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  • Smoke Beats and Bangs his Way Back to Victory Lane

    Smoke Beats and Bangs his Way Back to Victory Lane

    After about losing the race running wide in turn 7a on the final lap, Tony Stewart capitalized on Denny Hamlin locking up in Turn 11, made contact with him, hit the wall and scored the victory at Sonoma.

    The driver of the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet snapped an 84-race winless streak as he won the Toyota/Save Mart 350.

    When asked if this win is significant because of its timing, he said “They’re all good; it doesn’t matter where you get them. But, we ran close to those guys all day. We just got stuck back in traffic. It’s pretty ironic the last one we got was in a Code 3 car and I’m proud to do it again. I’m proud of Mobil 1 and Bass Pro and everybody. It’s just an awesome job.”

    It’s his 49th career win in 598 Sprint Cup Series starts, first of 2016, first since Dover in June of 2013, third at Sonoma Raceway and first since 2005.

    He currently sits 32nd in points nine points back of the Chase cutoff.

    Hamlin brought his wounded No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota home to a runner-up finish.

    “Tony was doing a good job maintaining his tires, a good job of running consistent laps there,” Hamlin said. “Really he gave me an opportunity to get close. On the second to last lap, he wheel-hopped into (turn) seven, allowed us to get close and I just did a poor job of getting through 11. I was expecting to really drive in deep and I really thought that was going to happen and he did, but I also left the bottom open and that was a bad mistake on my part.”

    It’s his seventh top-10 finish of the season and third in 11 races at Sonoma. He earned the bonus point for leading the most laps at 33. Joey Logano rounded out the podium in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford.

    “We had a hard-fought third-place finish today, which is no easy finish here at Sonoma at any point,” Logano said.

    It’s his fourth top-10 finish in eight races at Sonoma.

    Carl Edwards led 24 laps on his way to a fourth-place finish in his No. 19 JGR Toyota.

    “We had a really fast Stanley Toyota, this was the most fun I’ve had in a long time, really good car,” Edwards said. “It was fun to race. Congrats to Tony, I know he drove his heart out there. It’s pretty neat to see him in victory lane. We just had some fun today, it was a good time.”

    After losing second to Hamlin going into turn 7a with 12 laps to go, Martin Truex Jr. rounded out the top-five in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota.

    “We just burned it up at the end trying to get Smoke (Tony Stewart) and I gave up a couple spots, but I had to try to go for it,” Truex said of the closing laps. “The rear tires were gone at the end. It was a good race and congrats to Tony, it’s good to see and it’s been a long time coming for him.”

    Kevin Harvick led three laps on his way to a sixth-place finish in his No. 4 SHR Chevrolet. Kyle Busch led two laps on his way to a seventh-place finish in his No. 18 JGR Toyota. Ryan Newman finished eighth in his No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. Kasey Kahne finished ninth in his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Kurt Busch rounded out the top-10 in his No. 41 SHR Chevrolet.

    Despite leading 20 laps and being a front-runner for most of the afternoon, an uncontrolled tire penalty relegated AJ Allmendinger to the tail-end of the longest line during the fourth caution of the race and he finished 14th. Paul Menard, who led three laps, finished 16th. Danica Patrick, who led three laps, finished 19th.

    Thirty-five cars finished on the lead lap and 37 finished the race. Josh Wise exited the race with 14 laps remaining due to engine failure. Michael McDowell left the race with 18 laps to go for rear gear failure and Clint Bowyer exited the race on lap seven for an electrical fire in the dashboard of his car.

    The race lasted two hours, 42 minutes and 13 seconds at an average speed of 80.966 mph. There were 12 lead changes among eight different drivers and four cautions for 10 laps.

    Harvick leaves with a 35-point lead over Kurt Busch in the points standings.

    The next race for the Sprint Cup Series is the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway this Saturday night.

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  • Edwards Takes the Pole in Sonoma

    Edwards Takes the Pole in Sonoma

    Carl Edwards will lead the field to the green flag tomorrow afternoon after claiming pole position in wine country.

