The Cup Series heads north up the Pacific Coast Highway to this week as it returns to the wine country of Sonoma for the 2026 Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway. Using the track’s Club Circuit, Sonoma Raceway is a 12-turn, 1.99 mile layout that has hosted the all-time greats of auto racing since 1969 and the best of the best in NASCAR since 1989 (Insert Taylor Swift reference?).
Sonoma serves as one of the more challenging road courses on the NASCAR schedule, featuring 160 feet of elevation changes over the course of a lap, tight passing zones, and several technical areas that will separate the men from the boys (Or SVG from everyone else?). Drivers’ first prerogative is making sure they can get their car to go the distance. 110 laps is a long time for issues to pop up (brake failures, tires blowouts, expiring engines, and of course, poor handling from beating and banging and using the ol’ chrome horn), so drivers must manage their equipment more than usual. One false move and a driver can drop 20-30 spots faster than a Boomer can start yelling about “Them Cheating ‘Yotas (Mandatory boomer reference: ✅). Strategy is always front and center on road courses, but who will find that right strategy? Track position is king on road courses, so many drivers will pit before the end of the stage to try and gain track position, while some of those bubble boys looking to make The Chase will stay out and grab some stage points and hope that they have enough pace and handling to slice back through the field during the final stage. Sonoma has been traditionally known for its long, green flag runs (another SVG 10 second victory incoming), so executing during the few trips to pit road and on restarts will be vital to drivers looking to put together a strong run. Finally, just stay patient. Passing can be done, but it takes time to set up passes, especially when there are only so many areas on the track to get it done. The worst thing a driver can do on a road course is to try and force a pass that just isn’t there and bring an early end to both their day and potentially the drivers around them. At the end of the day, the best drivers with the best handling cars almost always find their way to the front.
Sonoma Raceway more importantly serves as the first race in this year’s In-Season Challenge. Returning for a second season after rave reviews (depending on who you ask) last season, the In-Season Challenge is a March Madness-type bracket featuring the top 32 drivers in the Drivers Standings facing off in pursuit of a cool, one million dollar payday. Facing off March Madness-style (1 vs. 32, 2 vs. 31, etc.), half of the drivers in the In-Season Challenge will be eliminated over each of the next five races, with the final driver standing following the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway will be the winner of the In-Season Challenge and take home not just a massive payday, but also bragging rights until next season. For drivers zoned in in pursuit of a Championship, this may just be peripheral white noise, but for some of these smaller or struggling teams, this could be the shot of momentum needed to turn their entire season around. Expect plenty of strategy for these types of drivers as they look to go on a Cinderella run like Ty Dillon did last season.
The Toyota/Save Mart 350 was first held in 1989 and has produced a strong list of winners through the years. Jeff Gordon has won this race the most times, finding Victory Lane in Sonoma five times, including three consecutive years from 1998 through 2000. Martin Truex Jr. won this race four times in his career, Tony Stewart is a three-time Sonoma winner, including his final career win in 2016, while Kyle Busch, Ernie Irvan, Kyle Larson, Ricky Rudd, and Rusty Wallace are also multi-time Sonoma winners.
Last year’s edition was won by Shane van Gisbergen, who started on the Pole, won Stage Two, and led 97 of the 110 laps to take home the victory. Chase Briscoe finished runner-up after leading two laps, Chase Elliott finished in third position, Michael McDowell led three laps on the way to a fourth best showing, and Christopher Bell led one lap on the way to a fifth place run. Ross Chastain won Stage One and led four laps on the way to a 24th place finish, and Kyle Larson was the only other driver to lead laps on the day, pacing the field for three laps on the way to a 35th place showing.
Coverage of the Toyota/Save Mart 350 can be seen on TNT (Boomers rejoice! Prime is gone! One less thing for you to bitch about… until you realize you can’t find the channel since it’s on cable), with pre-race coverage beginning at 2:30 PM EST, and green flag coverage beginning at 3:30 PM EST.
Anything that could possibly go wrong has gone wrong for Josh Berry during the 2026 season, posting only two top 10’s and four top 20’s to slot in 30th position in the Driver Standings. On top of that, he is currently looking for a ride in 2027, as Wood Brothers Racing recently announced that Jesse Love will take over the famed #21 Ford Mustang next season. AND on top of all of that, Josh Berry blows on road courses. There’s just no other eloquent way to put it. In 14 career road/street course starts in the Cup Series, Berry has managed to put together just two top 20 and four top 25 finishes, with a best finish of 13th actually coming in this race last season. His stats this year? Even more dismal, if that’s even possible, finishing 26th or worse in all three road/street course races this season (26th at Circuit of the Americas, 32nd at Watkins Glen, and 29th at the San Diego Street Course). His stats this weekend are very much par for the course, ranking 33rd on 5 Lap Averages, laying down just the 33rd fastest lap of Practice before qualifying in 28th position. I have no doubt that Berry’s struggles will continue and that he will post a fourth straight finish outside the top 25 on a road/street course.
