NASCAR Cup Series | Results and 3 takeaways from Sunday’s race at Sonoma
Martin Truex Jr. won the Toyota/Save Mart 350 on Sunday, his third win of the season, but there are other implications from the race as well. Here are the three biggest takeaways from Sunday at Sonoma Raceway:
1. Watch out, leaders – here comes Truex
With Truex’s third victory of the season (and second in the last three races), he’s finally rounding back into his dominant form from 2017. Now, he’s still one victory behind Kyle Busch and two behind season-leader Kevin Harvick, but with 20 races left before season’s end, it is completely reasonable for Truex to catch and even surpass his peers. This isn’t to say that Busch or Harvick, who finished as runner-up for the second straight week, are out of the running, but their lead is diminishing week by week. And if Truex’s trajectory maintains, so will that trend.
2. What a third title contender means for NASCAR
Now that there are three drivers with at least three victories, we’re seeing an elite class develop rather than just two drivers running away with the season. Which is to say, that’s a good thing for NASCAR. This season has still seen the fewest number of separate race winners in over twenty years, so the more competition and parity there is among the top three, the better. NASCAR as a whole is still better off with more winners than fewer, but this is at least a start in eliminating the massive lead Busch and Harvick have.
3. How many winners will we end the season with?
Now 16 races into the season (and with only 10 to go before the playoffs begin), it wouldn’t be unreasonable if we only saw three or four more race winners. Brad Keselowski has been good enough and consistent enough this year -- he has nine Top 10’s so far -- that he deserves a win. Kyle Larson (eight Top 10’s, three runer-up finishes) and Ryan Blaney (eight Top 10’s) probably are due, too. But it’s not unreasonable that as the year goes on, the Big 3 of Truex, Busch, and Harvick continue winning, shrinking the pool around them. Final projection for winners this season? The six we already have (Truex, Harvick, Busch, Austin Dillon, Joey Logano, and Clint Bowyer), plus those three on the cusp.
Brendan Marks: 704-358-5889, @brendanrmarks
Toyota / Save Mart 350
The full race results, from the Associated Press:
Toyota / Save Mart 350
At Sonoma, Calif.
Lap length: 1.99 miles
St | Driver | Car | Laps | * | ||
1 | 2 | Martin Truex Jr | Toyota | 110 | ||
2 | 6 | Kevin Harvick | Ford | 1135 | ||
3 | 19 | Clint Bowyer | Ford | 110 | ||
4 | 3 | Chase Elliott | Chevrolet | 110 | ||
5 | 9 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 110 | ||
6 | 23 | Kurt Busch | Ford | 110 | ||
7 | 20 | Erik Jones | Toyota | 110 | ||
8 | 24 | Aric Almirola | Ford | 110 | ||
9 | 17 | Alex Bowman | Chevrolet | 110 | ||
10 | 21 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 110 | ||
11 | 7 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 110 | ||
12 | 25 | Chris Buescher | Chevrolet | 110 | ||
13 | 10 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 110 | ||
14 | 1 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet | 110 | ||
15 | 16 | Daniel Suarez | Toyota | 110 | ||
16 | 27 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | 110 | ||
17 | 30 | Matt DiBenedetto | Ford | 110 | ||
18 | 18 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | Ford | 110 | ||
19 | 12 | Joey Logano | Ford | 110 | ||
20 | 26 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | 110 | ||
21 | 22 | Michael McDowell | Ford | 110 | ||
22 | 28 | David Ragan | Ford | 109 | ||
23 | 34 | Parker Kligerman | Toyota | 109 | ||
24 | 14 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | 109 | ||
25 | 8 | William Byron | Chevrolet | 109 | ||
26 | 15 | Paul Menard | Ford | 109 | ||
27 | 13 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | 109 | ||
28 | 33 | Justin Marks | Chevrolet | 109 | ||
29 | 35 | Bubba Wallace | Chevrolet | 109 | ||
30 | 29 | Gray Gaulding | Toyota | 109 | ||
31 | 36 | Chris Cook | Chevrolet | 109 | ||
32 | 37 | Tomy Drissi | Chevrolet | 108 | ||
33 | 31 | Ty Dillon | Chevrolet | 106 | ||
34 | 11 | Ryan Blaney | Ford | 104 | ||
35 | 32 | Cole Whitt | Chevrolet | 57 | 1 | |
36 | 38 | Cody Ware | Chevrolet | 42 | 2 | |
37 | 4 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | 33 | 3 | |
38 | 5 | AJ Allmendinger | Chevrolet | 33 | 4 |
*Reason out: 1-accident, 2-fuelpump, 3-garage, 4-engine.
Race Statistics
Average Speed of Race Winner: 82.882 mph.
Time of Race: 2 hours, 38 minutes, 28 seconds.
Margin of Victory: 10.513 seconds.
Caution Flags: 3 for 8 laps.
Lead Changes: 11 among 7 drivers.
Lap Leaders: K.Larson 1-2; M.Truex 3-22; A.Allmendinger 23-27; M.Truex 28-41; K.Harvick 42-47; D.Hamlin 48-51; K.Harvick 52-72; M.Truex 73-80; Ku.Busch 81; E.Jones 82; K.Harvick 83-90; M.Truex 91-110
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): M.Truex, 4 times for 62 laps; K.Harvick, 3 times for 35 laps; A.Allmendinger, 1 time for 5 laps; D.Hamlin, 1 time for 4 laps; K.Larson, 1 time for 2 laps; E.Jones, 1 time for 1 lap; K.Busch 1 time for 1 lap.
This story was originally published June 24, 2018 at 9:29 PM with the headline "NASCAR Cup Series | Results and 3 takeaways from Sunday’s race at Sonoma."