NASCAR
Stratta’s Six: Who Can Be King of the Road Course in Sonoma?
Twists, turns, and tempers will define NASCAR this weekend. Week 16 of the 2023 Cup Series will see 36 drivers take on the undulating 1.99-mile Sonoma Raceway. The second road course race of the season will put all drivers to the test. Last year saw a breakthrough first-time winner at Sonoma; can we see a repeat of this upset? Here are a few ones to watch out for in Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350.
Daniel Suarez
2022 Sonoma marked a first Cup Series win for Daniel Suarez in the Trackhouse No. 99. A year removed from his career highlight, Suarez comes back to California riding some momentum. A week ago in Gateway Suarez was seventh, his first top-10 since Talladega in April.
“Every time we head to a road course, whether it’s Sonoma or somewhere else, I am excited,” Suarez said. “I feel at home and I am excited to go back to a place where we had great memories last time and hopefully we can repeat it. Sunday’s race at St. Louis was great for us. It was a good solid run from start to finish. We just need to build on it.”
“Of course we can win. We have a very good road course program. You saw how fast we were at COTA. We are going out to Sonoma with plans to sit on the pole, lead every lap and win the race.”
Should Suarez play the strategy right again, he could be facing down a second Cup Series triumph. The 99 has been a bit inconsistent with outright pace, but is now 16th in points. Gunning for a second-straight Playoff berth, Sonoma may once again fall right into Suarez’s wheelhouse.
Kyle Larson
One of the hottest drivers in NASCAR this season is also a Sonoma hometown hero. Elk Grove, California’s Kyle Larson eyes a second victory lane wine goblet. The 2021 winner at the Northern California circuit, last year left a lot to be desired for the 5 team. After leading the opening 26 laps from the pole, Larson lost a tire. This forced the 5’s day to end in a disappointing 15th-place result. Coming back home now with weekly momentum and speed on his side, Young Money enters Sonoma as a co-favorite. At one of his best venues, Larson likes his chances for Sunday.
“I always love going back home and racing at Sonoma,” Larson said. “I always get to see a lot of friends, family and race fans that grew up watching me race sprint cars and stuff around Northern California. I think all of us drivers look forward to going to Sonoma a lot, but with me being from only an hour and half away, it’s a special place. I’ve always qualified really well there. Since I’ve raced with Hendrick, we got a win there in 2021, led some laps in 2022 and had a fast car. We just missed the strategy some and then had a wheel fall off as we were starting to get back into contention. It’s kind of a flowy track. The tires wear out, so you kind of manage your runs quite a good bit. There’s a lot of elevation change too. I enjoy all that.”
Larson will be anything but lacking track time this weekend. The 2021 Cup Series champion will drop down to run Saturday’s Xfinity Series race in a rare appearance with the Hendrick No. 17 team. Between those added laps and five-straight Sonoma poles, many factors are pointing to another Larson victory.
Chris Buescher
A sneakily great road course racer has emerged over the past year since Sonoma–Chris Buescher. Dating back to a wine country runner-up 12 months ago, the 17 is riding an active streak of six-straight road course top-10s. Sonoma marked Buescher’s best ever road course finish, and 2023 shows no change yet for team 17. At COTA in March, Buescher extended this stretch of road course strength with an eight-place run.
Solidly inside the top-16 now, Sunday could see a breakthrough win for the RFK Racing driver. This team has not seen road course victory lane in nine years, dating back to Carl Edwards’ final Ford win.
William Byron
Across four Sonoma starts, William Byron has only seen one top-10, coming last year. Now as perhaps the best car and team in the series, the 24 hopes to ride their high into California. Byron’s road course prowess still sees him 0-22. After a solid fifth-place run at COTA though, the 24 is one to watch out for at Sonoma.
“We’re hoping to make some gains since COTA,” Byron said. “We were sliding around a little too much with the rear tires there. This car seemed like it had a little bit more grip at Sonoma compared to previous years. However, there were some aspects that were very similar like the shifting.”
Much like teammates Larson and Elliott in years past, 2023 William Byron is capable of winning just about everywhere. Until this performance jump by the 24 team shows any signs of slowing down, he will have short odds week in and week out. Sonoma provides an excellent opportunity for Byron to perhaps take over the points lead.
Martin Truex Jr
The winningest active driver at Sonoma, Martin Truex Jr. is in great position to snag a fourth victory. Prior to last season’s Toyota road course struggles, Truex had three-straight Sonoma top-threes. This span included two of his wins. Now simply racing for more bonus points ahead of the Playoffs, a care-free Truex could be dangerous on Sunday.
“It’s one of my favorite tracks and one of my favorite road courses,” Truex said. “Not just because that’s where I won my first road course race and where I’ve won the most on road course tracks, but just the way the track layout is and the way the tires fall off and it gets so slick as the race goes on. It’s just such a challenge with a big heavy stock car with a lot of power. We obviously struggled on all the road courses last year, but think everyone at Toyota and TRD went to work in the offseason and had a good run at COTA until the end of those restarts. I’m optimistic about having a good weekend and hoping we have a shot at a good run and maybe we can get our Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry TRD in victory lane out there this weekend.”
Toyota’s 2022 road course woes were effectively silenced at COTA. Tyler Reddick went on to lead the most laps and win that day. Coming to a track that’s suited him well for many years, Truex is on the short list of favorites. MTJ’s maiden Sonoma win came 10 years ago; Truex hopes to end this anniversary with another big celebration.
Tyler Reddick
The hottest current road course driver, Tyler Reddick boasts three wins across three different tracks in the last year. The California driver earned back-to-back road course wins a year ago at Road America and Indianapolis, his first two Cup triumphs. In March, the No. 45 was the dominant car at COTA, taking that victory after a flurry of late restarts.
Reddick enters Sonoma aiming to grab consecutive road course wins once again. The wine country track has not been kind to the Northern California driver though; Reddick’s best Sonoma result is 19th. Expect him to improve that by a lot this weekend, Reddick enters Sonoma as a winning favorite.
Sonoma marks one final chance for teams to master their road course package before 2023’s ultimate unknown–the Chicago Street Race. The Toyota/Save Mart 350 will go green Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. The Playoff bubble battle is also taking shape, with the California track giving surprise winners a shot at glory.
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credit to Sean Gardner/Getty Images for NASCAR
