Sonoma – Syndication Server

Ferrari Challenge is Sonoma bound

The West Coast once again welcomes Ferrari Challenge North America, this time for a round of racing at Sonoma Raceway. This is the second trip that the series has taken to California this year, after visiting WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in May. …

The West Coast once again welcomes Ferrari Challenge North America, this time for a round of racing at Sonoma Raceway.

This is the second trip that the series has taken to California this year, after visiting WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in May. Sonoma is penultimate event Stateside for Ferrari Challenge ahead of Indianapolis Motor Speedway in September. While Indianapolis hosts the 2024 finale for the 488 Challenge Evo classes, the 296 Challenge classes will conclude their season at the Finali Mondiali in Imola this October.

70 Years of Ferrari in America

Sonoma Raceway, located in the heart of Northern California’s wine country, has been a staple on the Ferrari Challenge calendar every year since 2021, and for an additional five years in the mid-2010s.

The round also takes place on the heels of the 2024 Monterey Car Week in Pebble Beach, which highlighted 70 Years of Ferrari in North America. Seventy stunning cars were on display to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the first Ferrari dealership opening in the United States, a number that has exploded in the years since from coast-to-coast.

Championship Battle Status

The 296 Challenge Trofeo Pirelli class remains without a clear favorite as Dylan Medler (The Collection) and Roberto Perrina (Ferrari of Seattle) are tied atop the standings with 243 points, and Matias Perez Companc (Ferrari of Central Florida) lurks in third place just five points behind. David Musial Jr. (Ferrari of Lake Forest) is also within range at 229 points.

In Trofeo Pirelli Am, Tony Davis (Continental AutoSports) continues to creep into the strong lead that Brian Cook (Ferrari of Seattle) once held. Cook has four wins to his name in 2024, while Davis has won three of the last four races to narrow the gap to 10 points behind his rival.

In the Coppa Shell class, Eric Marston (Ferrari of Westlake) has surged midseason with five wins in the last six races to cruise to a 32-point lead in the championship fight. His next closest competitors are Chuck Whittal (Ferrari of Central Florida) with 230 points and Yahn Bernier (Ferrari of Seattle) with 222 points. In the Coppa Shell Am class, it’s a similar situation for Roger Monteforte (Ferrari of Central New Jersey) who has six consecutive podiums, including four wins. Monteforte holds a lead of 29 points over Steve Check (Ferrari of Rancho Mirage).

Sonoma Raceway marks the penultimate round for the 488 Challenge Evo classes, which wrap up their 2024 season at Indianapolis Motor Speedway next month. Massimo Perrina (Ferrari of Seattle) chases an undefeated season in the Trofeo Pirelli class, having gone six-for-six thus far in both wins and pole positions. In the Coppa Shell class, Matthew Dalton (Ferrari of Long Island) and Gerdas Venslovas (Continental AutoSports) are tied for the title at 191 points apiece.

Schedule

Green flag action begins for Ferrari Challenge North America on Saturday afternoon. Trofeo Pirelli is first to go at 3:50 p.m. ET (12:50 p.m. local time), followed by Coppa Shell at 4:40 p.m. and 488 Challenge Evo at 5:30 p.m.

On Sunday, Coppa Shell runs the first race of the day at 4:35 p.m. with Trofeo Pirelli at 5:25 p.m. and 488 Challenge Evo at 6:15 p.m.

All Ferrari Challenge races will stream live on the Ferrari YouTube channel and FerrariRaces.com.

Brown, Tasca, Stanfield, M. Smith go the rounds at NHRA’s Western Swing visit to Sonoma

Top Fuel’s Antron Brown defeated first-time finalist Tony Stewart in the final round of the 36th annual Denso NHRA Sonoma Nationals, picking up his third win of the 2024 season on Sunday at Sonoma Raceway. Bob Tasca III (Funny Car), Aaron Stanfield …

Bob Tasca III (Funny Car), Aaron Stanfield (Pro Stock) and Matt Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won the 12th of 20 races during the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.

Stewart left first with a slight advantage on the starting line, but Brown quickly tracked him down, going 3.746s at 329.67mph in his Matco Tools/Toyota dragster to earn his 77th career victory. Brown defeated Shawn Reed, Steve Torrence and Brittany Force to reach the final round, leaning on consistency time after time this weekend in Sonoma.

It paid off in a major way, as Brown, who qualified seventh, powered to his fifth Top Fuel victory at Sonoma, which ties him with Doug Kalitta for the most in class history at the facility.

