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By Adam Carabine Back in December of 2023, it was announced that Sonoma Raceway was going to be repaved.  The surface, which was lauded as one of the most abrasive on the NASCAR schedule, was due for a touch-up.   With a new surface, how might the race look different this year?  The Cup Series drivers weighed in.   Before practice, Christopher Bell said that experience might not be as important as it once was at “Old Sonoma,” as managing tire wear is seen as more of a veteran specialty.   “I think it will definitely level the playing field from the experience standpoint.  The guys that were really good here in the past, they learned this track and figured out little tricks, and they had a bunch of tricks up their sleeve, of how to produce lap time whenever the car started to lose grip.  That should all go away with this new surface.”   After practice, Bell reiterated the point: “Practice went exactly how we expected it to.  It was a struggle for our team, but the grip level stayed consistent throughout the entire run.”   The biggest differences were immediately noticeable with speed and grip.  In an expanded 50-minute practice session, the Cup Series drivers were running 4-5 seconds faster than Denny Hamlin’s 2023 pole-winning lap time.    Some of the other drivers weren’t necessarily ready to give up on the importance of tire management, though.   William Byron said, “There’s still tire management, it’s still low on grip.  You’re still loading both tires, both directions really hard.  It’s still going to fall off.  I think the good cars won’t fall off as much, but it’s still Sonoma and still tough to get around.”    His teammate Alex Bowman went even further, saying, “I think [the tires] are just sensitive in different ways.  This place is still really slick, the pavement is so smooth, that there’s not a lot to get a hold of.  You still have sections like in between [Turns] 4 and 7, it looks like the inside was paved and the outside wasn’t paved, so you’re still chewing up the left rear tire across there.  Or if it was paved, it’s just really course in that one section of the track.”   On the other hand, Chase Elliott didn’t think that there would be a ton of change in how they manage tires this weekend.  “[Before the repave], It honestly got to where [tire management] didn’t play as much of a role as you would think.  Everyone was so similar in the past few races, even when the tire wear was there it’s like you could save a little, but when it came time for you to push to go and try to catch the guy that you thought might have jumped out there too far, you’d end up burning it up before you got to him.”   Brad Keselowski pushed his practice session to the limit, and when asked about whether tire management was going to be unimportant this time around, he answered: “I’m not sure, we had one set of tires that was just starting to come apart, so I’m not willing to write that off yet.”   Joey Logano noticed that the fall-off on tires was quick at first, but then it leveled out and stayed more consistent over the course of a longer run.    “You know, I haven’t seen a repave that has tire wear yet. You’d expect that for sure, and definitely changes the strategy of what we’ve seen Sonoma be in the past, where it was constant fall-off throughout the run, now it’s steep and then it flattens out, plateaus, and just runs across.”    Logano added an interesting extra tidbit, explaining that running at 100% for the entirety of the race, rather than having to focus on saving tires, meant that the race was going to be more physically demanding than years past.   “I’m glad it’s cool out, it’s hammer down all the time, there’s no chilling out, saving your tires, being methodical about it.  It’s as fast as you can go, every single lap.”   It was a sentiment echoed later by Chase Briscoe as well, as he said, “From a physical standpoint, this is going to be the hardest race of the year, I mean you don’t get a break, we’re just constantly getting after it. You’re definitely going to earn your money this weekend from a physical side of things.”   The extra speeds that drivers will be carrying could make it harder to pass as well, according to Bubba Wallace: “It’s going to be faster; it’s going to be that much harder to pass. I was trying some different gearing stuff, I was going back to like, old traditional gearing selection through the corners, and I was giving up time not taking a gear higher, just because the speeds are so much higher.”   Ross Chastain agreed, saying, “I don’t think you can put tires on, start in the back and drive to the front like you could before.”   Ryan Blaney might have been a bit more optimistic, expecting some degree of fall-off: “You’re not going to get the fall-off you had here in previous years, but hopefully you get fall-off to where you’re at least a couple of seconds off, in a 20-lap run or so – and I don’t think that’s out of the question.”   Kyle Busch seemed to think that the new track surface would be more forgiving of some of the common mistakes made at Sonoma: “I don’t know if guys are going to miss corners as much as they might before with less grip.  You might be able to wheel hop or drag a tire or something like that, and get off-line, but now I feel like there’s enough grip that you can recover fast enough and it might be harder to pass.   Unfortunately, the sentiment that it might be harder to pass came up a few times with drivers, including here with last week’s winner, Austin Cindric: “It’s one of the most difficult tracks to pass on, it’s one of the narrowest natural road courses we go to, so it’s not going to be easy to make up track position.”   However, Cindric did add, “It’s edgy for sure, so it’s easier to make bigger mistakes because there’s not a lot of grip off-line.”   Many different drivers, and many different viewpoints, which I suppose is to be expected. After speaking with most of them, there was really only one overarching thing that became ultimately clear – the race on Sunday will be unpredictable.

