Track: Sonoma Raceway
Location: Sonoma, California
Track length: 1.99 miles
When: 3:30 p.m. ET
Where to tune in: TNT Sports, truTV, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Race purse: $11,233,037
Race distance: 110 laps | 218.9 miles
Segments: 25 | 55 | 110
Sunday’s starting lineup | Cup Series pit stall assignments
A clean Sunday, maximizing points the key for Sonoma
SONOMA, Calif. — The month of July is right around the corner, and that means just two months remain until The Chase kicks off at Darlington Raceway.
A swath of summer tracks will likely be a determining factor in who makes the top 16 as Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 precedes races at Chicagoland, EchoPark Speedway and North Wilkesboro. How does a driver make noise in the standings with so many variables in play? Look no further than Erik Jones, who has surged from 21st to 14th in points over the last four races.
One of the keys to Jones’ success and being on the right side of The Chase bubble is keeping a clean car. He’s completed all but nine laps in 2026, which is third best among full-time Cup drivers.
MORE: Weekend schedule | At-track photos: Sonoma
“We’ve had some good days in there, but we’ve not had any real bad ones, and that’s what’s kind of leapfrogged us here in points, pretty far up the standings. A lot of guys have just had bad days — even Shane (van Gisbergen) last weekend wrecked in San Diego, Preece had a few bad weeks, just the guys that we’re racing around have had struggles. We haven’t made a lot of mistakes on either end, on my end or on the team’s end, and in the times that we have, we’ve been able to kind of clean it up and salvage a day out of it. I think that’s something to be proud of.”
Both Michael McDowell and Ross Chastain are among those on the outside looking in on The Chase bubble and want to take Jones’ spot away.
The pair of Chevrolet drivers put down scorching laps in Saturday’s qualifying session, with McDowell set to roll off fourth and Chastain fifth. With every point counting for the pair, it’s still up in the air on how they will play their strategies Sunday and whether or not it will be worth risking a good chunk of stage points to go for the big payday of victory.
“We’ll see tomorrow when we see how much pace we have and how much fall-off we have,” McDowell said. “If we can win a race, we’re going to try to win the race, but there’s so much that can play out, too, in this race, so you’ve got to make good decisions, too.”
“That question is for Brandon McSwain (crew chief) and the greater group at Trackhouse and Chevy to decide what’s best for the 1 car,” Chastain said. “I make lap time and let them figure out the rest. I can’t try any harder. When we were crashing and popping brake rotors and not finishing races, I was putting in the same work, so yes, the results have came, and the points come with results. Beyond that, how we get the most points, I can control lap time, and lap time includes fenders on the car, so that’s top of mind.”
RELATED: In-Season Challenge Round 1: Sonoma | Make your bracket!
In the details …
The road-course ringers will be the main drivers to watch on Sunday, but there is a variety of the Cup Series’ best that have performed well at Sonoma in the Next Gen era.
Here’s a look at active drivers with the best average finish at the Northern California road course since 2022:
| DRIVER | AVERAGE FINISH |
|---|---|
| Michael McDowell | 4.0 |
| Chase Elliott | 5.0 |
| Chris Buescher | 6.3 |
| Ross Chastain | 11.5 |
| AJ Allmendinger | 12.3 |
| Brad Keselowski | 12.5 |
| Joey Logano | 12.5 |
| Christopher Bell | 12.5 |
| Daniel Suárez | 12.8 |
Speed reads
Race-day essentials:
– Sonoma hub: Key information, pit stalls, additional results | Read more
– Sunday Setup: Track position key for In-Season Challange advancement | Read more
– Paint Scheme Preview: Fresh on-track looks for wine country | View gallery
– Hauler Talk: Breaking down a busy San Diego inaugural | Listen now
– Power Rankings: Buescher bulls way into top five | This week’s ranks