“Sonoma has a special meaning to me. It’s like a piece of heaven out here and just being here puts me in the zone,” Brown said. “Me and Tony know each other well. When I started as a team owner he was putting together TSR, we talked a lot about budgets and spread sheets and all that.

“He was also a hero of mine when he ran NASCAR and IndyCar. I know how good of a driver he is. He understands the science so as soon as he showed up I knew what he could do. I did tell him to come on over but there are a lot of sharks in the water here. His time is coming and it won’t be one win. It will be a lot of them, but this is a good win for us. My team stays poised and they were incredible all weekend. I’m super-pumped for all of them. We went down the track every single lap and that was an awesome, awesome job to get a win like this.”

Stewart’s first final in Top Fuel came after defeating Shawn Langdon, Justin Ashley and Ron August Jr., who upset points leader, No. 1 qualifier and reigning world champion Doug Kalitta in the first round.

In Funny Car, nobody could track down Bob Tasca III all weekend and that continued in the final round, racing to his second Sonoma win in three years by taking down Ron Capps in the final round with a 4.088s at 277.15mph in his Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang. It’s also the third win of the year for Tasca, who remained second points, and he did it in incredible fashion.

Tasca qualified No. 1 with a 338mph run, added a weekend-best run of 338.77mph in the opening round against Buddy Hull and then drove past Paul Lee and points leader Austin Prock to reach the final round. The semifinals against Prock was a thriller, as Tasca won on a holeshot with an 0.022s reaction time, sending him to the final round where he held on to the win against Capps. It was another rewarding moment for Tasca, who now has 18 career wins as he gets into championship form.

“It’s so hard to win these things and that’s a testament to my crew, to Todd Okuhara and Aaron Brooks,” Tasca said. “They pulled it back and still ran 337mph. I was a bit surprised in the final. It was pulling great and then it knocked the tires off. You have no idea how that feels. I looked out the side window because I expected him to come by me. Fortunately, I got it to recover.

“I thought if we could get the car to run like it ran in Q4 we could beat him and I said that to Todd. I said, ‘Let’s run as quick as we can and if he beats us, I’ll be the first to congratulate him.’”

Capps advanced to the finals for the second time in three races and the 149th time in his career by getting round wins against Cruz Pedregon, defending event winner J.R. Todd and reigning world champion Matt Hagan.

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Aaron Stanfield stayed red-hot in the Pro Stock ranks, which meant Elite Motorsports did as well, as Stanfield won for the third time in four races while taking down first-time Pro Stock finalist Cory Reed in the championship round with an impressive run of 6.540s at 209.98mph in his Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage/Melling Performance/Janac Brothers car. It’s also the 11th career win for Stanfield, whose efforts over the past two months have helped propel Elite Motorsports to six straight victories.

Stanfield has three of them in that span, grabbing his second career win at Sonoma Raceway after defeating Mason McGaha, defending world champion Erica Enders and No. 1 qualifier Greg Anderson. He delivered another strong reaction time in the final round against Reed, rolling to the victory as Stanfield continues to make big strides this season.

“This is a great win, but I want to shout out to Cory Reed for going to the final in his second race,” Stanfield said. “This week we lost a good friend, Tim “the Iceman” Kelly, to cancer and I wanted to get it done for him. I know Cory is fresh to the class so I would have been surprised if he played any games, so I just did my normal routine. I think I’m driving better this year and I’d love to continue that.

“We didn’t have a great ladder since all the hitters seemed to be on one side. I had to race Erica and we’re teammates, but we still want to beat each other. Then there was Greg and you’ve got to be on your game anytime you race him.”

In just his second career Pro Stock start, Reed, who previously raced in Pro Stock Motorcycle, advanced to the final round by taking down Deric Kramer, Eric Latino and Jerry Tucker. Dallas Glenn remains the points leader in the class.

Pro Stock Motorcycle’s Matt Smith, a six-time world champion, finished off one of the best weekends in his career on Sunday, getting his first win of the season by taking down teammate John Hall in the final round with a run of 6.700s at 203.77mph on his Denso Auto Parts Buell. It was a picture-perfect three days for Smith, who qualified No. 1, set the track record with a stellar 6.655s, won the GETTRX Pro Stock Motorcycle All-Star Callout on Saturday and then snapped a winless streak that stretched back to the Countdown to the Championship opener last September in Reading, Pa.

That drought is over in emphatic fashion, as Smith, now a two-time Sonoma winner, took down Eiji Kawakami and Seattle winner Chase Van Sant to reach the final round against Hall. His teammate left the starting line first, but Smith, who also picked up his 39th career win, quickly chased him down, picking up a meaningful win and putting him right back on track when it comes to racing for what would be a class-record seventh world championship.

