Why Sonoma Could Be NASCAR’s Most Entertaining Race After Recent Changes

The upcoming NASCAR Cup Series race at Sonoma Raceway is one event that has a lot of driver and fan anticipation riding on its shoulders. The 2024 Toyota/Save Mart 350 in wine country promises to be one of the sport’s better road course outings in recent times, owing to the recent repaving of the facility.

Three-time Daytona 500 winner Dale Jarett previews this Sunday’s 110-lap-long event as one with amped-up aggression from the entirety of the field. Owing to the possibility of a single groove for cars to run in to make time on the track, drivers could be seen making aggressive moves as well as mistakes according to the 67-year-old.

He recently elaborated on his thoughts on the same and said, “This is always a technical race, a difficult race for the drivers. I foresee a race like we haven’t seen at Sonoma in some time. I believe the aggression level is going to be ramped up.”

Jarret also added to the expected grip levels of the groove on the track’s new asphalt and said, “There’s going to be a lot of grip in the groove which means they’re going to be taking some chances to put themselves closer to the front.”

With the expected levels of grip in the groove for the drivers to exploit, stepping outside the same could lead to issues as lack of rubber as well as marble buildup can force mistakes this Sunday.

It remains to be seen whether NASCAR’s usual suspects at road courses such as Chase Elliott or Martin Truex Jr. manage to add to their tally, or a surprise winner can appear from the likes of teams such as Front Row Motorsports.

Can Michael McDowell bag a surprise victory during NASCAR’s visit to Sonoma Raceway this weekend?

Given Front Row Motorsports driver Michael McDowell‘s prowess on road courses, it would not be a complete surprise for the #34 Ford Mustang driver to perform well and possibly challenge for victory this Sunday.

Jarett also touched on whether he thought the 39-year-old could challenge for the same coming off a pole award just last weekend. He elaborated, “I think the thing that makes me include him in this small group is the dominant win that he had at the Indianapolis road course last year. He always finds himself in that mix.”

The 2024 Toyota/Save Mart 350 goes live from Sonoma Raceway this Sunday at 3:30 pm ET.