Toyota/Save Mart 350 preview: After year hiatus, Martin Truex Jr. looks to pick up third-straight Sonoma victory
By Kyle Foster, photo courtesy of Don Lex (LuckyDuckImages.com)
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
To say that a lot has changed since the NASCAR Cup Series last visited Sonoma Raceway would be an understatement. But they’re finally back.
Since the 2019 event, the world entered a global pandemic that changed the landscape of sports worldwide. Due to the pandemic, the 2020 Toyota-Savemart 350 was canceled and instead relocated to Charlotte Motor Speedway. It was also one of three events moved when NASCAR made its return from the shutdown in May of 2020.
Due to the changes from the pandemic, there will be no practice or qualifying for this year’s race weekend. This means the first time the cars hit the track will be in the race.
“It’s definitely going to be different,” said Jen Imbimbo, Sonoma Raceway Director of Communications. “I mean, these guys have not been out here for a couple of years.”
The good news for the weekend is that the venue will have fans in the stands, with precautions being taken. With Sonoma County currently being in the state’s orange tier, that means they can host 33% of capacity.
“We are thrilled to be able to open our gates and welcome fans back to the raceway for our annual NASCAR race weekend in June,” said Sonoma Raceway Executive Vice President and General Manager Jill Gregory in an April press release. “We are fortunate to have a beautiful, outdoor facility that is perfect for social distancing and will provide a safe and memorable race-day experience for our guests. We look forward to welcoming the greatest fans and drivers in motorsports back to Northern California.”
The 2021 season has been one of the craziest seasons as far as parody is concerned. So far, there have been 11 different winners in the season’s first 15 races. This means the 16-driver NASCAR Playoffs field is filling up very quickly.
There are only two drivers with multiple wins on the season. One of them is 2013, 2018, and 2019 Toyota-SaveMart 350 winner Martin Truex Jr. Truex will also be looking for the first three-peat at Sonoma since Jeff Gordon did it from 1998-2000. It would be the second-ever three-peat since the Cup Series has been racing at the track.
“I’ve been waiting a while to get there and try to get the three-peat, so I’m ready to go whenever” Truex Jr. said during Daytona 500 media days on February 5th. “No practice, no qualifying – it’s all good. Just hopefully we’ll get a decent starting spot.”
Elk Grove’s own Kyle Larson has also found victory lane multiple times this season. He won at Las Vegas in the fourth race of the year and Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
The only other driver with multiple races won this year is Alex Bowman with his victories at Richmond and Dover.
Other winners this season include Christopher Bell, 2008 and 2015 Sonoma winner Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, Michael McDowell, Chase Elliot, Brad Keselowski, William Byron, and Ryan Blaney. All of them have won once this season.
Besides Larson, there will be two other drivers who will be racing at their home race track. Tyler Reddick is from Corning and will be making his first start at Sonoma. He was a rookie in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2020 and didn’t get to race here in his rookie campaign. Matt DiBenedetto, who finished fourth in the 2019 race, is from Grass Valley.
Others making their first Sonoma start include Cole Custer, Chase Briscoe, Anthony Alfredo, Bell, and Quin Houff. There will also be three new teams making their first start at Sonoma on June 6th. Those teams are Trackhouse, 23XI, and Live Fast Motorsports.
“It’s a tough course for anyone who hasn’t turned a lap here,” Imbimbo explained.
This is the first year in quite a long time that Sonoma isn’t the first road course race of the season. NASCAR revamped the schedule this season, which put two other road course races ahead of Sonoma – the Daytona International Speedway Road Course and Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. There are seven road courses on the Cup Series schedule this season.
“I think Sears Point will be kind of a more comfortable homecoming there to NASCAR,” said Brock Beard, editor of LastCar.info.
Fox Sports 1 will have the coverage of the race, which is scheduled to start at 1 pm. Before that, NASCAR on Fox’s prerace show NASCAR RaceDay will air at 11:30 am with the lead-up to the green flag. It will be the last points-paying race on the Fox portion of the schedule. Following the All-Star race at Texas Motor Speedway on June 13th, NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity races will move over to NBC and NBCSN for the second half of the season. NASCAR on NBC will take over when the series races at Nashville Superspeedway on June 20th.
Busy weekend of racing
There are going to be plenty of other events going on before Sunday’s race.
Saturday is headlined by the ARCA Menards Series West General Tire 200. The race will start at 2 pm.
The ARCA Menards Series West race is a good chance to take a look at the upcoming stars of the sport. The Saturday race is always filled with Cup Series drivers trying to gain some extra experience around the 12-turn, 2.52-mile track. There may be more Cup drivers in the field this year since there isn’t any practice or qualifying and it’s also five drivers’ first race at the track. The 50-lap event could be a chance to get more track time before Sunday’s main event.
Also joining the action this year is the Vintage Trans-Am Series. They will have two 30-minute races that precede the ARCA West Race on Saturday and the Cup Series race Sunday. It will be their second time of three racing at Sonoma in 2021.
“We are dedicated to providing an unforgettable race weekend for our fans, and we know that the roar of these historic machines will put on an incredible show,” Gregory said in an April 14th press release. “So much racing history lies in these cars and we look forward to them joining us NASCAR weekend.”
Fox Sports play-by-play commentator Mike Joy will race in the Trans-Am races on Saturday and Sunday.
To kick off the weekend, fans can drive their car around the course on Friday to benefit the Sonoma Chapter of Speedway Children’s Charities. The cost is $225 per car and there can be only three people from the same household per car.
For more information regarding NASCAR weekend, fans can go to sonomaraceway.com or call 800-870-RACE.