By Adam Carabine Shane Van Gisbergen, fresh off his first Xfinity win in Portland last weekend, won his second race in a row in Sonoma Saturday from the pole position.  On the surface it looks like two weeks of dominance, but it was far from an easy win today for the driver known as SVG. His pole lap was almost half a second faster than Ty Gibbs’, who started alongside him in the front row driving the 19 car, but the race itself did feature some adversity. On his qualifying effort, Shane Van Gisbergen said, “Quali was special, starting to understand the tires, how to turn them on.  I did that warm up lap slowly, I think we were the only ones to do that, trying to figure out what I need in the car, and what’s going to make it better in qualifying.” Stage One was the SVG and Ty Gibbs show, as everyone else was at least 9 seconds off the lead.  SVG’s team opted to stay out and collect the stage win, as Gibbs pit with two to go. During the stage break, SVG reported on his radio that something was wrong with the front end of his car. As a result, Ty Gibbs started Stage Two at the front of the field, while SVG was mired back in P8.  In a single lap, he passed three cars and made his way to P5. At the end of Stage Two, the plan was to flip the stage to get track position, and hit pit road before it closed with 2 to go, but there was some confusion with his team.  They expected that leader Ty Gibbs would be doing the same, and had told SVG to follow him into pit road.  However, Ty Gibbs and team opted not to pit, and they didn’t have enough time to tell him to pit. “It was good getting those points, short term gain, but as soon as we drop back into the field, you have to beat your car up a little bit getting through, things get hot, and a lot more stress on it.” Stage Two was won by Gibbs, with SVG making his way up to P2. The ensuing pit stop proved to be deadly for Gibbs, as he and his team lost 10 spots. The restart for the final stage was calamitous, as upwards of 15 drivers were involved in a “big one,” at turn 3.  Ty Gibbs who was stuck back in traffic took the worst of it, ending his day in a DNF. On the following restart, Austin Hill led the field to green, and SVG quickly made his way up to P2, setting the stage for a rematch from a COTA incident earlier this season. Another caution came out with 13 to go, as Jesse Love took a spin off of Turn 10. As they went back green, SVG bumped Austin Hill out of the way, took the lead, and never looked back. He led the final ten laps of the race, and a dejected Hill finished P5. After the race, SVG said, “To me, we’ve both taken a race win off of each other now.” On his less-than-dominant day, Van Gisbergen wasn’t perturbed, adding, “When you get in dirty air, you get the heat soak, the brakes fade a bit, tires get a bit hotter.” “We still definitely had the fastest car, I believe, but we didn’t have half a second a lap.”