    The driver of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota scored the pole for the Toyota/Save Mart 350 after posting a time of 1:14.799 and a speed of 95.777 mph.

    “That was good,” Edwards said of his pole lap. “My first lap was amazing, the car was really good and then I wasn’t sure about the second lap. It was good enough and that tells you how good the car is. I just can’t say enough about Stanley and all the things they’re doing for us. We had a dinner last night for us and this will be really exciting for them to have their Stanley Toyota up on the pole for the start of the race and hopefully we can stay there and get another win.”

    It’s his 19th career pole in 425 Sprint Cup Series starts, the third pole of 2016 and his first at Sonoma Raceway.

    AJ Allmendinger will start second in his No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet after posting a time of 1:14.878 and a speed of 95.676 mph while Martin Truex Jr. will start third in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota after posting a time of 1:14.881 and a speed of 95.672 mph.

    “Honestly, for where we were yesterday; it was a struggle yesterday,” Allmendinger said. “We just never could really find the direction of the car. All my guys did a great job to get to work and get this Kroger/Kingsford Chevy closer to the front. When I saw Carl first lap, I kind of said I don’t care what kind of lap I run. If he runs that again, I’m not going to get close. And then I saw it was less than a tenth. I always nitpick, but it was a big gain from where we were yesterday. We’ve still got to go to work and we’ve still got to figure out what we need for race trim, but a good start at least.”

    “I thought we had it, thought we had a shot at it – I know we had a shot at it obviously being second in the first round,” Truex said of his qualifying run. “Knew a few spots on the track I could do a better job driving. Made a few adjustments on the car and felt like I could make up some time. Really had it all put together going into turn 11 and just missed it by six inches down there and got it a little bit tight and had to wait on the gas. If you don’t get off that corner, you lose a lot of time coming to the start-finish line…All in all, it was my best qualifying effort here and this is typically a place we race well, just don’t qualify well so I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

    Kurt Busch will start fourth in his No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet after posting a time of 1:14.895 and a speed of 95.654 mph followed by Kyle Larson who will round out the top-five starters in his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet after posting a time of 1:15.124 and a speed of 95.362 mph.

    Denny Hamlin will start sixth in his No. 11 JGR Toyota and Joey Logano will start seventh in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford.

    Logano said afterwards that his run was “better than where we were last year. We were 17thor 18th last year, so we’ve improved. I thought I had a shot after the first round, but lost some grip the second round and tried harder at the same time and all of that just didn’t work out. It’s unfortunate that we lost a little bit from the first round to the second round, but we’re still in good shape. I still think we have a top-five car and we proved that today in qualifying. We were really close to that, so now we’ll just work our way through it and see where we end up. At this race you never know what’s gonna happen. It’s about strategy and the fastest car doesn’t always win. A lot of times if you have a top-5 car you can figure out ways to win and I feel like we have that, so it’s just all about executing the race strategy and getting through the race by keeping your cool and doing all of that right.”

    Kyle Busch will start eighth in his No. 18 JGR Toyota, Paul Menard will start ninth in his No. 27 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet as Tony Stewart rounds out the top-10 starters in his No. 14 SHR Chevrolet.

    Danica Patrick will start 11th in her No. 10 SHR Chevrolet. Brad Keselowski will round out the 12 drivers that made the final round of qualifying in his No. 2 Penske Ford.

    Among the cars that didn’t advance out of the first round included all four cars of Hendrick Motorsports.

    Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was fastest in final practice the day before, said his team “just didn’t see what everybody had yesterday. We ran the same times as we did yesterday. The car drove the same. There were just some guys out there that were faster and they just never really made a mock run or showed that speed yesterday. We do have a good race car as far as race trim speed against everybody else. I still feel like this is the best car I’ve had at this race track. The car drove good. I made a couple of mistakes that cost me enough time to get into the next round. But, I make a mistake every lap I run here and that’s just the way it’s going to be. The guys have done a good job of giving me a good race car to cover me every once in a while and I’m pretty excited about tomorrow. I didn’t think we’d get the pole. I know everybody was excited. All the fans were excited about how we ran yesterday. But, I knew there were some guys that just get around this place no matter what car they’re in. They’re fast and when it came to pole day they were going to show up and they did.”

