NASCAR in Sonoma: Watch info, TV schedule, favorites for Toyota/Save Mart 350

The NASCAR Cup Series is rolling into Wine Country.

Sonoma Raceway, a 12-turn, 1.99-mile track in Northern California, will play host to the second road course race of the 2024 season – and there's an added twist this year. The entire surface was repaved with fresh asphalt over the offseason, which could present unknown obstacles this weekend.

Martin Truex Jr., the defending race winner, looks to pace the field again while a number of other challengers are thirsty to drink wine from Sonoma’s victory chalice on Sunday afternoon.

Here’s everything you need to know the 2024 Toyota/Save Mart 350:

NASCAR Sonoma entry list

Thirty-eight drivers will race at Sonoma – the 34 full-timers, plus four others.

Australian Supercars stars Will Brown and Cam Waters will both make their Cup debuts – hoping to follow in the footsteps of Shane van Gisbergen, a Superstars champion who won in his first NASCAR start last year. Brown will pilot the No. 33 for Richard Childress Racing, while Water is driving the No. 60 for RFK Racing.

Elsewhere, Kaz Grala will pilot the No. 15 for Rick Ware Racing as he continues his part-time effort. Then there’s AJ Allmendinger, a two-time road course winner who races part-time in the Cup Series for Kaulig Racing.

Here’s the full entry list for Sonoma:

Car number	Driver	Team	Sponsor
1	Ross Chastain	Trackhouse Racing	Kubota
2	Austin Cindric	Team Penske	America's Tire
3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Get Bioethanol
4	Josh Berry	Stewart-Haas Racing	Mobil 1
5	Kyle Larson	Hendrick Motorsports	Valvoline
6	Brad Keselowski	RFK Racing	King's Hawaiian
7	Corey LaJoie	Spire Motorsports	Gainbridge
8	Kyle Busch	Richard Childress Racing	Zone
9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	NAPA Gold Filters
10	Noah Gragson	Stewart-Haas Racing	Overstock
11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	FedEx
12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Menards
14	Chase Briscoe	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford Performance Racing School
15	Kaz Grala	Rick Ware Racing	N29 Capital Partners
16	AJ Allmendinger	Kaulig Racing	Cirkul
17	Chris Buescher	RFK Racing	BuildSubmarines.com
19	Martin Truex Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing	Bass Pro Shops
20	Christopher Bell	Joe Gibbs Racing	Rheem
21	Harrison Burton	Wood Brothers Racing	DEX Imaging
22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Autotrader
23	Bubba Wallace	23XI Racing	Columbia Sportswear
24	William Byron	Hendrick Motorsports	RaptorTough.com
31	Daniel Hemric	Kaulig Racing	Cirkul
33	Will Brown	Richard Childress Racing	Mobile X
34	Michael McDowell	Front Row Motorsports	Love's Travel Stops
38	Todd Gilliland	Front Row Motorsports	Frontline
41	Ryan Preece	Stewart-Haas Racing	Caymus Vineyards
42	John Hunter Nemechek	Legacy Motor Club	Save Mart
43	Erik Jones	Legacy Motor Club	Dollar Tree
45	Tyler Reddick	23XI Racing	Monster Energy
47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	JTG Daugherty Racing	Kroger/Tylenol
48	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Ally Pride
51	Justin Haley	Rick Ware Racing	Jacob Construction
54	Ty Gibbs	Joe Gibbs Racing	He Gets Us
60	Cam Waters	RFK Racing	AUKUS/BuildSubmarines.com
71	Zane Smith	Spire Motorsports	Wellcare
77	Carson Hocevar	Spire Motorsports	Delaware Life
99	Daniel Suarez	Trackhouse Racing	Freeway Insurance

When is the NASCAR race in Sonoma?

The Toyota/Save Mart 350 is set for Sunday, June 9 at 3:30 p.m. ET.

Before the race on Sunday, there will be practice and qualifying sessions. All 38 drivers will get an hour of practice on Friday.

Then, the field will compete in two-round qualifying on Saturday. Here’s how it works:

• The 38 drivers will be split into two groups (found here).
• First round: 15 minutes for each group. Drivers can make unlimited laps.
• The five fastest drivers from each group advance to the second round. Starting positions 11 through 38 are set based on speeds from the first round.
• Second round: 10 minutes for the 10 drivers who advanced. Drivers can make unlimited laps. The top 10 starting positions are determined based on the best single-lap speeds from the second round.

What is the TV schedule for NASCAR in Sonoma?

Friday, June 7 (FS1 and streaming)

• Practice: 5 p.m. ET, FS1, FoxSports.com

Saturday, June 8 (FS2 and streaming)

• Qualifying: 6 p.m. ET, FS2, FoxSports.com

Sunday, June 9 (FOX and streaming)

• NASCAR Race Day: 3 p.m. ET, FOX, FoxSports.com
• Toyota/Save Mart 350: 3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, FoxSports.com

NASCAR Sonoma past winners, race history

Truex is chasing history this weekend. The 2017 Cup champion is a four-time winner at Sonoma (2013, 2018-19, 2023), one shy of tying Jeff Gordon’s track record.

Aside from Truex, there are just three other past Sonoma winners racing on Sunday. Kyle Busch has won twice (2008, 2015), while Larson (2021) and Suarez (2022) have one victory each.

NASCAR Sonoma favorites, drivers to watch

Sonoma is unlike any other road course on the schedule.

The track is full of hills, elevation changes and vastly different corners. So, while it’s tempting to look at the typical road course winners as the favorites, it’s beneficial to look at this track as a standalone.

Chase Elliott, William Byron and Tyler Reddick have been the three best road races over the past few years, though none of the three have won at Sonoma.

But Elliott still leads all active drivers in Sonoma average finish (12.1 in seven starts), road course average (8.9 in 30 starts) and road course wins (7). Byron has won two of the last three road races (COTA 2024, Watkins Glen 2023), leading 108 of 158 laps in those two events.

Looking at Sonoma specifically, Truex is always a driver to watch. He’s led 264 laps in 17 starts, most of all active drivers. Chris Buescher (7.3), Joey Logano (8.0), Ross Chastain (8.0) and Larson (8.0) join Elliott (5.0) and Truex (10.0) with the best average finishes at Sonoma over the last three years.

What is the weather for NASCAR in Sonoma?

NBC Bay Area is predicting a beautiful weekend in Sonoma. Temperatures could reach 81 degrees on Sunday, with some clouds in the morning before a sunny afternoon and just a 2% chance of rain. Keep up to date with the latest forecast here.