Previewing NASCAR at Sonoma: Noah Gragson’s injury, Chase Elliott’s return, TV info
The NASCAR Cup Series is set to race on its second road course of the season at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday at Sonoma Raceway.
Fans can catch the race on FOX — the final Cup race of the season broadcast by the network — and on PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Here are five story lines to know ahead of the NASCAR race this weekend.
1. Noah Gragson is out with a brain injury. The rookie driver of the 42 car for Legacy Motor Club was involved in a big single-car wreck at Gateway this past weekend — and that hit resulted in him sustaining concussion-like symptoms. That means Gragson won’t compete at Sonoma this weekend; Truck Series veteran Grant Enfinger will run in his stead. He will be the third Cup driver to miss competition time during the past two years related to a mild brain injury. The others include Kurt Busch, whose concussion last summer ultimately expedited his retirement, and Alex Bowman. Last year’s injuries drew a ton of complaints from drivers, and their collective voice led to safety changes being made to the Next Gen car ahead of the 2023 season.
2. Kevin Harvick running final Cup race in his home state of California. The retirement tour continues for Harvick, one of NASCAR’s all-time great drivers who will stop running in the Cup Series at the end of this year. But Sonoma will be particularly special because it’ll be his last Cup race in his home state of California. It’ll also be his 806th career Cup start — making him ninth all-time in Cup Series starts (right ahead of Jeff Gordon, who retired with 805). Harvick was also honored as a member of the West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame on Thursday in Sonoma. The driver of the No. 4 car for Stewart-Haas Racing has won here once before. Can he do so again in his final try?
3. More Legacy Motor Club news — this time about Erik Jones. The only team to get dinged with a penalty after a physical race at Gateway last weekend was the 42 team led by driver Erik Jones. NASCAR levied an L1 infraction — specifically noting an “engineering change log,” according to the penalty sheet — on the team after the car was taken back to the R&D Center in Concord for teardown following last weekend’s race. The team’s crew chief, Dave Elenz, was fined $75,000 and suspended from NASCAR’s next two Cup races as a result. The team was also assessed a loss of 60 points and five NASCAR playoff points — furthering its deficit in the points standings. Jones will likely have to win a regular-season race now to earn a playoff berth.
4. Chase Elliott is back. The driver of the Hendrick Motorsports No. 9 Chevrolet and NASCAR’s most popular driver is making a “return” for a second time this season. The first time came after a sustaining a broken bone in his left leg. This time his return comes after having to serve a one-race suspension for intentionally wrecking Denny Hamlin at the Coca-Cola 600. The 27-year-old driver briefly addressed his suspension in an availability this week, saying in part, “Obviously it’s been a pretty wild year even prior to two weeks ago. I hate that I put our team and our partners and our fans and all the folks that make us ‘go’ in a tough spot.”
5. Who is historically good at Sonoma? As it turns out: a lot of people are good at Sonoma. Martin Truex Jr. holds the most wins among active drivers at the 1.99-mile, 12-turn racetrack with three wins. Kyle Busch has two. Kyle Larson, Harvick and Daniel Suárez (last year’s winner) each have one. It’s worth noting, too, that there are 13 drivers in the series now who have road-course wins. Among them: Chase Elliott (with a series-high seven wins), Tyler Reddick (who dominated at COTA this year and Indy last year and is growing his reputation as a great road-course driver) and AJ Allmendinger (two wins).
How to watch the race at Sonoma
- Race: Toyota/Save Mart 350
- Place: Sonoma Raceway
- Date: Sunday, June 11
- Time: 3:30 p.m.
- Purse: $8,054,721
- TV: FOX, 3 p.m.
- Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
- Distance: 218.9 miles (110 laps)
- Stages: Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 25), Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 55), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 110)
