The NASCAR Cup Series is headed to Wine Country.
Sonoma Raceway, a 12-turn, 1.99-mile road course in Northern Californai, will host the world’s best stock car drivers for a 110-lap race this weekend.
Daniel Suarez will look to defend his win from last year, while a number of other competitors will hope to be drinking wine from Sonoma’s victory chalice on Sunday afternoon.
Here’s everything you need to know the Toyota/Save Mart 350 this weekend:
NASCAR at Sonoma entry list
Thirty-six drivers will race this weekend at Sonoma. All the usual drivers are all competing, with several minor exceptions.
NASCAR Truck Series champion Zane Smith will pilot the No. 38 for Front Row Motorsports, with Todd Gilliland moving over to the No. 51 for Rick Ware Racing. Andy Lally, a former sports car champion, will drive RWR’s No. 15 for the first of five starts this season.
Here’s the full entry list for Sonoma:
No. 1, Ross Chastain, Trackhouse Racing
No. 2, Austin Cindric, Team Penske
No. 3, Austin Dillon, Richard Childress Racing
No. 4, Kevin Harvick, Stewart-Haas Racing
No. 5, Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports
No. 6, Brad Keselowski, RFK Racing
No. 7, Corey LaJoie, Spire Motorsports
No. 8, Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing
No. 9, Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports
No. 10, Aric Almirola, Stewart-Haas Racing
No. 11, Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing
No. 12, Ryan Blaney, Team Penske
No. 14, Chase Briscoe, Stewart-Haas Racing
No. 15, Andy Lally, Rick Ware Racing
No. 16, A.J. Allmendinger, Kaulig Racing
No. 17, Chris Buescher, RFK Racing
No. 19, Martin Truex Jr., Joe Gibbs Racing
No. 20, Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing
No. 21, Harrison Burton, Wood Brothers Racing
No. 22, Joey Logano, Team Penske
No. 23, Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing
No. 24, William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports
No. 31, Justin Haley, Kaulig Racing
No. 34, Michael McDowell, Front Row Motorsports
No. 38, Zane Smith, Front Row Motorsports
No. 41, Ryan Preece, Stewart-Haas Racing
No. 42, Noah Gragson, Legacy Motor Club
No. 43, Erik Jones, Legacy Motor Club
No. 45, Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing
No. 47, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., JTG Daugherty Racing
No. 48, Alex Bowman, Hendrick Motorsports
No. 51, Todd Gilliland, Rick Ware Racing
No. 54, Ty Gibbs, Joe Gibbs Racing
No. 77, Ty Dillon, Spire Motorsports
No. 78, Josh Bilicki, Live Fast Motorsports
No. 99, Daniel Suarez, Trackhouse Racing
When is the NASCAR race at Sonoma in 2023?
The Toyota/Save Mart 350 is set for Sunday, June 11, at 3:30 p.m. ET.
Before the race on Sunday, there will be practice and qualifying sessions. The 36-car field will be split into two groups, with each group practicing for 20 minutes on Saturday at 5 p.m. ET.
Two-round qualifying will be held on Saturday immediately after practice. Here’s how it works:
- The 36 drivers will be split into two groups (same groups as practice, found here).
- First round: 15 minutes for each group. Drivers can make unlimited laps.
- The five fastest drivers from each group advance to the second round. Starting positions 11 through 36 are set based on speeds from the first round.
- Second round: 10 minutes for the 10 drivers who advanced. Drivers can make unlimited laps. The top 10 starting positions are determined based on the best single-lap speeds from the second round.
What is the NASCAR schedule at Sonoma this weekend?
Saturday, June 10 (FS2 and streaming)
Sunday, June 11 (FOX and streaming)
Who are the past NASCAR winners at Sonoma?
Suarez scored his first (and only, as of now) career victory at Sonoma last June.
Aside from Suarez, there are four other past Sonoma winners racing on Sunday. Truex leads all active drivers with three victories, followed by Busch with two and Larson (2021) and Harvick (2017) with one apiece.
What are the NASCAR odds this weekend?
Road courses used to be easier to predict, with only a select few drivers standing out. But now, the field is full of potential winners. Dating back to 2021, the last 14 road course races have been won by seven different drivers.
Lately, it’s been Reddick dominating on the road. The 23XI Racing driver has won three of the last five road course races, but he’s finished 19th and 35th in his two career Sonoma starts. The Hendrick Motorsports duo of Elliott and Larson are also typically strong – the former has seven road wins and the former has four.
Beyond that trio, the best drivers at Sonoma specifically have been Suarez (12.2 average finish in five starts), Harvick (12.8 in 21 starts) and Logano (13.7 in 13 starts).
Here’s a full look at some odds to win at Sonoma before practice and qualifying, courtesy of our partner, PointsBet:
- Tyler Reddick, +450
- Kyle Larson, +475
- Chase Elliott, +500
- William Byron, +800
- Kyle Busch, +900
- Ross Chastain, +1200
- Daniel Suarez, +1300
- AJ Allmendinger, +1600
- Austin Cindric, +1800
- Chris Buescher, +1900
- Christopher Bell, +2200
- Kevin Harvick, +2200
- Ryan Blaney, +2200
- Alex Bowman, +2500
- Joey Logano, +2900
- Martin Truex Jr., +3300
- Denny Hamlin, +3300
What is the weather for NASCAR in Sonoma?
NBC Bay Area is predicting a nice weekend in Sonoma. Temperatures could reach 69 degrees on Sunday, with cloudy skies in the morning before sun in the afternoon and just a 12% chance of rain. Keep up to date with the latest forecast here.
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.