    Cody Ware is the lone DNQ for this weekend.

    Dylan Lupton will make his first career Sprint Cup Series start tomorrow driving the No. 93 Toyota for BK Racing.

    Twenty Chevrolets, 11 Fords and nine Toyotas will comprise the 40-car field for tomorrow’s race.

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  • Dale Jr., Larson Lead Friday Practices at Sonoma

    Dale Jr., Larson Lead Friday Practices at Sonoma

  • Jimmie Johnson says there have been talks about changes to plate package

    Jimmie Johnson says there have been talks about changes to plate package

    Speaking before the media earlier today, Jimmie Johnson says the Driver’s Council has discussed changes desired for the upcoming trip to the “World Center of Racing” next week.

    During his media availability at Sonoma Raceway this afternoon, the driver of the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was asked whether there have been any discussions on making changes to the restrictor plate aerodynamic package ahead of the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway.

    “Yeah, I think we had one Driver Council meeting since,” he said. “I don’t remember spending a ton of time talking on it. I know following Talladega there were a lot of suggestions made.”

    He also added that he made some suggestions right after last month’s GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, in which he was caught in a 21-car wreck in turn 1 with 26 laps to go.

    “I certainly had some opinions of why passing was as difficult as it was and the energy that it created in the pack and the need to kind of bump-draft and slam-draft and then crash, like that whole process that took place. I know that they don’t want to over-react and we’re going to a different track in Daytona that works a little bit differently than Talladega does. So, I feel comfortable with it. I think, ideally, we would love to have the side draft be less impactful. We’d love to have a push from another car be more beneficial. And with the gear and horsepower reduction, I think that took away some of that offensive opportunity that existed. But, we’ll see how Daytona races and take it from there. I know that there’s another Driver Council meeting down in Daytona. It will probably be top of mind for everybody then.”

    The current restrictor plate aero package has been in place with minor changes made to it since the 2013 Daytona 500. For the most part, the only real change to it is usually the size of the holes in the restrictor plates in order to add or reduce horsepower.

    NASCAR has announced that the package as it was used at Talladega in May and the Daytona 500 in February will be used next weekend. This is in spite of three cars getting airborne in the most recent race at Talladega.

    “The one car that got in the air on its own was the 20 car (Matt Kenseth) and we looked at that,” said NASCAR Executive Vice-President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O’Donnell earlier today at Sonoma. He added that NASCAR is “satisfied with the race package we have.”

    Despite the lack of major changes, Johnson says the drivers still notice the more minor ones.

    “They don’t change a ton. There’s some sensitivity change to the dynamics and how it works, but the package is still very similar. You just notice or feel like last time you could clear a car more easily, or I could get up and push somebody a little bit harder and give them a run around a car. So, it’s more subtle things that we notice. Certainly, when you’re in the car after 300 or 400 miles, you can’t complete a pass, the little bump turns into a nudge and into a slam and then we have chaos like we did at Talladega. So, I guess it if gets off to a slow start, you can probably bank on a wild finish.”

  • NASCAR Racing Schedule for Sonoma and Gateway

    NASCAR Racing Schedule for Sonoma and Gateway

    The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series travels to Sonoma Raceway this weekend while the Camping World Truck Series will compete at Gateway Motorsports Park. The XFINITY Series is off. Please check below for the complete schedule of events.

    All times are Eastern.