Happy weekend everyone, it’s time for another edition of Stats Saturday!  This weekend NASCAR travels to the west coast for the Toyota Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway. Sonoma is a 1.99-mile Road Course featuring 12 turns and plenty of elevation change.  It opened in 1968 under the name Sears Point, though the Cup Series didn’t make their way there until 1989.  Ricky Rudd won the inaugural race at Sonoma that year. Tomorrow’s race will be 110 laps long (for a total of 218.9 miles), with stage breaks occurring at 25 – 55 – 110.  Pit road speed is 40 mph, and the caution vehicle runs at 45 mph. The NASCAR Cup Series has run 4,343 laps, for 5,425.73 miles so far this season.  No driver has completed 100% of them, but Chase Elliott is just one lap short.  Ty Gibbs is 3 laps short. Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Sonoma: Bottom 5 Career Average Finishers at Sonoma: Sonoma is a Road Course Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Road Courses: Bottom 5 Career Average Finishers at Road Courses: Jeff Gordon is the winningest driver at Sonoma, with 5.  Martin Truex Jr. is the winningest current driver, sitting just one win behind Gordon. Notable drivers who have not won at Sonoma: Daniel Suarez won his first Cup Series race at Sonoma – it was his 195th Cup start. Based on average finish, no drivers list Sonoma as their BEST track, but both Tyler Reddick and Denny Hamlin have it as their WORST. Based on their point pace, let’s have a look at how this season is comparing to last season for drivers: Drivers Faring Better than in 2023 Drivers Faring Worse than in 2023 While some drivers may be doing better this year than they did in 2023, how does this year stack up against their entire career?  This statistic does not include rookies, as this is their first full year in the Cup Series. Drivers Having their BEST Career Year Drivers Having their WORST Career Year Here is the current battle for Rookie of the Year: The Manufacturer Standings are calculated by awarding points to the highest finisher for each manufacturer according to their finishing position.  (40 for 1st, 35 for 2nd, 34 for 3rd, etc.)  No stage points or playoff points count. Manufacturer Standings Here is the same formula, but used on a team-vs-team basis: Chartered Team Standings At each stage break, the Top 10 drivers are awarded points based on their finishing positions.  Here are the leaders this year: Stage Point Leaders Milestone Watch Here are the top 10 longest active winless streaks: Winless Streaks The race begins Sunday, June 9th at 3:30 pm EST (12:30 pm PST) – Enjoy the race everyone! Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter @RacingRefresh Is there an error? Is there a stat missing that you’d like to see? Let us know!

By Adam Carabine We've ranked all 34 full-time drivers in the Cup Series (there are 36 charters, but the Rick Ware 15 and Kaulig 16 have rotating drivers, so they're excluded). Rankings are determined using a large number of statistical inputs. Zane Smith – This week: 34th – Last week: 34th It’s a lack of consistency that has been plaguing the 71 team. Harrison Burton – This week: 33rd – Last week: 33rd The last two races Burton has finished outside of the Top 30.  That won’t cut it. Austin Dillon – This week: 32nd – Last week: 32nd A P6 at Gateway was helpful, but we need more than a one-off race to move him up the rankings. Corey LaJoie – This week: 31st – Last week: 29th Like Harrison Burton, LaJoie just earned two straight finishes out of the Top 30. Michael McDowell – This week: 30th – Last week: 30th It started out as a strong day at Gateway, but unfortunately McDowell faded back to 25th after winning the pole. Carson Hocevar – This week: 29th – Last week: 29th A Top-10 at Gateway might be the turn of the tide this team needs.  He even earned his first three stage points of the season along the way. Austin Cindric – This week: 28th – Last week: 31st His win at Gateway just punched Cindric’s ticket to the playoffs.  Does that take some pressure off?  Can he build on this momentum? He is good at road courses, as we head to Sonoma. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – This week: 27th – Last week: 25th It’s been a rough couple of weeks on the track for Stenhouse, even after his big fight at the All-Star Race. Daniel Hemric – This week: 26th – Last week: 26th Two races in a row – two P18s.  Sure, that’s better than his Power Ranking might show, but we’ll need more of that. John Hunter Nemechek – This week: 25th – Last week: 24th Nemechek has been underperforming in the 42 car as of late.  After two finishes in a row outside of the Top 25, it’s time to step it up. Ryan Preece – This week: 24th – Last week: 25th After the news that SHR is shutting down at the end of this year, it’s time for Preece to start performing better if he wants another Cup ride next year. Justin Haley – This week: 23rd – Last week: 27th Haley has been impressing as of late in the 51 car, including a few Top 10s.  