop around 3 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1.
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