    Friday, June 24:

    On-Track – Sonoma:
    3-4:55 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series First Practice – FS1
    6:30-7:55 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Final Practice – FS1

    Garage Cam: (Watch live)
    2:30 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series

    Press Conferences: (Watch live)
    2 p.m.: Jimmie Johnson
    2:15 p.m.: Kyle Larson
    5:30 p.m.: Joey Logano
    5:45 p.m.: Kyle Busch

    Saturday, June 25:

    On-Track – Gateway:
    9:30-10:25 a.m.: Camping World Truck Series First Practice
    11:30 a.m.-12:55 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Final Practice – FS1
    5:45 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Keystone Light Pole Qualifying – FS2
    8:30 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Drivin For Linemen 200 Brought to you by Altec (160 laps, 200 miles) – FS1 – Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

    On-Track – Sonoma:
    2:15 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – FS1

    Press Conferences: (Watch live)
    12:30 p.m.: Jeff Gordon
    3:30 p.m.: Post-Sprint Cup Qualifying (time approx.)

    Sunday, June 26:

    On-Track – Sonoma:
    3 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Toyota – Save Mart 350 (110 laps, 218.9 miles) – FS1  
    Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

    Press Conferences: (Watch live)
    6 p.m.: Post-Sprint Cup Race (time approx.)

    Notes:

    • Actor Luke Wilson will serve as the official pace car driver for the Toyota / Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway. Best known for his comedic roles in “Old School,” “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy” and “Legally Blonde,” the Texan currently stars in Showtime’s new series “Roadies,” premiering on June 26.
    • Patrick Carpentier of Ville LaSalle, Quebec, Canada will make his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start since 2011 in the No. 32 GO FAS Racing Ford. A five-time winner in the CART Series, Carpentier’s last NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start came at Kansas where he finished 30th. His top career finish was an 11th-place showing at Sonoma in 2009. Carpentier won the Coors Light Pole at New Hampshire in 2008.
    • Tony Stewart and Ernie Irvan will join Sonoma Raceway’s Wall of Fame this weekend, joining fellow NASCAR figures, Rusty Wallace (2005), Mark Martin (2005), Jeff Gordon (2006), Ricky Rudd (2007) and Rick Hendrick (2010). Stewart and Irvan each won twice at Sonoma. Stewart will go for his third victory in his final race at the 1.99-mile track on Sunday.

    *Complete NASCAR TV Schedule*

  • Kyle Busch Takes the Checkered Flag to Win at Sonoma Raceway

    Kyle Busch Takes the Checkered Flag to Win at Sonoma Raceway

    It was a day filled with hard crashes, a day that brought back memories of another crash.

    Kyle Busch had a terrible crash at Daytona in February in the XFINITY Series race, breaking his leg and foot. He was out of racing for several months recuperating and rehabbing, to be able to race again. Many critics said he wouldn’t be back at all this year.  Even his doctors were not optimistic about a return before mid-July.

    But Busch had his own ideas about returning and in 12 weeks he was back. In preparation, he had extra padding and shoes made specifically for him.  While still in rehab, Busch even predicted he would win a race this year.

    Talk was circulating that Busch would be automatically placed in the Chase by NASCAR.  Finally, a medical waiver was issued that released Busch from the stipulation that a driver must attempt to qualify for all 26 regular season races to qualify for a Chase berth. He would, however, have to finish within the top 30 in the point standings to be eligible.

    Few thought Busch could win a race.  Crew chief Adam Stevens said, “It is a miracle,” and went on to say that, “It was almost impossible to win on a road course, of all things.”

    A late race caution had the leader, Jimmie Johnson, staying out while Clint Boyer, Kyle Busch, and Kurt Busch went to pit road for 4 tires.  It wasn’t long before Johnson couldn’t hold off the challengers with their new tires. With five laps to go, Kyle Busch passed Johnson for the lead and never gave it up. When Johnson lost the lead, he was losing ground fast.

    At the same time, Kurt Busch came from deep in the field and was picking cars off as he drove to the front.  Boyer was racing Kurt Busch for second.  Busch battled with Clint Boyer and moved passed Boyer for second place. While that was going on Kyle Busch was pulling away.

