Jayski.com Staff 6y

Statistical Advance: Analyzing the Toyota / Save Mart 350

Top Driver Ratings at Sonoma
#41-Kurt Busch ........... 107.5
#48-Jimmie Johnson ........... 99.6
#4-Kevin Harvick ........... 91.3
#18-Kyle Busch ........... 90.7
#14-Clint Bowyer ........... 90.1
#78-Martin Truex Jr ........... 88.6
#22-Joey Logano ........... 83.6
#42-Kyle Larson ........... 82.9
#11-Denny Hamlin ........... 82.6
#2-Brad Keselowski ........... 78.8

* - Based on last 13 races at Sonoma Raceway.

History
· The track opened as a 2.52-mile road course and drag strip in 1968.
· The first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup race was held on June 11, 1989 - won by Ricky Rudd at an average speed of 76.088 mph.
· The first nine MENCS races were 300 kilometers and switched to a 350k format in 1998.
· The track was reconfigured to 1.949 miles in 1998 with the installation of an 890-foot chute between the original Turns 4 and 7.
· The track was reconfigured to 2.0 miles in 2001 and re-measured at 1.99 miles in 2002.
· There have been 29 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup races at Sonoma Raceway since the first race there in 1989 - one race per season.

Starts

· 214 drivers have competed in at least one Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Sonoma Raceway; 149 in more than one.
· Jeff Gordon leads the series in starts at Sonoma with 23 starts.
· Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch lead all active drivers this weekend with 17 starts.
· 48 different drivers have made their first series start at Sonoma; including five last year (6/25/2017) - Alon Day, Billy Johnson, Josh Bilicki, Kevin O'Connell and Tommy Regan.
· Kyle Larson (in four starts) leads the series in average starting position at Sonoma with a 3.250.

Poles

· A total of 18 different drivers have won the Busch Pole Award at Sonoma, led by Jeff Gordon with five.
· Jamie McMurray leads all active drivers in Busch poles at Sonoma with three.
· Rusty Wallace won the inaugural Busch Pole Award at Sonoma in 1989 with a speed of 90.041 mph.
· Three drivers have won consecutive Busch poles at Sonoma: Ricky Rudd (1990 through 1992), Jeff Gordon (1998, '99 and 2004, '05) and Jamie McMurray (2013, '14). Rudd holds the record for most consecutive poles at Sonoma with three.
· Youngest Sonoma pole winner: Joey Logano (06/26/2011 - 21 years, 1 month, 2 days).
· Oldest Sonoma pole winner: Rusty Wallace (06/25/2000 - 43 years, 10 months, 11 days).
· Only one Monster Energy Series driver has posted his first Busch pole at Sonoma - Boris Said (6/22/2003).
· Five different manufacturers in the Monster Energy Series have won a Busch pole at Sonoma - Chevrolet (14 poles), Ford (seven), Pontiac (three), Toyota (three) and Dodge (two).

