Sonoma Schedule | Gateway Schedule
The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series goes road racing at Sonoma Raceway while the Camping World Truck Series visits Gateway Motorsports Park this weekend.
Sunday’s Toyota/SaveMart 350 is the 16th race of the 2018 Cup Series season and the first of road race of the year for NASCAR’s top division. It will mark the 30th time the series has competed on the 1.99-mile northern California circuit.
Toyota/Save Mart 350 Entry List
Last year’s winner Kevin Harvick enters Sunday’s race with a series-leading five wins but right on his heels is Kyle Busch with four victories. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver is a two-time Sonoma winner and has transformed himself into one of the series’ better road course racers. But Busch admits that evolution was not easy.
“It’s definitely something you have to work on,” Busch said. “With rule changes and tire changes, it’s something you work on every year. There’s always change that you have to work on to be competitive. When I was a kid back in Las Vegas in Legends cars, that’s where I was able to learn about shifting and turning left and turning right. I had the natural instincts for it and won a couple of championships in the winter series we had out there.
“We actually went to Sonoma back then and ran the national championship races two years in a row and finished third both times, so I had a little bit of experience on road courses as I came up through the ranks.”
Sonoma Race Winners | Sonoma Driver Averages
While both Harvick and Busch will be in the picture to continue their winning ways, two other drivers with a pair of victories each are also serious contenders. Martin Truex Jr. and Clint Bowyer both have a pair of 2018 victories and each driver has also enjoyed Sonoma success.
“We had strong performing road course cars last year,” said Truex, who won at Watkins Glen in 2017. “We had the car to beat at Sonoma. We hit on something and had a ton of speed there. Our Furniture Row Racing team has been looking forward to getting back to Sonoma to finish what we almost completed last year.”
Though he has had success at Sonoma, Truex is aware of the technical difficulties of the track.
“Sonoma is more like a short track,” Truex noted. “It has a lot of slower speed corners and a lot of elevation changes. The worn out pavement causes tires to wear out fast. It’s almost like Darlington on a road course. You have to be disciplined at Sonoma. One little hiccup can knock you off the course and most likely out of the race.”
The night before the green flag flies in Sonoma, the Camping World Truck Series will compete at Gateway Motorsports Park in the Eaton 200 presented by CK Power (8 p.m. ET on MRN). It will be the division’s 18th race at the 1.25-mile track located in the shadow of the St. Louis Arch.
Brett Moffitt held off Noah Gragson in the last Truck Series race at Iowa Speedway. Gragson, who finished ninth last year at Gateway, also participated in a Goodyear tire test held at the track in April. After finishing second a week ago, the Kyle Busch Motorsports driver looks to move up one position Saturday night at the egg-shaped Gateway track.
“Almost getting the win last week was definitely a confidence booster for me — knowing that I’m going to do whatever it takes to get the win,” Gragson said of his self-described “video game” move to try and get by Moffitt at Iowa.
“If it means that I’m going to get into the wall just a little bit there on that last lap to be in contention and really put it all on the line, that’s all I can really do as a driver and I hope I make my team proud. I’m very fortunate to have a team that sticks behind me and is proud of me to put it all out there on the line and contend for the win.”