    Kurt then set his sights on his brother and tried to run him down. Kyle was pushing hard to win the race and in the last two laps made mistakes in turn 11, but Kurt was unable to catch his brother.

    Kyle was not to be denied, winning the race. Kurt finished second with Bowyer finishing in third place.

    After the race, Kurt was somewhat upset because he thought he should have been more aggressive on the final two restarts. By not being aggressive, Kyle was able to race without being challenged.

    Kurt was, however, ecstatic about the one-two finish for him and his brother and praised Kyle’s quick return to the track after his injuries.

    “I’m very proud of Kyle for getting back in the car as soon as he did. He further stated,” to be competitive at a tough racetrack like Sonoma, I am very proud of him.”

    With this win, Kyle tied Kevin Harvick for 23rd on the all-time wins list. This is Busch’s first win this year; his last victory was March 23, 2014. There are 800 starts between the brothers and this is the first time they finished one-two.

    Clint Boyer said it was wild out there.

    “We weren’t just able to capitalize,” Bowyer explained. ”I think we were probably a second or third place car. It seemed like for whatever reason the 48 (Jimmie Johnson) came on really good there. The 41 (Kurt Busch) was probably the fastest car all weekend long. We were right there with him. Fun to come out here in wine country and be able to compete like that. This is where we need to be running. We need to be able to go to these regular race tracks and keep this momentum and confidence level up that we have when we come out here. It’s unfortunate, you get that close and you want to get greedy.”

    Kyle described his day as “awesome,” and gave credit to his crew chief for making the right call at the end of the race and the team for great pit stops.

    “There at the end our best chance to win was coming in and getting 4 tires,” Busch said.

    He also spoke about the physical toll the race took on him.

    “The hardest thing for me today was the braking,” he stated. “You brake often and hard.”

    At his track, drivers only use the clutch to take off. They shift while on the course without using the clutch. He went on to say,”I was sore on Friday, left the track and iced all night. The pain on Saturday was not an issue. Having a win means you don’t have to push as hard. The emphasis will be on finishing third or fourth or even fifth”.

    The series returns to Daytona next week, the track where he was badly injured. Is Busch worried?

    When asked about it, Kyle smiled and said, “I’m looking forward to it.”

  • Pole Sitter A.J. Allmendinger Falls Out of Contention with Mechanical Issues

    Pole Sitter A.J. Allmendinger Falls Out of Contention with Mechanical Issues

    Starting on the pole for the Toyota SaveMart 350, A.J. Allmendinger would lead laps early and look to be en route to contending for a victory in the later stages of the event. However, on lap 61, Allmendinger headed down pit road with mechanical issues.

    The team was unable to diagnose the program, sending Allmendinger back on the track. He made a couple more laps, despite not being able to go over 7000 rpms as the team didn’t want him to go behind the wall. Finally, Allmendinger would go behind the wall at lap 64, with the team changing both the ECU and fuel tank.

    “Still investigating, it looks like something with the fuel system may have gotten clogged up or gotten some debris or something in there,” crew chief Brian Burns commented. “Not sure yet. We will take a good look at it when we get back to the shop and regroup. Man, even after having to come back out laps down. We turned it into a test sessions and learned a lot, picked up a lot of speed. We ran the fastest lap of the race compared to anybody else towards the end just trying some things. Trying to turn something positive into it.”

    It marks a big disappointment as Allmendinger was hoping to score the victory to punch his ticket for the Chase for the Championship, just as he did last year in winning the road course race at Watkins Glen.

    “The car was good,” he commented. “I thought we had a better chance of winning this year than we did last year.  It was still going to be tough. The No. 41 (Kurt Busch) was pretty solid. The No. 18 (Kyle Busch) the way it played out was pretty good.  I know the No. 48 (Jimmie Johnson) was good. We just fought the rear a little bit. I don’t know how that would have played out at the end. I know we had the fastest lap of the race, which shows the car had speed. I think we were going in the right direction it just feels like a swift kick to everything right now. But it’s nothing we really did wrong it is one of those circumstances.”

