NASCAR is going racing in California for the first and only time this season.
The sport has been running at Sonoma Raceway, under other names, since 1989 with some of the sport’s biggest names winning race and creating some of the best moments in its history.
Ricky Rudd won the first NASCAR Cup Series race at Sonoma Raceway, then called Sears Point Raceway, in 1989 after Rusty Wallace sat on pole position.
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Over the next eight years, several drivers won at the new road course including Ernie Irvan twice, Geoff Bodine, Rusty Wallace twice and Dale Earnhardt.
Jeff Gordon started a remarkable stretch by winning three consecutive races at Sears Point in 1998-2000. He won twice more in 2004 and 2006. Gordon also won the pole position in 1998-99, 2001, 2004-05.
Juan Pablo Montoya, decorated Formula One and IndyCar driver, including winning the Indianapolis 500 (2000, 2015) earned his first NASCAR Cup Series victory in 2007 at what was then called Infineon Raceway.
The 2016 race was one of the more memorable races as Tony Stewart secured a victory in his final season of full-time NASCAR Cup Series racing. Stewart made contact with Denny Hamlin in the final hairpin corner to secure the win.
That win for Stewart was particularly meaningful as he snapped a two-season winless streak and returned from a back injury which had caused him to miss the first eight races that season.
Martin Truex Jr. won back-to-back races in 2018-19 to earn his third victory at the track. He ended his career with four wins after winning the 2023 event.
Kyle Larson put together one of the strongest stretches at one track with five consecutive pole positions from 2017-22. He won one of those races, 2021, and now has three wins at Sonoma after winning in 2024.
Daniel Suarez earned his first NASCAR Cup Series victory in 2022 in his fourth season racing full-time in the Cup Series.
What will the 2025 event bring? The Toyota/Save Mart 350 is set to go for one of the more exciting road course races of the season.
Sonoma Raceway NASCAR Cup Series track records
Most Wins: 5 – Jeff GordonMost Poles: 5 – Jeff GordonMost Top Fives: 14 – Jeff GordonMost Top 10s: 18 – Jeff GordonMost Lead Changes: 13 – 2 times, most recently, 6/6/2021Fewest Lead Changes: 3 – 6/11/2023Most Leaders: 10 – 6/25/2017Fewest Leaders: 3- 6/11/2023Most Cautions: 9 – 6/10/1990Fewest Cautions: 3 – 6/11/1989Most Wins by a Manufacturer: 13 – ChevroletClosest Margin of Victory: 0.197 seconds – 6/27/1999Greatest Margin of Victory: 10.513 seconds – 6/24/2018
When is NASCAR Sonoma race?
The Toyota/Save Mart 350 is set for 2:30 p.m. CT on July 13 at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California.
NASCAR Sonoma race TV channel
The Toyota/Save Mart 350 NASCAR Sonoma race will be broadcast on TNT with Adam Alexander, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Steve Letarte in the broadcast booth.
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