According to oddsmakers at Bovada.lv, Kurt Busch is the favorite to win, as he has 5/1 odds.
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Allmendinger, Menard and Patrick, along with every other driver who has not won yet, go to Sonoma unworried about torpedoes. Allmendinger, Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick, who each have 7/1 odds. He is attempting to take a similar route to the championship that Busch did a year ago, as Stewart missed the first eight races of this season after a pre-season ATV accident that broke his back.
Daytona 500 champ Denny Hamlin has only two top 10 finishes in 10 career Sonoma starts; his average finish is 22nd. “We go there and have a good weekend and finish second the last two years, it’s great, but it doesn’t do anything for us because we are so far out of the top 16 in points it was win or bust at Sonoma or Watkins Glen”. The fact that pit strategy tends to play a significant role at road course races can also make these categories tough to predict. In 1992, Irvan claimed his first Sonoma win in the Save Mart Supermarkets 300 after being black-flagged at the start for crossing the starting line ahead of pole victor Ricky Rudd. His driver rating at Sonoma is 86.9, which ranks ninth in the field. The racing gods willing, California native Rossi will contend for victory if not the championship at this year’s season finale September 16-18 at Sonoma Raceway Sears Point.
Hamlin’s best finish in Sonoma was in 2009 when he finished fifth.
Kyle Busch for example started his championship run at this track past year and is the defending victor here. The three-time Sprint Cup Series champion is retiring at the end of the season.
But both drivers have won on the Canadian Tire Motorsports Park road course in Canada in the Camping World Truck Series.
Although Kyle has more wins than his brother, his two wins are his only top-fives there in 11 starts. The fastest driver in the final round will earn the pole position for the race.
Kyle Busch: One win, two top 10s, 20 laps led, 17.0 average finish. He is the exception to the rule, as he is running full time, and now sits 19th in points.
But he’s progressively improved and was a road-course best fourth at Watkins Glen, the only other road course on the Cup schedule, in 2014.
The 22-year-old is a native of California and an accomplished road course racer, leading Lupton and crew chief Mike Ford to believe they could turn some heads on Sunday for BK Racing in the No. 93 Toyota.
Chase Elliot gets a little help from his dad, NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliot, who will be acting as son’s second spotter this weekend. He has 13 top-10s in 30 overall starts and has finished there in three of the last five road-course events.
Martin Truex Jr. won in dominating fashion at Charlotte, all but clinching Furniture Row another spot in the Chase.
The No. 42 Chevrolet driver placed third in his last start at MI and second two starts before at Dover.
“When it comes to strategy, it’s a lot more hard to figure out Sonoma”, Allmendinger said.
– Kyle Larson is still looking for his first win of the season, and hopes to get it at his home track.
The Chase is 11 races away.
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NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin and San Francisco 49ers running back Carlos Hyde pose for a portrait as FedEx and National Fish and Wildlife Foundation showcase the #11 FedEx Cares paint scheme at the FedEx Racing Sonoma media event at Fort Point in San Francisco. Although he’s shown bursts of promise, Larson has yet to string together any consistency, and he’s now being challenged by Austin Dillon and rookies Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney to become the newest face in victory lane. Kahne is followed by Trevor Bayne (18th on the Chase Grid, 19 points below Blaney), AJ Allmendinger (19th, -27) and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