Did his Rick Ware Racing gamble pay off? Josh Berry – This week: 22nd – Last week: 19th A Top 10 in Charlotte was quickly followed by a last-placed finish at Gateway – the same week the SHR news broke. Erik Jones – This week: 21st – Last week: 22nd Since coming back from injury, Jones has been good – not great.  His back may need a bit more time to heal fully before he gets aggressive and competitive again. Todd Gilliland – This week: 20th – Last week: 21st Fresh off a new contract extension, Gilliland is still slowly moving up the power rankings.  P16 at Gateway is solid for this team. Noah Gragson – This week: 19th – Last week: 20th Gragson’s underlying numbers have been pretty solid, even when the results don’t always match. Daniel Suarez – This week: 18th – Last week: 18th Two finishes outside of the Top 20 in a row, yes his finishes aren’t always indicative of his day.  His focus may be on the playoffs after winning at Atlanta so early in the season. Chase Briscoe – This week: 17th – Last week: 17th He still sits 10 points out of a playoff spot.  It’s going to take some extra muscle from a team with one foot out the door if he wants to make the playoffs. Bubba Wallace – This week: 16th – Last week: 15th His Coke 600 was solid, finishing just outside the Top 10, but his Gateway performance left some to be desired.  Road Courses haven’t been his specialty and Sonoma is upcoming this weekend. Joey Logano – This week: 15th – Last week: 16th Logano is moving back in the right direction after an up and down season so far.  A Top-5 at Gateway is a good place to start. Kyle Busch – This week: 14th – Last week: 11th His encounter with Kyle Larson at Gateway left him with a DNF, finishing 35th.  He’ll fall a few spots this week. Chris Buescher – This week: 13th – Last week: 14th He had the best pass differential at Charlotte (+49) and finished Top 15 at Gateway.  RFK is continually on the rise. Alex Bowman – This week: 12th – Last week: 12th What a weirdly quiet year it’s been for Bowman.  He’s not performing all that badly (he’s +59 to the playoff cut line), but he seems to have the lowest profile of any Hendrick driver. Ryan Blaney – This week: 11th – Last week: 13th Yes, his finish at Gateway was embarrassing, as the 12 team ran out of gas on the last lap, but he was in a good position most of the day and had some great underlying numbers. Ross Chastain – This week: 10th – Last week: 9th Speaking of quiet seasons, Chastain has been kind of out of the limelight this year – at least compared to previous years.  He may be working on his reputation, but the results are at least solid. Christopher Bell – This week: 9th – Last week: 10th It might have been rain-shortened, but Bell earned his win at Charlotte.  He looked poised to win a second race in a row at Gateway until he broke an exhaust valve near the end of the race (still managing to salvage a Top 10 though).  He’s had a lot of speed lately. Chase Elliott – This week: 8th – Last week: 8th Two finishes within the Top 15 in the last two races, and yet something is still not quite back to normal for Elliott.  People wondered if his win earlier this year signalled a return to form, but I’m not seeing it just yet. Ty Gibbs – This week: 7th – Last week: 7th Gibbs is 4th in average finish this year in the Cup Series.  We knew he’d continue to get better after a solid rookie campaign, but did we expect this?  He’s got over 100 points to the playoff cutline too. Brad Keselowski – This week: 6th – Last week: 6th Keselowski has been on a heck of a run.  He’s had five finishes within the Top 3 in his last 7 races, including the one win at Darlington.  RFK is doing something right. Tyler Reddick – This week: 5th – Last week: 5th Two P4s in a row over the last few races – he’s putting up good underlying numbers and good finishes.  He already has a win this year, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see a few more. William Byron – This week: 4th – Last week: 4th Byron is already off to a strong start this year, having amassed three wins over the first half of the regular season.  When he has rough days, he could afford to still try and manage his points. Martin Truex Jr. – This week: 3rd – Last week: 3rd Speaking of managing points, Truex is a perfect example.  He’s had some bad luck, some bad cars here and there, and yet he’s still 4th in points.  He’s due for a win, and maybe Sonoma is just what the doctor ordered? Denny Hamlin – This week: 2nd – Last week: 2nd Another two races, and another two Top 5s for Denny.  That’s five in a row now, and he doesn’t look to be slowing down anytime soon. Kyle Larson – This week: 1st – Last week: 1st Finally the news came down that Larson is still eligible for the playoffs after missing the Coke 600 (not for lack of trying).  His Top 10 at Gateway helped him keep the top spot in the Power Rankings!

