The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Wine Country this weekend for its annual trip to Sonoma Raceway.
This will be the second road course race of the season since William Byron won at COTA in March.
Road course racing can produce some surprising results, but it will be hard to top last week’s performance.
Christopher Bell was driving dominantly until engine failure late in the race cost him a top-five finish.
Then Ryan Blaney ran out of gas while leading on the final lap.
FanDuel has past road course winners Martin Truex Jr. (+600), Kyle Larson (+750) and William Byron (+750) as favorites to win.
You can watch the Toyota Save/Mart 350 on Sunday at 3:30pm on FOX.
Here are some of our recommendations:
Ty Gibbs to win (+900, Caesars)
Gibbs has been one of the best road course drivers since joining NASCAR.
He had four road course wins in the Xfinity Series before moving to the Cup Series.
Since the start of 2023, he ranks fourth in overall speed across all road course races.
He drove the second-fastest car in three consecutive road course races and finished in the top five all three times.
He didn’t perform great at last year’s Sonoma race, but don’t let that put you off — Gibbs has even more speed in 2024.
Elliott, Bell, Ross Chastain, Daniel Suarez and Tyler Reddick all earned their first career wins on road courses, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Gibbs joined that group on Sunday.
Tyler Reddick to finish in the top five (+160, bet365)
Not long ago, Elliott was the Cup Series road course champion.
While Elliott remains a threat on road courses, Reddick may become the new dominant road course racer in the Cup Series.
In his last 13 road course races, Reddick has finished worse than eighth twice, which includes three wins and seven top-five finishes.
Reddick is considered the favorite to win Sunday, but Sonoma is the only road course track that poses problems for him.
Still, I believe he will overcome his issues and compete for a top-five finish.
Chris Buescher – AJ Allmendinger Top 10 Finish (+140, Caesars)
Buescher has finished in the top 10 in 10 of his last 11 road course races, with the lone exception being an 11th-place finish.
Sonoma has been especially good for Buescher, who has finished first and second in the speed rankings in the past two races.
Buescher finished in the top five in both races.
My top 10 parlay is a combination of Buescher and Allmendinger.
Road course racing is Allmendinger’s specialty, with eight top-10 finishes in his past 10 starts in road course races of this type on trucks.
Both drivers will be in contention for the win on Sunday, with a top 10 finish expected as a minimum.
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Christopher Bell beat Kyle Larson (-115, DraftKings)
This marks the second week in a row that Larson will be underestimated in the driver battles.
That’s unlikely to happen, but I don’t see the same advantage in Larson as I do in Bell at Sonoma.
Larson has stunned the world in 2021, including three road course wins.
Since then, he has only four top-10 finishes in 12 road course races.
Bell has eight top-10 finishes in that same span, including four in the past five races.
He did much better in the lone road course race of 2024, finishing second to Larson’s 17th place.
The Bell is a back-to-back race winning car.
This momentum, combined with his success on road courses, should keep him ahead of Larson at Sonoma.