  • Kyle Busch Resurrects Season with Spectacular Victory at Sonoma

    Kyle Busch Resurrects Season with Spectacular Victory at Sonoma

    By Reid Spencer

    SONOMA, Calif. – Check the box. Kyle Busch has a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory.

    That simple statement hardly plumbs the depth of emotion Kyle Busch was feeling after winning Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway.

    In the first-ever 1-2 finish in the series by the Busch brothers, Kyle Busch beat Kurt Busch to the finish line by .532 seconds to win for the first time since returning from an 11-race absence because of a broken right leg and left foot sustained in a Feb. 21 accident at Daytona International Speedway.

    “First Busch brothers 1-2, boys,” Kyle Busch exulted on his radio after taking the checkered flag. “Mom and Dad should be proud.”

    On Lap 106 of 110, Kyle Busch muscled Jimmie Johnson out of the way and took the lead on the way to his second victory at the 1.99-mile road course and the 30th of his career. Johnson had stayed out on old tires while Busch joined a parade to pit road for new rubber after the left rear wheel assembly separated from Casey Mears Chevrolet to cause the fifth and final caution of the race on Lap 99.

    Johnson led the field to a restart on Lap 104, but the cars with fresh tires soon asserted their superiority, with Kurt Busch, Clint Bowyer, reigning series champion Kevin Harvick and Joey Logano all following Kyle Busch in putting the six-time champion behind them.

    Kyle Busch restarted seventh and got past Bowyer, the eventual third-place finisher, soon thereafter in heavy traffic at the top of the hill in Turn 2. Two laps later, he passed Johnson for the lead.

    All told, 46 races had passed since Kyle Busch last went to Victory Lane in NASCAR’s premier series, including the 11 he missed because of the Daytona injuries. Busch last won at Fontana, Calif., on Mar. 23, 2014. The victory extends his streak of winning at least one race per year to 11 years.

    More significant, the triumph gives Busch the first element he needs to qualify for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Busch also must finish in the top 30 in the series standings after 26 races in order to maintain his eligibility for NASCAR’s playoff.

    With the win, Busch gained two positions in the standings to 37th, 136 points behind 30th-place Cole Whit with 10 races left in the regular season.

    “Yeah, we have our work cut out for us,” he said. “We knew we did in the beginning (after returning to competition five races ago), and I knew we put us in the hole in points. It’s unfortunate that we’ve had a couple crashes (in recent events at Dover and Michigan).

    “As much as I can do, that’s what we’re going to do. Adam Stevens, this is his first win as a Cup crew chief, so this is pretty special. My wife is here, she flew in this morning. So it’s awesome to have her with us today. Brexton (Busch’s newborn son) is at home, though. He didn’t want to fly six hours, so we let him stay at home this time. This is so cool.”

    Kurt Busch led a race-high 43 laps but spent too much time getting past Bowyer in the closing laps to have a realistic chance to catch his brother. But his disappointment at finishing second was trumped by empathy for the ordeal Kyle has endured this season.

    “It was emotional,” Kurt Busch acknowledged. “I know he’s been through quite a bit; to have your leg broken, your foot shattered, to never (before) be injured and out of the car … I don’t know what that feels like, but I do know that working with Tony Stewart and having him go through rehab, rehab is very difficult, and it is a mental challenge.

    “And I’m very proud of Kyle for what he’s done to get back in the car as soon as he did get back in the car, and then to be competitive at a track with hard, hard braking and to use his left foot to drive to victory lane, I’m very proud of him.”

    Then Kurt’s competitive juices took over, and he added, tongue-in-cheek, “I just wish I could have one more lap to get to his bumper, but I think he didn’t want to see an extra lap.”

    NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race – Toyota/Save Mart 350
    Sonoma Raceway
    Sonoma, California
    Sunday, June 28, 2015

    1. (11) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 110, $315481.
    2. (2) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 110, $222630.
    3. (6) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 110, $191988.
    4. (17) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 110, $183230.
    5. (19) Joey Logano, Ford, 110, $166638.
    6. (13) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 110, $162406.
    7. (20) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 110, $122995.
    8. (26) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 110, $118895.
    9. (16) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 110, $135420.
    10. (24) Sam Hornish Jr., Ford, 110, $132065.
    11. (18) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 110, $129976.
    12. (7) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 110, $126674.
    13. (32) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 110, $106060.
    14. (25) Aric Almirola, Ford, 110, $133846.
    15. (4) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 110, $124618.
    16. (5) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 110, $139846.
    17. (37) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 110, $131271.
    18. (15) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 110, $108485.
    19. (10) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 110, $137901.
    20. (40) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 110, $101135.
    21. (3) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 110, $129421.
    22. (29) Cole Whitt, Ford, 110, $109493.
    23. (31) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 110, $131885.
    24. (21) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 110, $98160.
    25. (36) Alex Kennedy #, Chevrolet, 110, $107193.
    26. (33) Boris Said(i), Ford, 110, $99868.
    27. (22) Greg Biffle, Ford, 110, $119393.
    28. (38) Josh Wise, Chevrolet, 109, $87685.
    29. (30) Matt DiBenedetto #, Toyota, 109, $99118.
    30. (35) Justin Marks(i), Ford, 109, $88810.
    31. (41) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 109, $96182.
    32. (43) Jeb Burton #, Toyota, 109, $83965.
    33. (42) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 109, $83855.
    34. (23) Michael McDowell, Ford, 109, $83720.
    35. (27) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 107, $91555.
    36. (39) Landon Cassill(i), Chevrolet, 99, $83470.
    37. (1) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 98, $113795.
    38. (8) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, Rear Axle, 97, $85913.
    39. (9) David Ragan, Toyota, Accident, 78, $101064.
    40. (14) Carl Edwards, Toyota, Accident, 78, $69850.
    41. (34) JJ Yeley(i), Toyota, Accident, 71, $65850.
    42. (12) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, Accident, 31, $88195.
    43. (28) David Gilliland, Ford, Accident, 20, $66350.

    Average Speed of Race Winner: 74.774 mph.
    Time of Race: 02 Hrs, 55 Mins, 39 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.532 Seconds.
    Caution Flags: 5 for 21 laps.
    Lead Changes: 9 among 5 drivers.

    Lap Leaders: A. Allmendinger 0; Kurt Busch 1-22; A. Allmendinger 23; C. Bowyer 24-27; Kyle Busch 28-39; Kurt Busch 40-52; J. Johnson 53-66; Kurt Busch 67-74; J. Johnson 75-105; Kyle Busch 106-110.

    Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): J. Johnson 2 times for 45 laps; Kurt Busch 3 times for 43 laps; Kyle Busch 2 times for 17 laps; C. Bowyer 1 time for 4 laps; A. Allmendinger 1 time for 1 lap.

    Top 16 in Points: K. Harvick – 616; M. Truex Jr. – 563; J. Logano – 559; J. Johnson – 546; D. Earnhardt Jr. – 545; B. Keselowski – 505; J. Mcmurray – 497; K. Kahne – 483; M. Kenseth – 479; Kurt Busch – 469; J. Gordon – 462; P. Menard – 452; D. Hamlin – 438; R. Newman – 435; A. Almirola – 431; C. Bowyer – 430.

  • NASCAR Racing Schedule for Sonoma Raceway

    NASCAR Racing Schedule for Sonoma Raceway

    The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to the road course at Sonoma Raceway this weekend while the XFINITY Series and the Camping World Truck Series are off. Please check below for the full schedule.

    All times Eastern.

