NASCAR Sprint Cup Series - Full Race - Toyota - Save Mart 350 at Sonoma
Remember Boris Said? Ron Fellows? Brian Simo? There was a time when a trip to Sonoma meant a lineup staked with guys you wouldn"t see again until Watkins Glen. Not anymore. These days Cup Series drivers are pretty good at making right handers as well.
"I just like driving the car at road courses, said Ryan Newman. They are fun to hustle around. You are using the brake pedal and it lends itself to better racing."
There are still, as you might imagine, some guys that are better at the road courses than others. Just as there are guys that are better at plate racing or short tracks. For those guys, like Tony Stewart, Michael McDowell, Casey Mears or AJ Allmendinger, this is a change to grab a win and a spot in the Chase for the Championship.
"Weve got to have a strong weekend," Allmendinger said. "This year, weve had a fairly good year so far. This year will be a little different because the last two years Sonoma has been win or nothing. This time around we can have a top five finish and it will be a solid day and make a big difference in points. In the end, we want that win. If we go and do our job, put our best foot forward and make no mistakes, we will have a shot at it.
There are eight former Sonoma winners in the field on Sunday, Stewart is the only driver with more than one win.
Carl Edwards won in 2014 and he will lead the drivers to green from the pole.
"After that first lapI have to be honestI sat here and thought, Man, Im really going to screw this up on the second one, cause the first one was really good, but it held on for the pole, and so Im really excited," said Edwards.
Allmendiger, Martin Truex, Jr., Kurt Busch and Kyle Larson round out the top five starters. Knoxville native Trevor Bayne starts 26th.
Racing at Sonoma is definitely challenging, said Bayne. With Summer here we know the time is now to start making a move in the standings to try and get ourselves solidly in the Chase.
The race goes green at about 3:20 this afternoon. You can see it on FOX Sports 1.
Source: http://www.wcyb.com/sports/the-backstretch-blogs-race-day-the-toyota-savemart-350-at-sonoma-raceway/40231880
