Race Preview: Sonoma
NASCAR continues its trip out to California, this time with only the O'Reilly and Cup Series running the 1.99 mile circuit. Last week the drivers had no knowledge of the track before hitting the concrete, but this week, most drivers have had the privilege of racing in wine country.
O’Reilly Series:
The only three drivers joining the O’Reilly Series field for double duty this weekend are all of the Trackhouse guys, and all three are no slouches on the road courses. Each of them has a road course victory, and they will be looking to steal a win from the rest of the field.
Of the full-time O’Reilly Series drivers, there are a lot of them with little experience on the track, but William Sawalich had a 3rd place finish last year in his first attempt at the track. Austin Hill, last week’s winner in San Diego, has historically been very good at Sonoma as well, finishing no lower than 12th out west.
Another Austin, this one being Austin Green, is also a dark-horse to watch for the weekend. He finished 8th last week in San Diego, and despite a rough showing early in the year at COTA, he has nailed some impressive finishes in his now-part-time deal with Peterson Racing Group. If he shows up with the same consistent speed he had last week in San Diego, he could hang around and have a top-five kind of day if the cards fall right.
Cup Series:
Kyle Larson is one of the favorites for the Cup Series this weekend, and he's hoping to put on a show for his hometown crowd to break his 41-race winless streak, his longest since joining Hendrick back in 2021. He has only won twice at Sonoma, but of the tracks currently on the schedule, Sonoma ranks as only his 15th-best track, with an average finish of 14.7. Larson is hoping to turn his luck back around at Sonoma after a disappointing showing last year.
The other two active drivers to score a win at Sonoma, Daniel Suaréz and Shane van Gisbergen, are also legitimate threats to take home a win as well. Suaréz had a great showing out in San Diego last week, reeling in a 13th-place finish. His road-course abilities have improved steadily year over year, and with the gains that Spire has been making across the board, don’t count him out before the weekend even starts.
In-Season Challenge:
The In-Season Tournament also kicks off this week in the Cup Series, as 32 drivers will fight it out in a head-to-head knockout style bracket challenge over the next five races to win $1 Million. Last year’s winner, Ty Gibbs, is seeded 5th in the bracket, going up against Austin Dillon. The “Cinderella” story from last year, Austin’s brother Ty, will face off against Denny Hamlin, who is the #1 seed and looking for redemption from a first-round knockout by Ty Dillon last year.
With a road course being the first race of the five, this could potentially cause several upsets like we saw last year, except the tournament started at Atlanta in 2025, which had about the same effect. There are no guarantees for any of the favorites, including SVG, who did not finish the race last week in San Diego, and he was favored to win.
The entertainment will definitely be on display this weekend at a track that has not been kind to many of the drivers in both series, but will we see a new first-time winner at Sonoma?
Schedule:
Practice for the O’Reilly Series will be on Friday, June 26th at 4 pm ET, with qualifying starting right after at 5:05 pm ET. Both will be aired on the CW app. The race will be held on Saturday, June 27th at 5:30pm ET and will air on The CW.
Practice for the Cup Series will be on Saturday, June 27th at 2 pm ET, with qualifying starting right after at 3:10 pm ET. Both will be aired on truTV. The race will start at 3:30 PM ET on Sunday, June 28th, and it will be the first race of five on TNT.
Predictions:
O'Reilly Series: Corey Day
Cup Series: Shane van Gisbergen
