Sonoma Tag

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer SONOMA, California — In 223 NASCAR national touring starts, with 155 in the Cup Series, Matt DiBenedetto has never scored a top-five. That all changed Sunday as a fourth-place result in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway capped off a career-defining afternoon. Through tremendous strategy and a solid all around car, DiBenedetto and the entire Leavine Family Racing kept working on the No. 95 Procore Toyota Camry all afternoon, and it paid off as he’s now 25th in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series standingsRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer SONOMA, California — Hungry for his second Toyota/Save Mart 350 victory, Kyle Busch was a man on a mission to beat Martin Truex, Jr., but the bid fell 1.861 seconds short Sunday at Sonoma Raceway. With fresher tires, Busch’s caved-in No. 18 M&Ms Hazelnut Toyota Camry kept cutting down his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate’s 8.3 second lead with 20 laps remaining. Several laps later, Busch’s deficit just kept decreasing and the question would now become can he pass Truex? Lapped traffic would also play a pivotalRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer SONOMA, California — William Byron is still trying getting used to Sonoma Raceway as he’ll make his second start at the now 2.52-mile circuit this Sunday. Even if it’s his second Cup rodeo, Byron learned right away that launching into the corners in “The Carousel” will be key, but his biggest surprise from the two practice sessions on Friday was the amount of grip being different than last year where he finished 25th. “I’m surprised how much grip the track has lost in areas that weRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer SONOMA, California — Although 23 points behind Daniel Hemric for the Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors after 15 races, it has been quite the rookie campaign for Ryan Preece. The former Modified champion has already gotten people to notice his skillful driving with astonishing results in both plate circuits, scoring an eighth in the Daytona 500 and a career-high third at Talladega. Not only that, he also had strong showing at Atlanta before a pit road accident with B.J. McLeod eliminated him from a astonishingRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer SONOMA, California — The return of the “Carousel” wasn’t the sole subject of both Friday practice sessions for the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway. Instead, all eyes were on both Kyle Larson and last year’s winner Martin Truex, Jr. Both competitors set blistering pace on a the dirty track surface, but the sessions proved to be relatively tamed. On the opposite end, some competitors such as Bubba Wallace and Cody Ware, struggled in both sessions as it pertained of finding a proper groove to getRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer SONOMA, California — NASCAR Xfinity Series title contender Cole Custer is far from slowing down during the series off-week as he made the trip to Sonoma Raceway to gain track experience for the upcoming road races this summer. Custer will be driving a third Sunrise Ford Racing entry in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West and is one of two Xfinity regulars that’ll participate in Saturday’s Procore 200. “We reached out to Bob (Bruncati, owner of Sunrise Ford Racing). Obviously, he’s a Ford team and heRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer A new chapter into NASCAR’s future has few perks as they’re further separating themselves from tradition once more. For what? To spice things up like its a game of Russian roulette? First off, I applaud the sport for making the Southern 500 at Darlington the playoff opener. A crown jewel event is the ultimate ideal start of the postseason and makes the most nostalgic weekend even sweeter. Their attempt of a doubleheader at Pocono sounds promising, but I’m not crazy about doubleheaders in major motorsports exceptRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer SONOMA, California — Welcome to the Verizon IndyCar Series, rookies. The Harding Racing duo of Colton Herta and Patricio O’Ward exceeded expectations in their debuts on Sunday at Sonoma Raceway. Both drivers finished on the lead lap, with O’Ward finishing ninth and Herta coming home 20th. Race strategist Brian Barnhart was proud of both by bringing his entries home with a clean car and lead lap finishes, stating that it was crucial of allowing the duo an opportunity to compete at the highest level before theRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer SONOMA, California — Ryan Hunter-Reay put in a dominating performance en route to victory in the Verizon IndyCar Series season finale at Sonoma Raceway. After starting on pole, the pilot of the No. 28 Andretti Autosport Honda led 80 of 85 laps and beat newly-crowned five time series champion Scott Dixon by 2.7573 second in the finale INDYCAR Grand Prix of Sonoma. It marked Hunter-Reay’s 18th Indy car victory and became the third drought he snapped this weekend. His pole from Saturday marked his first sinceRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer SONOMA, California — Alexander Rossi fell short of capturing his first Verizon IndyCar Series championship, but he made sure to go down fighting in the season finale at Sonoma Raceway. The 26-year-old Californian’s day began on the wrong foot after a cut right front tire on the opening lap set him back for the remainder of the 85-lap contest. Although he rebounded to finish seventh in Sunday’s INDYCAR Grand Prix of Sonoma, the outcome left second in the overall standings, 57 points behind newly crowned championRead More