NASCAR’s visit to wine country this Sunday saw drivers go racing at the newly repaved Sonoma Raceway. The 2024 Toyota/Save Mart 350 saw Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson clinch victory at the 2.5-mile-long road course on a day where strategy was key to making a difference on the track. While Team Penske’s Joey Logano seemed to progress through the practice session into qualifying, the #22 Ford Mustang driver failed to make an impact despite clinching the pole award on Saturday.
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Many anticipated overtaking on the track would be difficult for the drivers due to the nature of the resurfaced track. While the same was true to some extent, drivers were seen making moves to prevent their tires from overheating instead of the usual tire falloff race at Sonoma.
All in all, the 2024 event in wine country was not the most spectacular race to have been produced by the venue, nor a snoozefest as some feared. Here are the biggest gainers and losers from Sunday’s NASCAR Cup race:
Winner: Kyle Larson
The #5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 driver logged his third victory of the 2024 regular season and his second in the NASCAR Cup Series at Sonoma Raceway. Courtesy of crew chief Cliff Daniels’ pit strategy, the California native was seen extending his stint before his final stop of the day to take charge of the field in P1.
Loser: Martin Truex Jr.
Martin Truex Jr coasts across the line after running out of fuel and the crowd goes wild! pic.twitter.com/ix4c1m12sD
— Rubbin is Racing (@rubbinisracing) June 9, 2024
The most successful active driver at Sonoma Raceway suffered an excruciating finish to his race on Sunday as the #19 Toyota Camry XSE driver ran out of fuel a mere 100 meters away from the start-finish line. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver ultimately crossed the line by cranking his engine while in gear, which caused his car to crawl over the line, greeted by cheers from the onlookers.
Winner: Michael McDowell
Road course ace and Front Row Motorsports driver Michael McDowell managed to finish the 110-lap-long race in P2 just behind Larson. The #34 Ford Mustang driver made up one of the 4 Ford-manufactured cars in the top 10 on a day where the blue oval led its first laps at Sonoma Raceway.
Loser: Joe Gibbs Racing
JGR had a dismal weekend in wine country as only one of its four entries into the race finished without any hiccups on Sunday. The #11 Toyota driven by Denny Hamlin saw an engine failure for a second consecutive weekend for the team whereas Martin Truex Jr. ran out of fuel 100 meters away from the finish.
Ty Gibbs in the #54 Toyota was seen relegated to the sidelines after making a mistake and hitting the wall, damaging his car enough to retire from the event. Christopher Bell made the sole JGR car to finish without major issues in P9.
Winner: Chris Buescher
The RFK Racing driver returned to making his top 5 appearances in 2024 after a two-week gap where he finished P23 and P14 at Charlotte and Gateway respectively. Brad Keselowski finished in P13 making for a decent day of racing for the team in wine country.
Loser: Kyle Busch
Kyle Busch’s bad luck on track seemed to continue as the Richard Childress Racing driver was seen being spun around on the last lap after Ross Chastain made contact with the #8 Chevy driver. What looked like a top 10 points haul for the team instantly turned into a P12 finish which does not bode well for the crew’s 2024 NASCAR playoffs hopes.
