NASCAR At Sonoma: How To Watch, Betting Preview And Picks For Toyota Save Mart 350

The NASCAR Cup Series returns to wine country for the first time since 2019 for the running of the Toyota Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway. In the last race at Sonoma, Martin Truex Jr. took home the win after leading 59 of 90 laps.

As NASCAR heads into its 16th race of the season, here is Benzinga’s preview for all of the action at Sonoma.

How to watch: Sunday, June 6 at 3 p.m. EST on FS1.

Race preview: In the two road course races run this season, Christopher Bell won at Daytona and Chase Elliott won two weeks ago at Circuit of the Americas. Martin Truex Jr. leads all active drivers with three wins at the track, including the last two races run. After winning the Coca-Cola 600 this past Sunday from the pole position, Kyle Larson sits on the pole for this race as well.

Sunday’s race features a new track layout, utilizing the longer course structure with the “carousel” section that was used in 2019. The downforce has been cut down significantly from two years ago in an effort to improve passing. The 2019 race featured just two cautions for the stage breaks and was objectively a snoozer. Stages have taken away the alternate pit strategies at road courses, making passes even more important.

Betting Preview

The Favorites

• Chase Elliott (+210 to win, -350 top-5)
• Martin Truex Jr. (+375 to win, -190 top-5)
• Kyle Larson (+700 to win, +100 top-5)
• Kyle Busch (+750 to win, +105 top-5)
• Denny Hamlin (+1000 to win, +140 top-5)

To nobody’s surprise, Elliott and Truex are the favorites entering the race. Elliott is the road course ace of NASCAR at the moment, winning five of the last six races on this type of track. While he has never won at Sonoma, he has two top-10 finishes in three starts. Truex is the winner of the last two Sonoma races and has led 121 laps in those races.

Larson has started on the pole in each of the last three Sonoma races, but only has one top-10 to back it up. He's a two-time winner this season and leads the series in laps led. Starting on the pole will give him track position and, if he can stay out of trouble, Larson will be a threat to win.

Busch is a two-time Sonoma winner and has top-10 finishes in the past five Sonoma races. Along with teammate Denny Hamlin, the Joe Gibbs Racing duo is strong at road racing and poses the biggest threat to the three favorites.

What to make of Team Penske? The Penske trio of Joey Logano (+1500 to win, +210 top-5), Ryan Blaney (+2000 to win, +275 top-5), and Brad Keselowski (+2500 to win, +325 top-5) enter the race on uneven ground after poor finishes at Charlotte. Penske hasn't placed two cars in the top-10 in the same race since Talladega. However, Logano and Blaney have shown speed at Sonoma in past races to make these odds enticing.

Road course racing is a different discipline than oval racing, which makes Sonoma a perfect place for Team Penske to reverse its recent downward swing. Keselowski isn't known as a road course driver, but Blaney and Logano could break through for their second wins of 2021.

Longshots to keep an eye on: Christopher Bell (+3300 to win, +450 top-5) won earlier this season at the Daytona road course and is a driver to keep an eye on. He hasn't run well as of late, but in Joe Gibbs Racing equipment he could break out at any time. His odds are the longest of any of the four JGR drivers, but could surprise everyone with another good road course run.

Kurt Busch (+5000 to win, +650 top-5) and Matt DiBenedetto (+10000 to win, +1200 top-5) are other drivers to watch. Busch is in the midst of a miserable season at Chip Ganassi Racing and is outside the playoff picture. However, he won at Sonoma in 2011 and has seven top-10s in the past nine races there. DiBenedetto finished fourth at Sonoma in 2019 and runs in Penske equipment. While he only has two top-10s at road courses, at such long odds it’s worth a look.

Sonoma race picks: It's hard to bet against Elliott or Truex to win and, outside of some sort of issue, they're nearly locks to finish at the front of the field. However, the rest of Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing have a good shot to win, making value bets on top-5 finishes the way to go. I’ll take Elliott and Truex to finish top-5 at least, joined by Logano, Hamlin, and Kyle Busch.