Event Overview
● Event: Toyota/Save Mart 350k (Round 16 of 36)
● Time/Date: 3:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday, June 9
● Location: Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway
● Layout: 1.99-mile, 10-turn road course
● Laps/Miles: 110 laps/218.9 miles
● Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 25 laps / Stage 2: 30 laps / Final Stage: 55 laps
● TV/Radio: FS1 / PRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Notes of Interest
● Where We Stand: The New Jersey native sits fourth in the driver standings with 490 points, 44 behind leader and JGR teammate Denny Hamlin. All four Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) entries are currently inside the top-10 in the standings, with Ty Gibbs seventh and Christopher Bell eighth as the series heads west this weekend to Northern California.
● Truex’s most recent win at Sonoma came last season, his second at Sonoma for Joe Gibbs Racing, having led a race-high 51 laps en route to victory lane in Northern California’s Wine Country.
● With 17 career Cup Series outings at Sonoma, Truex has four wins, six top-five finishes, seven top-10s, and he’s led a total of 264 laps. His average Sonoma finish is 16.7.
● With his aforementioned four Sonoma wins, Truex is the winningest active driver at the 1.99-mile, 10-turn circuit, with Kyle Busch next with two Sonoma victories. Truex is now just one win away from tying the all-time leader in Sonoma wins, Jeff Gordon, a five-time winner there.
● Road-Course Ace: In addition to his four victories at Sonoma, Truex has a fifth career road-course win, which came in August 2017 at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International. Truex has a total of 14 career top-five finishes, and 25 top-10s and 355 laps led in 53 career road-course races.
● Looking for 35: Truex’s win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon last July was his most recent Cup Series win, the 34th of his career, tying him with 2004 champion Kurt Busch for 25th on the all-time Cup Series win list.
● Ahead at this Stage: Truex has accumulated 63 stage wins since the beginning of the stage era in 2017. He is the only driver with 10 or more stage sweeps, with his latest sweep coming at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn last August. Truex scored his second stage win of the season at Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway in April, leading the field across the line at the end of Stage 1.
Martin Truex Jr., Driver of the No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry XSE
You’ll be coming back to Sonoma this weekend as a four-time and defending race winner. What are your thoughts heading into the weekend?
“It’s a lot different with the repave, but I’m hoping it’s our normal deal out there and we have a chance to win again. I think this would be the first time I would have five wins at a track if we can get it done. This will be a new challenge, we’ve been able to win on the normal course we’ve used, been able to win on the carousel configuration, and now we have a new challenge with the repaved surface, as well. I just love going out there, and the area, and we have a lot of fans there who I know will be cheering us on with our Bass Pro Shops Camry XSE this weekend.”
You tested at Sonoma during the Goodyear tire test back in March. What were your impressions during the test?
“With the new pavement, the track was getting better and better. I know they’ve had to do a little bit of work there since, so I’m sure the same will go throughout the race weekend. With the more use it gets and rubber laid down, it will get better. The track was pretty slick but, as we ran laps and cleaned the track off and laid rubber down, things got a lot better. Our car was pretty good back then, but we also know it’s going to be a lot warmer there this weekend than it was back in March at the test, but it was nice to get an early jump and feel some things out a few months ago, well before this weekend.”
What has contributed most to your success at Sonoma?
“Just enjoying the track. I had a lot of fast cars at Sonoma and just been able to figure out the technique to get around there. The old pavement and the tire wear was part of the magic that we’ve found and I felt comfortable with, so this is a whole new ballgame with the new pavement. It’s essentially no tire falloff now, at least at the test, so we will have to approach it a little bit differently. Still the same track and the same kind of lines work around there, and some of the same techniques, so hopefully they picked a good tire and we can work this weekend to get around the place even faster and have a shot to continue to run well there.”
Even though the track is repaved, does having success there on multiple layouts give you confidence heading into Sonoma?
“Definitely, just having that past experience and that feel on what you want the car to do at a certain track to be successful is always important. Any time you’ve been able to unlock that a few different times, it’s helpful. It just gives you confidence and gets you excited to go out there and go to a place that you’ve had a lot of success, so it’s always a little bit different than a place where you’ve struggled or not won at.”
Why has Sonoma been such a special place for you and your team?
“Sonoma has just been a special place for me. Being able to win there four times is unreal and we’ve had a few slip away there, too. We could be talking about a few more wins if things went differently a few times. Sonoma just fits my style, I’m comfortable there and I really enjoy the track. It’s going to be a new challenge this year with the new pavement and it’s totally different with the new pavement. Some of the things that it took to be good there are gone and it’s going to be all about who can go the fastest with the tires not wearing out like they have in the past. It’s going to be a bit different than it has been in the past. It’s still a fun track and looking forward to trying to get a win on the latest layout. The easiest way to say it is that we are simply going faster. Every corner, the lap times are quicker and every part of it is faster, but we are looking forward to the challenge with our Bass Pro Shops Camry this weekend.”
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