    Friday, June 26:

    On Track:

    3-4:55 p.m.: Sprint Cup Practice – FOX Sports 2
    6:30-7:55 p.m.: Sprint Cup Final Practice – FOX Sports 2

    Press Conferences Press Conferences (Watch live at NASCAR.com)

    1:15 p.m.: AJ Allmendinger
    1:30 p.m.: Jeff Gordon
    2:15 p.m.: Dale Earnhardt Jr.
    5:05 p.m.: Carl Edwards

    Saturday, June 27:

    On Track:

    2:15 p.m.: Sprint Cup Coors Light Pole Qualifying – FOX Sports 1

    Press Conferences Press Conferences (Watch live at NASCAR.com)

    3:15 p.m.: Post-qualifying NSCS Press Conference (Time approx.)

    Sunday, June 28:

    On Track:

    3 p.m.: Sprint Cup Toyota/Save Mart 350 (110 laps, 218.9 miles) – FOX Sports 1 (Green Flag 3:19 p.m. approx.)

    Press Conferences Press Conferences (Watch live at NASCAR.com)

    5:45 p.m.: Post-race NSCS Press Conference (Time approx.)

    Notes:

    The NASCAR RaceDay Pre-Race Show will air at 2:00 p.m. on Fox Sports 1.

  • Sonoma Raceway Sprint Cup Preview – Just the Facts

    Sonoma Raceway Sprint Cup Preview – Just the Facts

    With only 11 races remaining in the regular season, the action heats up as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series travels to Sonoma Raceway this weekend for some road course action in California.

    Did you Know?

    • The NSCS competes at Sonoma Raceway once each season. The first Cup race was held there in 1989.
    • Ricky Rudd won the first race on June 11, 1989 at a speed of 76.088 mph.
    • Rusty Wallace won the inaugural pole with a 90.041 mph lap.
    • Danica Patrick is the only female NSCS driver that has competed at Sonoma Raceway.
    • Dale Earnhardt won his only NASCAR road course race at Sonoma in 1995.
    • The last 10 races have produced 10 different winners:

    2005 – Tony Stewart
    2006 – Jeff Gordon
    2007 – Juan Pablo Montoya
    2008 – Kyle Busch
    2009 – Kasey Kahne
    2010 – Jimmie Johnson
    2011 – Kurt Busch
    2012 – Clint Bowyer
    2013 – Martin Truex Jr.
    2014 – Carl Edwards

    Winners and Losers:

    • Kurt Busch has the best driver rating at Sonoma (106.5) followed by Jeff Gordon (103.4) and Tony Stewart (98.8).
    • Gordon’s resume, however, may be the most impressive as he leads the series with nine road course wins, five at Sonoma and four at Watkins Glen. Although his last triumph was in 2006, this could be one of his best opportunities to bring home his first checkered flag of the season.
    He is the only driver with consecutive wins at this track, with three victories between the years 1998-2000. Gordon is also the lone competitor to win from the pole more than once (1998, 1999 and 2004) and he leads the series with 14 top-five finishes at Sonoma.
    • Matt Kenseth and Dale Earnhardt Jr. are at the other end of the spectrum. They have the dubious distinction of leading all active drivers with the most NSCS starts at Sonoma (15) with no wins to show for their efforts. A trip to Victory Lane would be huge for either driver but if their driver ratings at the track are any indication, Earnhardt (72.1) and Kenseth (75.4) are long shots at best.

    Milestones:

    • Brad Keselowski is set to make his 300th NSCS consecutive start on June 28 at Sonoma Raceway.
    • If Kevin Harvick places in the top-two this Sunday, he will accomplish something that only one other driver in NSCS history has done by capturing 11 top-two finishes in the first 16 races of the season. Bobby Allison did so in 1972.
    • Carl Edwards is tied with Dale Earnhardt Jr. with 24 series career wins. A win at Sonoma would tie him with Joe Weatherly and Denny Hamlin who are 29th on the all-time wins list with 25.

    Ten different drivers have secured their spot in the Chase with a victory this year. Will a new driver emerge victorious at Sonoma Raceway this weekend? Tune into the Toyota/Save Mart 350 on FOX Sports 1 Sunday, June 28 at 3 p.m. to find out.