“This is very big,” Smith said. “This is a Denso event which is our sponsor, and we won everything there is to win. We put a lot into getting our bikes ready for this weekend. We’re gaining ground on the rest of the field and that takes a team effort.

“It’s all in the 60-foot area. Our class is so dependent on that. The Suzuki’s stepped up their game and we need to follow them. I learned to leave low and take power out to get the bike to leave the starting line. I’m 51 and I’m getting older but I can still do this. To me, the magic number is seven. If I get that seventh title this year I promise I’ll get off the bike and put some young kid on it who can do the job.”

Hall reached his second final round this year and the fourth in his career by defeating Angie Smith, defending world champion and points leader Gaige Herrera and Hector Arana Jr.

The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series returns to action Aug. 15-18 with the 42nd annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway in Brainerd, Minn.

M. Smith sets PSM track record en route to No. 1 at Sonoma

Six-time Pro Stock Motorcycle world champion Matt Smith set a new track E.T. record on Saturday at Sonoma Raceway, defeating teammate Jianna Evaristo in the final round of the GETTRX Pro Stock Motorcycle All-Star Callout as part of this weekend’s …

Doug Kalitta (Top Fuel), Bob Tasca III (Funny Car), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) and Smith all qualified No. 1 at the 12th of 20 races during the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.

In the final round of the specialty race, Smith went 6.655s at 204.23mph on his Denso Auto Parts Buell, defeating Evaristo’s 6.703s at 203.77mph to win his first Callout race. Smith topped the track record he set earlier in the day – when he beat top seed Gaige Herrera in the opening round with a 6.662s – and also qualified No. 1 for the fourth time this season as he looks for his first event win of the season.

“I’m really thrilled. This is my first win in the GETTRX Callout but my third win in a specialty race,” Smith said. “We’ve had a tough year. We haven’t won a race, but we’ve been good on Saturdays. Now, we’ve got to be good on Sunday. This is a big payday, and it means a lot so I have to say thanks to Steve Bryson and GETTRX for putting this deal on.

“(Jianna) is going to be an excellent rider and I’m proud of what she’s doing. Before the final, I didn’t cut her any slack. We’ve both struggled to cut a light here, but I still told her I was going to spank her.”

Evaristo qualified second in PSM with a career-best 6.674s at 204.54mph – also making the second-fastest pass in class history – and Herrera is third after going 6.688s at 202.55mph, which took place in the opening round of the Callout.

Top Fuel points leader Doug Kalitta fell in the final round of the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge to teammate Shawn Langdon, but he kept his No. 1 spot on the strength of Friday’s track-record 3.649s at 336.40mph in his Mac Tools/Toyota dragster. It handed the points leader his No. 1 qualifier of the season and the 58th in his career, as he looks to win in Sonoma for a sixth time in his career.

“On that last run in Q4, we pushed a bit harder and it didn’t hold so Shawn ended up with the [Mission Challenge] win,” Kalitta said. “Even though I ran a 3.64s there were other cars that were close and tomorrow I don’t think it will be much hotter, so I expect a real battle.

“I’m actually a bit relieved because we now know how hard we can push and that should be a bit tomorrow. You might get one lucky round, but you need to be on your game. Shawn pushes me and he keeps me on my game especially now that both of our cars are as close as possible. He’s one of the best out there and he’s one up on me right now.”

Clay Millican jumped to second with a 3.664s at a track-record 338.26mph and Brittany Force qualified third after going 3.668s at 335.57mph.

In Funny Car, Matt Hagan came close to bumping him out, but Bob Tasca III hung on to the No. 1 position in the loaded category, as Friday’s run of 3.839s at 338.43mph in his Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang held up. It gave the veteran his second No. 1 qualifier of the season and the 18th in his career, putting Tasca in a strong position to try and pick up another Sonoma victory.

He’ll open eliminations against Buddy Hull, keeping the top position after reigning world champ Matt Hagan went an identical 3.839s at a slower 330.49mph to take the second spot. Ron Capps qualified third with a 3.864s at 332.43mph. Tasca did close qualifying with a stout 3.868s at a whopping 337.66mph, adding to his momentum for Sunday.

“We tried to run 340mph this morning and it nearly put me into the wall so on the last run we slowed it way down to make a full pull,” Tasca said. “I say this all the time but you could take a fan in the stands, put them in one of these cars and tell them to keep it straight and on most runs they could do it. That was Q4 where the car did exactly what it was supposed to do.