Press Release | KYLE LARSON FOUNDATION MOORESVILLE, N.C. (June 6, 2024) – The Kyle Larson Foundation announced today that in partnership with Chevrolet and Pristine Auction, it will be auctioning off race-worn visors following this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series doubleheader at Sonoma Raceway. There are 26 Team Chevy drivers across the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series who have committed to donating their race shield to the Kyle Larson Foundation as it raises funds for the Philadelphia-based Urban Youth Racing School. Each shield will be autographed by both Kyle Larson and the respective Team Chevy driver. “Anytime you can use our racing platform to raise money for a great cause is a good thing,” NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson stated. “I appreciate my partners at Pristine Auction, Chevrolet, and all the drivers participating in this program to help support my friends at the Urban Youth Racing School.” Chevrolet has been a proud supporter of the Urban Youth Racing School for 24 years, with the Kyle Larson Foundation joining as a patron since its 2021 inception. Established in 1998 by Anthony and Michelle Martin, the program is committed to teaching students about STEM through racing and providing a positive environment. The online auction will begin on Saturday, June 8, at 9 a.m. ET on the Pristine Auction website (prstn.co/klf-visor) and it will run through Wednesday, June 12, at 10 p.m. ET. The starting bid for all visors is $25. Once purchased, the visors will be shipped to winning bidders approximately four weeks after the auction ends, along with a Certificate of Authenticity issued from Pristine Auction.

Each week at Racing Refresh we like to look back on the week that was in motorsports on X. Let's get started! 10. Fox's coverage of NASCAR has come under fire in recent years, however, Mike Joy is a national treasure. To have him yet again in 2025 will be a privilege. 9. How much longer the seemingly ageless John Force has behind the wheel is an open question, but the fact that he's still getting it done at 75 is nothing short of incredible! 8. The candor from John is always refreshing. However long he as has left, we should all be sure to enjoy it. 7. Are we sure this isn't a punishment for Murr? Imagine these guys having to take part in a race... 6. How's this for a fun fact? Will the No. 24 someday be at the top? 5. Brad showing big time class. 4. I'll be very curious to see if Cindric can sustain the momentum through the summer months. Yes, he took advantage of misfortune on Sunday. But, he ran a great race. 3. Leave. Your. Mark. 2. What does passion look you may ask? This. This is passion and, the world needs more of it! 1. As the classic song says, you've got a friend in me.

By Matt Marr Michael McDowell led Austin Cindric and the rest of the field to the green flag. There was a caution early on lap 3 as John Hunter Nemechek and Cody Ware spun together. Christopher Bell got by McDowell for the lead on lap 41 and hung on to win Stage One. Martin Truex Jr.’s left rear tire went down, but he made it to the pit road and the race stayed green on lap 110. Kyle Larson and Kyle Busch collided into each other and then into the wall on the final lap of Stage Two ending Busch’s day. Christopher Bell won Stage Two under caution. Cindric led the start of the final stage on lap 149. Ryan Blaney was in the lead with 21 laps to go, fighting a charging Christopher Bell to maintain position. Bell reported engine issues over the radio and started blowing up with 18 laps to go, ending his chances of winning. Austin Cindric was closing in on Ryan Blaney for the lead.  He got to within half a second when Blaney ran out of fuel coming to the white flag.  Cindric took the lead and hung on to win the Enjoy Illinois 300, ending an 85-race winless streak! Enjoy Illinois Top 5:  1. Austin Cindric 2. Denny Hamlin 3. Brad Keselowski 4. Tyler Reddick 5. Joey Logano