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Toyota/Save Mart 350: Power Rankings

Another one of the seven road races this year.

By Mark Abell
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Toyota/Save Mart 350 - Qualifying Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images

Race Information

Race: Toyota/Save Mart 350
Laps: 90
Date: June 6th @ 4:00pm
Venue: Sonoma Raceway
2020 Winner: Martin Truex Jr. (2:42:09)
Network: FS1

Track

Sonoma Raceway. This 1.99 mile asphalt “amoeba” shaped asphalt course features 10 turns and has been modified over the years to accommodate the NASCAR race here (including bypassing a turn and adding pit stops along turn 11, Gilligan’s Island) to accommodate the drivers. It is vastly different from many of the more conventional track shapes and due to that you get to see just how good the concentration can be amongst the drivers.

Toyota/Save Mart 350

Favorites

Chase Elliott (third selection this year) — Chase Elliott is among the best road race drivers on the circuit. He’s won a bunch of recent ones include one of the most difficult races I’ve ever seen at Circuit of the Americas.

Ryan Blaney (fifth selection this year) — Ryan has been rallying well as of late. He has top 15 finishes in 10 of his last 12 races. He finished among the top 10 in two of his last three races at Sonoma, and fared among the top 20 in each dirt/road race this year.

High Risk/High Reward

Kurt Busch (fourth selection this year) – He finished in last place at Charlotte last week. The last two times he finished 30th or worse this season he rebounded with a top 20 win. He’s finished top 15 each of the last six times at Sonoma.

Ross Chastain (first selection this year) – He’s been up among the top racers each of the last few weeks and he did particularly well at the Circuit of the Americas. Up until his 37th place finish last week at Charlotte, he had seven consecutive top 20 finishes, quite a few had him among the top 10 late in the race.

The Dark Horse

Ryan Preece (second selection this year) – Ryan, who is currently 24th in points, has fared well at road races lately with a 15th place at Circuit of the Americas, 18th at Bristol, and 9th at Daytona road race earlier this year.

Fun Fact: From 1989 – 2001 Sonoma couldn’t accommodate all cars on their pit row so they added a second one that the slowest nine cars had to use. It was inconvenient and labeled Gilligan’s Island.

2021 Results

Favorite: Avg Finish 13th (33rd Percent)
High Risk/High Reward: Avg Finish 18th (46th Percent)
Dark Horse: Avg Finish 16th (41st Percent)