“We’ve had some vibrant conversations in our trailer and a lot of discussions about going 340mph. We have parts that are faster, but we had to be smart. This car is set up to win a championship and when it warms up, like today, we need to be smart.”

Pro Stock’s Greg Anderson made the most of Saturday morning’s conditions, shattering the track E.T. record and taking the No. 1 spot for the fifth time this season with a spectacular run of 6.491s at 211.20mph in his HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro. It was nearly a picture-perfect run for the five-time world champion and Pro Stock’s winningest driver, earning his 128th career No. 1 qualifier in the process. Anderson has a Pro Stock-best six wins in Sonoma and will open raceday against Derrick Reese.

“I love coming here because it’s so fast but we have to rely on Mother Nature to do it for us,” Anderson said. “I love it when she shines on us like today and you can throw everything at it. I didn’t have a great day yesterday but today we had a turn of fortune. We made two great runs today.

“We have a good book on this place and when you come here, you don’t have to de-tune it. That’s a tribute to the guys in our engine shop. I love it here, from the track to the people – everyone is happy.”

Points leader Dallas Glenn took second with a 6.497s at 211.00mph and Eric Latino is third with a 6.501s at 210.60mph.

Eliminations for the Denso NHRA Sonoma Nationals begin at 10:30 a.m. PT on Sunday at Sonoma Raceway.

Prock, Langdon, Troy Coughlin Jr. power to NHRA 2Fast2Tasty wins at Sonoma Raceway

Funny Car points leader Austin Prock won for the fifth straight time in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge on Saturday at Sonoma Raceway, defeating Blake Alexander in the final of the bonus race at this weekend’s 36th annual Denso NHRA Sonoma …

Shawn Langdon (Top Fuel) and Troy Coughlin Jr. (Pro Stock) also won the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge at the 12th of 20 races during the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.

After failing to make it down the track during Friday’s two qualifying sessions, Prock and his John Force Racing team turned it around on Saturday, capped off by a run of 3.897s at 332.10mph in his Cornwell Tools Chevrolet Camaro SS in the final round of the bonus race against Alexander. It’s the fifth straight bonus race win for Prock, the Funny Car points leader, and the sixth overall this season, giving him an extra 20 points in the Countdown to the Championship playoffs.

“We definitely struggled yesterday but we turned it around today,” said Prock, who went 3.872s at 335.07mph earlier in the day. “Six wins, that’s 20 points which is a whole round, and as we’ve seen, every point matters.

“We backed off on Q3 but that was a nice run (in the finals). That’s the run we wanted. I know I’m happy and I hope [my crew] is also happy. To win these bonus races is a big confidence booster. It’s more money for our crew and more points for the team. Both are important.”

In a wild Top Fuel final round in the bonus race, Shawn Langdon defeated his Kalitta Motorsports teammate, reigning world champion Doug Kalitta, to win his first Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge of the 2024 campaign. Langdon went 4.660s at 160.94mph in his Kalitta Air Careers/Toyota dragster, defeating Kalitta’s 7.028s at 113.52mph as both cars ran into trouble. Kalitta suffered tire smoke almost immediately and Langdon coasted to the win.

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It wasn’t the way he envisioned it, but Langdon will gladly take the bonus purse and championship points, hoping to turn it into a double-up weekend at one of his favorite tracks.

“This is the first win this season for me in this bonus race and it’s nice to get it out of the way and to race Doug in the final is even more special,” Langdon said. “We’ve got two Kalitta dragsters that are competitive and in the final we made a good run. In Seattle last week, we didn’t qualify where we wanted to, so it was nice to come here and make some nice runs to get some confidence for Sunday. Every little point matters and it’s nice for our crew to win these deals. It’s a nice reward for all they do.”

Troy Coughlin Jr. enjoyed his first Mission #2Fast2Tasty win of the year, defeating his uncle, Jeg Coughlin Jr., on a holeshot with a run of 6.529s at 211.63mph in his JEGS.com/White Castle car. It’s the first bonus race win of the year for the younger Coughlin and the difference was his 0.024s reaction time, which proved to be enough to beat Jeg’s run of 6.522s at 211.26mph. It was enjoyable moment for Troy to race – and then beat – the five-time world champ, who also won last weekend in Seattle.

“This was tons of fun. It’s fantastic facing uncle Jeg especially at this majestic facility in front of these awesome fans,” Coughlin said. “Our team has worked their tails off to make these cars competitive. We’ve struggled a bit on race day but it’s coming together.

