NASCAR viewer’s guide: Sonoma Raceway

This weekend, the NASCAR Cup Series heads to Sonoma Raceway in California for the Toyota/Save Mart 350, the second road course race of the season.

Sonoma will have a “full” race experience for the first time since 2019. Sonoma’s 2020 race was cancelled because of the pandemic, and last year’s race was run with limited attendance.

Sunday’s race will use the facility’s shorter 1.99-mile course that includes a chute between Turns 4 and 7. It will be the first time this version of the course has been used since 2018.

Virtually every road course race starts with Chase Elliott as a favorite. The Hendrick Motorsports driver has won seven of the past 15 road course events and was runner-up to teammate Kyle Larson at Sonoma last year. In the past 16 road course races, Elliott has finished the top 10 only three times.

In the road course win column among active drivers, Elliott is the runaway leader with seven. Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. have four each.

Oddly, however, Elliott has not won at Sonoma.

As the season rolls on through the second half, more than a few key drivers remain in search of their first win and a virtual locked-up spot in the playoffs.

Of that group, Martin Truex Jr. seems the most likely to check off that win this week. He has won three times at Sonoma, including two of the past three races. It’s a complicated week for Truex as he is weighing whether to return next season with Joe Gibbs Racing or to retire.

Other top drivers still waiting for a first win this season are Kevin Harvick, Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace.

Harvick’s case is particularly troublesome. Entering Sonoma, he is one spot below the playoff points cutoff. There have been 11 different winners this year, and,