Drivers to watch, drivers with questions to answer at NASCAR Toyota Save Mart 350
The Toyota Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway is going to have the NASCAR Cup Series turning left and right, and going uphill, too. This track is winding and has a few quirks of its own. Even drivers that are solid on road courses in general have a bit of trouble at this venue. Once again we have a number of drivers to keep an eye on. And those that need to perform and answer some questions.
Going into a road course weekend, there are drivers that you think of as favorites almost immediately. Trust me, we’ll get into that. But what can last week tell us about this race and the season in general? Well, not a lot. Gateway is kind of its own thing, there isn’t another track quite like it.
However, we did notice that some of those strong road course drivers had good runs last week. Likely due to the shifting and the braking required at the Enjoy Illinois 300. Could that come into play at Sonoma Raceway for the Toyota Save Mart 350?
Drivers to watch at Sonoma Raceway
In this Toyota Save Mart 350, I have my eyes on three drivers. All are racing not far from where they were born and raised in California and will be looking to put on a show for friends and family in attendance.
Tyler Reddick
We can’t go to a road course without talking about Tyler Reddick. He just has a knack for the turns and the things you need to be successful on the road. He has a win at COTA this year and going back to last season, he only has one non-top-10 finish at a road course. It was a DNF at Sonoma last season. Could he avenge himself this year?
Kyle Larson
Of course, you have to always keep an eye on Kyle Larson on the road courses as well. He has a Sonoma win from 2021 and is almost always a threat to win on these road courses. Outside of the All-Star Race win, Larson has struggled a bit. He’s running both Xfinity and Cup this weekend and is favored to win alongside Reddick at 9-2 odds.
AJ Allmendinger
The Dinger! He’s a road course ace who happens to also be a regular in the NASCAR Cup Series. AJ Allmendinger hasn’t had the best luck at Sonoma over the years. But with his road course background, he is one to watch. He will also be pulling double duty just like Larson this weekend.
Drivers with questions to answer at Toyota Save Mart 350
Chase Elliott
The comeback part two? Chase Elliott is fresh off his one-race suspension from wrecking Denny Hamlin at Charlotte. He has more road course wins than any other active driver in the Cup Series and he needs a win, badly. Elliott needs to answer the bell and come away with a strong top-5 performance, at least. He qualified P2 in each of the last two seasons.
Trackhouse Racing
I’m going to just lump both Ross Chastain and Daniel Suárez into this one. Out of the two, Suárez is the one with the most momentum. P7 last week at Gateway and heading back to the race he won last season. But we need to see something big out of the Mexican-born driver at the Toyota Save Mart 350 to believe he’s got the same speed as he did a year ago.
As for Chastain, it is obvious why he’s in this category. Since his Darlington talking-to by Rick Hendrick and others, the Melon Man has stunk it up. Maybe it is his lack of aggression. Maybe he’s in his own head now about upsetting the wrong person. Whatever it is, a big performance at Sonoma could quell those fears about the No. 1 team.