The OG road course king, AJ Allmendinger has honestly defied the odds so far in 2026. Starting this season as the second oldest full-time driver (clocking in only behind Denny Hamlin) and dealing with Kaulig Racing’s Cup Series program losing factory support from Chevrolet after switching to RAM in the Craftsman Truck Series, a lesser driver would have folded. But Allmendinger is putting together a solid campaign instead, posting one top five (5th last week in San Diego), three top 10’s, and 10 top 20 finishes to slot in 20th in the Driver Standings, just 21 points below the current cutline for The Chase. His road course/street course stats are pretty damn impressive, posting three wins, 10 top 5’s, 27 top 10’s, 38 top 20’s, and 245 laps led in 52 Cup Series starts, not to mention 11 O’Reilly Auto Parts Series wins on this style of track. Sonoma has not been his most dominant road course by any means (RIP Charlotte Roval), but Allmendinger has posted a respectable four top 10’s, nine top 20’s, and 68 laps led in 14 career starts, highlighted by sixth place finishes in both 2023 and 2024. Allmendinger showed his road course prowess in Practice yesterday, pacing the field on 5 Lap Averages and laying down the ninth fastest lap of the session before an eighth place qualifying run. Allmendinger has finished inside the top 10 in all three road course/street course races in 2026 (fifth at the San Diego Street Course, seventh at Watkins Glen, and ninth at Circuit of the Americas) and in four consecutive road/street course races dating back to last season (ninth at the Charlotte Roval in 2025). Allmendinger is also making some on-track history this afternoon, as today marks his 500th career Cup Series start (Did anybody add Bengay to the shopping list?). Never count out The Dinger on a road course, and with today’s monumental milestone, I expect his strong run to continue with another top 10 finish at Sonoma.
Another driver who thrives on road/street courses, Michael McDowell is another driver looking to put together a strong summer run to try and qualify for The Chase, currently posting two top 5’s, four top 10’s, and 10 top 20’s to sit in 21st position in the Driver Standings, 34 points below the cutline for The Chase. McDowell is a former road course winner, winning on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course in 2023 to go along with nine top 5’s, 19 top 10’s, 33 top 20’s, and 146 laps led in 56 career Cup Series starts on the roads and streets. Sonoma has arguably been McDowell’s best track of late, finishing third in 2022, seventh in 2023, second in 2024, and fourth in 2025. As a whole, McDowell has been dialed in on the road/street courses over the past year, riding a streak of four straight top 10 finishes dating back to last season and posting five top five finishes in his last eight road and street starts. McDowell finished 10th last week in San Diego, posted a fifth place showing at Circuit of the Americas, posted his best finish of the season at Watkins Glen, a runner-up performance (essentially the winner of the mere mortals division of the race when you take SVG out of the equation), and is geared up for more this afternoon, ranking inside the top 10 on 10 and 15 Lap Averages in Practice before laying down the fourth fastest lap of the qualifying session. The lone driver at Spire Motorsports to not win so far in 2026 (I’ll take Phrases I Never Thought I would be Typing this Season for $500, Alex.), McDowell will give it his all to try and change that this afternoon. Expect McDowell to be a threat all race long as he locks down a fifth straight Sonoma top 10 finish.
Did you really think we were going to ride with anybody else? Shane van Gisbergen has raised his consistency levels in 2026, posting one win, three top 5’s, and 4 top 10’s to slot in 17th in the Driver Standings, a mere five points below The Chase cut line after being firmly above the cutline for the majority of the season. The stats speak for themselves; in 15 road/street course starts in the Cup Series, van Gisbergen has seven wins, nine top 5’s, 12 top 10’s, 13 top 20’s, and 425 laps led. Not to mention that he won another six of this style of race in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. Van Gisbergen has already shown this weekend why he’s one of the best on roads and the streets, winning the Pole and putting on an absolute driving clinic by leading 66 of the 79 laps on the way to the victory in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race. As usual, van Gisbergen showed good pace in Practice and qualifying, running the fifth fastest lap of Practice and capping it off with a spin in qualifying on the way to locking down a sixth place starting position. Let’s not forget that van Gisbergen won this race last year by putting on an absolute belt to ass performance, starting from the Pole and leading 97 of the 110 laps to bring home a victory. Even if he isn’t the fastest on raw speed, van Gisbergen has a chance to win on pure technique alone and will absolutely drive his way to the front. At the end of the day, the only way you’re likely to beat SVG on a road course is if his car has a parts failure or if you wreck him (see last week), because the man is very unlikely to beat himself. SVG was brought here to dominate on road courses, and I expect nothing less today. One of our favorite one-trick ponies (I’d rather be a one-trick pony than a no-trick pony.), we are riding with Shane van Gisbergen to pick up his second victory of the season, his second Cup Series victory at Sonoma, and a weekend sweep in the Wine Country of California in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway!
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