“I didn’t think that [0.024s reaction time] would be enough but it was, this time. I’ve thought about racing with [Jeg] for about 28 years. It doesn’t matter if it’s a local race or a big bracket race or NHRA Pro Stock. It is great to race against him. To do this is a dream fulfilled.”

Eliminations for the Denso NHRA Sonoma Nationals begin at 10:30 a.m. PT on Sunday at Sonoma Raceway.

Kalitta posts quickest NHRA run of the year on Friday at Sonoma

Reigning Top Fuel world champ Doug Kalitta made the quickest run of the 2024 NHRA season on Friday at Sonoma Raceway, setting the track record and taking the provisional No. 1 spot at the Denso NHRA Sonoma Nationals. Bob Tasca III (Funny Car), Matt …

Kalitta, who has a Top Fuel-best five career wins at Sonoma, powered to a run of 3.649 seconds at 336.40 mph in his Mac Tools/Toyota dragster, obliterating the track record and putting the points leader in line for his fifth No. 1 qualifier of the season and the 58th in his career. It was a spectacular run under the lights and Kalitta was thrilled to start the weekend in that fashion.

“That was really cool. I got my first win here in Sonoma and I have a lot of cool history here,” Kalitta said. “(Crew chief) Alan Johnson puts a lot of thought into his tune-up and he had a plan. He’s one bad dude.

“I could tell it was on a run and honestly, I was happy to be the first car out. I knew it would get cooler as the night went on and you never know what conditions might do. I thought it might have rattled a bit but not much. The car was hooked up and I managed to keep it in the middle, as straight as possible. This is one of the nicest tracks on the tour, and I love the layout with the road course. I’d love to get another win this weekend.”

Brittany Force went 3.668 at 335.57 to go to the second spot, while Billy Torrence is third after going 3.684 at 332.92.

Funny Car’s Bob Tasca III just missed out on history on Friday, rocketing to the top with an outstanding run of 3.839 at 338.43 in his Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang. The goal was a 340mph run and Tasca just missed out, still delivering a spectacular blast under the lights. The run could give the standout his second No. 1 of the season and the 18th in his career, putting him on track for what could be another great weekend in Sonoma. He won the race in 2022 and will look to replicate that this year, but Tasca had another goal in mind for Friday.

“I’ve never been so disappointed to run a 3.83 at 338mph. I really wanted to go 340 for these fans,” Tasca said. “We would have done it if not for that 15-knot headwind. We were a little concerned about the track, so we also cranked a little more spoiler in it. I’d trade the low qualifier for a 340 run in a second.

“We ran 338 in Charlotte, and we ran 338 in Seattle and did it again here. I can tell you there won’t be a time when conditions are there that we don’t try and do it. Believe it or not, we run a little different set-up to try and run those speeds. If we tuned the car a little different, it might be a little bit quicker. As for tomorrow, we’ll see what the conditions are like. It all depends on which way the wind is blowing.”

Ron Capps is currently second thanks to his run of 3.864 at 332.43, while defending world champion Matt Hagan is third after going 3.869 at 328.22.

In Pro Stock, the early-season slump for Matt Hartford appears to be over, putting down an impressive 6.515 at 210.41 in his GETTRX/Total Seal Chevrolet Camaro to go to the No. 1 position on Friday. It puts Hartford on track for his first No. 1 qualifier of the season and fifth in his career and the veteran hopes it’s a sign that the frustrations from earlier this year are a distant memory. Hartford, who is currently 11th in points, has qualified fourth three of the past four races and Friday’s run is another positive step forward. The next step is turning it around on raceday after Hartford has suffered through five straight first-round losses.

“Things are starting to come around although this feels like the first race of the season for us,” Hartford said. “It’s no secret that this hasn’t been a good year for our team but I’m a big believer that it’s not where your start it’s where you finish.

“The last three or four races it’s started to come together, and we’ve had a fast race car and I’m getting my confidence back. In Seattle, I thought we had a chance to go to the pole and we missed it. Here, we said we could run a 6.51 and we did. I think Chicago was the turning point for us. We brought two cars and let John DeFlorian drive the other one. We were able to compare notes from both cars and we’ve been improving ever since.”

Defending world champion Erica Enders is currently second with a run of 6.520 at 209.46 and Seattle winner Jeg Coughlin Jr. is third after a 6.524 at 209.82.