Wins

· A total of 19 different Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers have won at Sonoma Raceway, led by Jeff Gordon with five wins.
· Seven active Monster Energy Series drivers have wins at Sonoma; led by Kyle Busch with two victories (2008 and 2015).
· Busch is the only active driver with multiple wins; Kasey Kahne (2009), Jimmie Johnson (2010), Kurt Busch (2011) Clint Bowyer (2012), Martin Truex Jr. (2013) and Kevin Harvick (2017) each have one win.
· Jeff Gordon leads the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in road course wins with nine (Sonoma, five; Watkins Glen, four); Tony Stewart has the second most road course wins all-time with eight (Watkins Glen, five; Sonoma, three).
· Kyle Busch leads all active MENCS drivers in road course wins with four (Sonoma, two and Watkins Glen, two) - Busch is tied with NASCAR Hall of Famers David Pearson and Mark Martin for 10th most MENCS road course wins all-time.
· NASCAR Hall of Famer Bobby Allison holds the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series record for the most wins (six) at a single road course track - Riverside International Raceway.
· Kyle Busch's two wins at Sonoma and two wins at Watkins Glen are the most by an active driver at a single road course track in the series.
· Jeff Gordon is the only driver to post consecutive Monster Energy Series wins (three total) at Sonoma Raceway (1998 and 1999 were each from the pole and the 2000 win was from the fifth starting position).
· Youngest Sonoma winner: Kyle Busch (06/22/2008 - 23 years, 1 month, 20 days).
· Oldest Sonoma winner: Ricky Rudd (06/23/2002 - 45 years, 9 months, 11 days).
· Five of the 29 (17.2%) Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races at Sonoma have been won from the Busch pole; the most recent was Jeff Gordon in 2004.
· Jeff Gordon leads the series in wins from the pole at Sonoma with three (1998, 1999 and 2004).
· The Busch Pole position is the most proficient starting position in the field, producing more wins (five) than any other starting position at Sonoma Raceway.
· The deepest in the field that a race winner has started at Sonoma is 32nd, by Juan Pablo Montoya in 2007.
· Only one other time has a Monster Energy Series race been won from a starting position outside the top 15 - Kyle Busch's 2008 win; he started from 30th.
· Juan Pablo Montoya is the only Monster Energy Series driver to post his first career win at Sonoma Raceway (2007).
· Ryan Newman leads the series among active drivers this weekend with the most Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts at Sonoma without visiting Victory Lane at 16.
· Hendrick Motorsports leads the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in wins at Sonoma with six victories (Jeff Gordon with five and Jimmie Johnson with one); followed by Joe Gibbs Racing with four wins (Kyle Busch with two and Tony Stewart with two).
· Six different manufacturers have won in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at Sonoma; led by Chevrolet with 11 victories; followed by Ford with eight, Toyota (four), Dodge (three), Pontiac (two) and Buick (one).

Additional Finishing Positions

· A total of 18 drivers have finished runner-up in the Monster Energy Series at Sonoma; led by Jeff Gordon with five.
· Five drivers have multiple runner-up finishes at Sonoma: Jeff Gordon (five), Mark Martin (four), Tony Stewart (three), Ricky Rudd (two) and Robby Gordon (two).
· Five active drivers are tied for the most runner-up finishes at Sonoma: Denny Hamlin, Jamie McMurray, Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman each have one MENCS runner-up finish on the famous road course.
· A total of 49 different Monster Energy Series driver have finished in the top-five at Sonoma; led by Jeff Gordon with 14 top fives; followed by Ricky Rudd with 10.
· Kurt Busch and Clint Bowyer lead all active drivers in top-five finishes at Sonoma with seven each.
· A total of 73 different Monster Energy Series drivers have finished in the top-10 at Sonoma; led by Jeff Gordon with 18.
· Clint Bowyer and Jimmie Johnson lead all active drivers in top 10s at Sonoma with nine each.
· Jeff Gordon leads the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in average finishing position at Sonoma with an 8.3. Clint Bowyer leads all active drivers with a 10.7.

Track Specific Stats

· Since the advent of electronic scoring in 1993, the closest margin of victory (MOV) in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at Sonoma Raceway was the June 27, 1999 race won by Jeff Gordon over Mark Martin with a MOV of 0.197 second.
· Qualifying has never been cancelled in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at Sonoma Raceway.
· None of the 29 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races at Sonoma Raceway have been shortened due to weather conditions.
· None of the 29 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races at Sonoma Raceway have been postponed to a later date.
· There have been three Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races resulting in NASCAR Overtime at Sonoma Raceway.
· Jeff Gordon leads the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in laps led at Sonoma with 457 laps led in 23 starts. Kurt Busch leads all active drivers with 197 laps led at Sonoma.

Female Competitors

· Danica Patrick is the only female driver in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series to compete at Sonoma Raceway.

NASCAR in California

· There has been a total of 200 NASCAR national series races held in the state of California among 17 different tracks.
· The first NASCAR national series event held in the state of California was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race on April 8, 1951 at Carrell Speedway. The race was won by Marshall Teague (Hudson).

California Drivers In NASCAR

· A total of 438 drivers in NASCAR national series history have their home state recorded as California.
· 40 of the 438 (9.1%) Californian drivers in NASCAR have posted at least one win in one of NASCAR's three national series.

--- NASCAR ---

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