Still riding high after his first career Pro Stock Motorcycle victory on Sunday in Seattle, Chase Van Sant kept rolling on Friday in Sonoma, taking the provisional No. 1 spot with a run of 6.768 at 197.10 on his Trick Tools Suzuki. Should that hold, Van Sant, the 2023 NHRA Rookie of the Year, would pick up his first career No. 1 qualifying spot, which would continue his recent momentum. He made a pair of solid runs on Friday, which could bode well for Saturday’s GETTRX Pro Stock Motorcycle All-Star Callout.

The bonus race takes place on Saturday after riders made their first-round selections on Friday. Herrera, the top seed, picked Matt Smith, who was seeded second, while Hector Arana Jr. took Steve Johnson as his first-round opponent. Jianna Evaristo will face off with John Hall, with the other first-round matchup featuring Van Sant and Angie Smith.

“It’s been a whirlwind week to say the least and it’s cool to knock it out and get the provisional No. 1 here today,” Van Sant said. “I know the Vance & Hines team has issues today, so I expect a battle but it’s good to be here. I had my best 60-foot time ever on that run. It’s just reassuring to know we can get the job done and it reaffirms my faith in Tim [Kulungian, crew chief], not that I ever doubted him.

“I’ve got to run Angie [Smith] tomorrow in the GETTRX All-star Callout and we’ve gone back and forth a few times this season. They’ll be fast too. The wind was a bit tricky, which explains why our mph was down a bit. For me, I really didn’t notice it too much, but the bike just feels a bit more mundane. The win is so unpredictable here in Sonoma because it gusts but it’s usually either a head wind or a tail wind.”

M. Smith is currently second with a 6.770 at 198.73 and A. Smith is right behind after going 6.784 at 199.26.

Qualifying continues at 11:30am PT on Saturday at Sonoma Raceway.

‘I’m not sure why we didn’t try to save’ fuel at Sonoma – Truex

Martin Truex Jr.’s eventful day at Sonoma Raceway ended with his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry barely reaching the finish line. Truex ran out of fuel on the final lap of the Toyota/Save Mart 350. He was running second when it went dry and Truex …

Martin Truex Jr.’s eventful day at Sonoma Raceway ended with his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry barely reaching the finish line.

Truex ran out of fuel on the final lap of the Toyota/Save Mart 350. He was running second when it went dry and Truex coasted, at a snail’s pace, the final 100 yards or so to the finish line. By the time he made it there, he was the last car on the lead lap in 27th position.

“I’m not sure why we didn’t try to save a little at the end,” Truex said. “I was clearly not going to catch [Kyle Larson] or pass him. It’s a shame that we went around the last corner and went from second to wherever we finished. It sucks, but it was a tough day, and we had a good car. We battled and did a good job. We were going to have a good day, but just one corner short.”

It was a disappointing end to a day where Truex looked primed for a fourth Sonoma victory. However, it wasn’t going to come easy after being spun by Will Brown during an accordion effect on lap eight. Truex fell to 37th place and finished the first stage in 19th place.

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He finished the second stage in third place. The final stage is where the No. 19 began to make up ground.

Their final stop came on lap 68. Truex cycled out second to Chris Buescher and was on the RFK Racing driver’s bumper in the final 12 laps. Truex made a pass on Buescher for the race lead with nine laps to go but missed his mark a few corners later, which opened the door for Larson to make the winning pass.

Larson drove away from Truex over the final laps. The end result was just the second time in the last six Sonoma races that Truex did not finish inside the top three.

“It was a tough day,” Truex said. “I got spun out early and had to work hard to get some track position back. James (Small, crew chief) did a good job on our strategy. Our car was pretty good out front; thought we were going to have a shot to win there and just couldn’t quite get by the No. 17 (Chris Buescher) quick enough.

“I finally cleared him; I made a mistake and the No. 5 (Kyle Larson) was right there to pounce and then obviously ran out of gas, so it didn’t matter.”

Bold strategy call helps Buescher to a strong podium at Sonoma

Chris Buescher and RFK Racing made an unlikely strategy work to their advantage for a podium finish at Sonoma Raceway. Buescher finished third in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 after winning the second stage and making one pit stop in the final stage. The …

Chris Buescher and RFK Racing made an unlikely strategy work to their advantage for a podium finish at Sonoma Raceway.

Buescher finished third in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 after winning the second stage and making one pit stop in the final stage. The stop came on lap 68 and the No. 17 Ford Mustang Dark Horse cycled back to the lead when others gave up their track position to pit deeper in.

Ultimately, it wasn’t the winning call, as Buescher couldn’t hold off Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Larson. He lost the top spot with nine laps to go as both Truex and Larson went by.

Things swung RFK’s way again on the final lap. Buescher was running fourth, managing his tires, when Truex ran out of fuel. Larson, McDowell, and Buescher passed the coasting Truex to make up Sunday’s top three finishers.

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“It was a really good strategy on the day and an awesome finish,” Buescher said. “I wasn’t quite able to hold the lead there and that bums me out. I was trying. I’ve got to be better and ultimately figure out how to make that last a little bit longer, but our team did a really nice job. To start where we did and finish right here at the front with our BuildSubmarines.com Ford Mustang, I’m really proud of that. Just another close one at the end of the day.”

Sunday was Buescher’s first top-10 finish in over a month (Kansas Speedway). It was also the most laps he’s led in a single Sonoma race in his career.

“Ultimately, we started deep in the field, and it was going to be hard to make it work, but Scott (Graves, crew chief) and our group did a fantastic job,” Buescher said. “They played it well and got us up front. We got a stage win, a playoff point, but ultimately there at the end I wasn’t able to hold on. If that was just a little bit of tire difference late in the run or how hard I ran at the beginning, I’m not sure. It’s just a really solid day considering where we started. That’s a ton of positions gained on the day and really, really good.”

Hamlin goes ‘kablammo’ after only two laps at Sonoma

Sonoma Raceway bit Denny Hamlin again Sunday afternoon. He blew an engine in his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry after completing only two laps in the NASCAR Cup Series’ Toyota/Save Mart 350. “No, nothing,” Hamlin said of there being an indication …

Sonoma Raceway bit Denny Hamlin again Sunday afternoon.

He blew an engine in his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry after completing only two laps in the NASCAR Cup Series’ Toyota/Save Mart 350.

“No, nothing,” Hamlin said of there being an indication something was wrong. “It’s just the gearing is a little weird for the track. It’s a lot of high-end RPM stuff, but the same as everyone else and I’m just not really sure. They’ll look at it and figure it out, but certainly not ideal.”

Hamlin started 25th and was running 29th when the engine blew. He started the day as the championship point leader but only 21 points ahead of Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson. The early exit will net Hamlin only one point for his efforts.

As the first driver out of the race on Sunday, Hamlin will finish last (38th place). It is the third consecutive year Hamlin will finish outside the top 30 at Sonoma Raceway and the second consecutive year he’s failed to finish the race.

SVG muscles past Hill for two on-the-trot in Xfinity at Sonoma

New Zealander Shane van Gisbergen powered his way to the lead on a restart with 11 laps remaining in Saturday’s Zip Buy Now, Pay Later 250 on the Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway road course and bolted off to a 1.323s victory – his second career NASCAR …

The 35-year old Kiwi — who earned his first career pole position earlier Saturday at the 1.99-mile course and led a race best 32 laps — took the lead from Austin Hill negotiating a tight Turn 7 on a late race restart; his No. 97 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet winning a battle of tough side-by-side action that ultimately cost Hill four positions.

8 tires are better than 4, right? SVG out front late in Sonoma! #NASCARonFS1 pic.twitter.com/BoJhVL33J5

— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) June 9, 2024

Both drivers acknowledged the close racing – the second time this season they have had contact racing for the late race lead at a road course. At Circuit of The Americas they collided racing for the win on the last lap only to see NASCAR Cup Series regular Kyle Larson bolt by to claim the victory over them both.

“Man, what a race – an adventure up and down and up and down all day,” said van Gisbergen, who – as he did in Portland — celebrated his win by signing a rugby ball and kicking it into the grandstands.

“But that last restart I was just giving it all I had and two guys going for the same real estate came together.

“It was pretty awesome, though, a lot of fun. Hope everyone enjoyed the show. Pretty awesome back-to-back weeks for us.”

Hill, who led 21 laps and finished fifth in the No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, was clearly displeased with the contact between himself and van Gisbergen, but insisted on taking a sort of racing “high road.”

“I’m gonna leave it to the keyboard warriors on this one. I’ll let them figure out what happened,” said Hill, as he watched the replay on the track’s big screen. “No matter what comment I say, it’ll be wrong.

“I plead the fifth; I’m not going to say anything about it,” he continued. “We’ll just go on to the next one — good hard racing. We were holding off SVG for a while, had that caution and I knew it was going to be tough on the restart and it didn’t work out. But we had a good points day and finished in the top five. You can’t ask for more than that.”

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Sheldon Creed finished runner-up to van Gisbergen, the ninth second-place finish for Creed in the series and second of the 2024 season. JR Motorsports’ Sam Mayer was third with Jordan Anderson Racing rookie Austin Green fourth and Hill rounding out the top five.

It marked the second top-10 finish in three career starts for the 23-year-old recent college grad Green and was particularly impressive considering he started 22nd.

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Another young driver, former Xfinity Series champion Ty Gibbs, looked to be among van Gisbergen’s toughest challengers early in the day. He led 26 laps but a slow second pit stop dropped him through the field for the Stage 2 restart and he was among 13 cars collected in an accident in Turn 2 that eliminated several top cars.

The other NASCAR Cup Series regular in the field, John Hunter Nemechek, was sixth in a Joe Gibbs Toyota with JR Motorsports’ Justin Allgaier, JGR’s Chandler Smith, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer and Big Machine Racing’s Parker Kligerman rounding out the top 10.

“It was the work we did between weeks to make the car better again,” said van Gisbergen, who also took the Stage 1 victory; his first career stage win.

“It was awesome racing Ty Gibbs at the start. We were really pushing each other. It’s special to win two road courses in a row and dream about one day winning on an oval.”

Custer’s eighth-place finish was good enough to keep a 12-point championship lead over both Hill and Chandler Smith.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series moves to Iowa Speedway for next Saturday’s HyVee Perks 250 (3:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Christopher Bell and Chase Briscoe each won a race at Iowa in the 2019 season – the last time the series visited the 0.875-mile track.

RESULTS

Larson relieved to get waiver and put all the ‘drama’ behind him

Kyle Larson is ready to put all waiver talk behind him as the NASCAR Cup Series goes racing at Sonoma Raceway. NASCAR granted Larson a waiver to remain championship-eligible earlier this week. The Hendrick Motorsports driver needed a waiver after he …

Kyle Larson is ready to put all waiver talk behind him as the NASCAR Cup Series goes racing at Sonoma Raceway.

NASCAR granted Larson a waiver to remain championship-eligible earlier this week. The Hendrick Motorsports driver needed a waiver after he did not start the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway (May 26) because he ran in the Indianapolis 500. Larson’s attempt at the double fell by the wayside when the start in Indianapolis was delayed by four hours due to rain.

The same severe weather moved to North Carolina, ending the Coca-Cola 600 after 249 laps. Larson never made a lap in his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

“I think there’s definitely relief on my end even though I really wasn’t paying a ton of attention to it – to the waiver,” Larson said Saturday before qualifying at Sonoma Raceway. “At least now knowing that I do personally get to race for a championship feels good. I’m sure there was a lot that went into it on NASCAR’s end and a lot of discussion and [they] just wanted to be right. I think we all — probably even them — figured we would get the waiver. I think they were just trying to make sure they had all their ducks in a row first.

“I’m appreciative of it, for sure, and look forward to getting through this week and, hopefully, after this press conference not have to talk about waivers again. It feels good, and [I’m] thankful that nobody has to deal with the drama going forward.”

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NASCAR did not consider the waiver until Hendrick Motorsports officially made the request. It is unclear when the team formally submitted the request, but it was not done during race weekend. Larson went into the Cup Series race last weekend in St. Louis not knowing if he was still eligible for the championship.

He didn’t have much to say about the process as it played out. The playoff points he accumulated before the Charlotte event, 17, were taken off the NASCAR championship points report until the waiver decision was made.

“Sure, I cared, but the thing I cared most about was the owner championship, at least in that moment [of uncertainty last week], because that’s what pays the bills,” he said. “That’s kind of where I was coming at it.

“I was a little less stressed out…than I think what everybody would imagine. I’m just happy that if I do win a championship now, I can have my name on the record books.”

In missing the race at Charlotte, Larson fell from the championship point lead to third in the standings, but he is still in contention for the regular-season championship and its 15 additional bonus points. He finished 10th in St. Louis and is 21 points behind leader Denny Hamlin going into Sonoma.

“I personally didn’t have any communication with NASCAR, but I know Jeff Gordon and Jeff Andrews and Rick Hendrick were in constant communication,” Larson said. “I was appreciative of the support through my race team, and I just let them handle it. I didn’t really know if there was anything I could say, and I’m pretty bad with words sometimes, so maybe I could have just dug myself a hole a little bit if I was to communicate.

“I’m just thankful that we don’t have to deal with it again. I’m happy to get to race for a championship, so thanks to everybody there.”

Larson, the 2021 series champion, has two wins on the season. He leads the series with seven stage wins and 656 laps led.