The Cup Series will travel to Sonoma Raceway this weekend for another road course race. There are only seven races left in the Fantasy Live regular season and we have some serious ground to make up. My picks have outscored 99% of the entries in the Fantasy Live game for 12 consecutive seasons. That streak is in jeopardy this year. I just cannot believe all of the mechanical issues and being in the wrong spot at the wrong time that my picks have had this year. I am not giving up though. I will make sure I get the picks turned around heading into the Fantasy Live Playoff game. The Toyota Save Mart 350 can be seen Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET on TNT.
PRACTICE SPEEDS FOR SONOMA
NASCAR split the teams up into two groups based on the metrics from the race last week in Chicago. Each group was given 25-minutes to shake down their cars for the Toyota Save Mart 350. The teams then lined up from group qualifying to set the field for Sunday’s race. The cars were impounded after qualifying, so any changes to the cars will force the drivers to start in the back Sunday.
Here are the speeds from Saturday’s practice at Sonoma Raceway…
STRATEGY FOR SONOMA
I mapped out the picks for the last 8 races before the race last week in Chicago. I had everything planned out perfectly and then I made a last minute change. I had Kyle Busch in my lineup and I read a post from Jayski.com that Busch was starting in the back. I made the change to Christopher Bell. It was announced right before the race that Busch would NOT be going to the back of the field. I did not think I had time to make the change back and inform everyone, so I left it alone. That decision cost me a lot of points.
I am back on track this week. I once again have everything planned out for the last seven races. I do not plan to make any changes to the plan after qualifying. The only drivers I want to save my allocations with this week are Kyle Larson, William Byron and Christopher Bell. You can use any of these drivers if you have three or more allocations with them, but I do not, so they will be on the bench this week.
Here are the picks for the Toyota Save Mart 350…
SHANE VAN GISBERGEN (7): SVG is the “Free Square” this week. This is his first race in the Cup Series at Sonoma, but not his first time seeing the track. SVG won the Xfinity Series race at Sonoma last year and he is running the double (Xfinity Series and Cup Series) again this week. He is clearly the best road course driver in the Cup Series. Simply add SVG to your lineup and move onto the next pick.
AJ ALLMENDINGER (10): Allmendinger has the talent to finish up front in any of the road course races. Can Kaulig Racing give Allmendinger a car that matches his talent? That is the question that needs to be answered and it was last week in Chicago. Allmendinger finished 6th last week and he finished 6th in his last two races in Sonoma. His talent should take Allemdinger to a top-10 finish again Sunday.
ROSS CHASTAIN (6): Chastain is not the first driver that comes to mind when people think about racing in wine country, but he should be near the top of the list. Chastain finished 5th, 10th, 7th and 7th in his last four races in Sonoma. Chastain posted the 4TH fastest speed in practice and the No. 1 car qualified 4TH for the race. I will take a chance with Chastain at one of his best road course tracks.
TY GIBBS (4): Gibbs had one of the cars to beat in Mexico and he finished 2nd last week in Chicago. Can Gibbs keep the momentum going in Sonoma? He has not had much luck at this track, but he has had some speed. The No. 54 car brought another fast car to the track this week. Gibbs posted the 2ND fastest speed in practice and the No. 54 car qualified 6TH for the race. Gibbs has proven he can run up front on the road courses, so I will give him a spot in my lineup this week.
CHASE ELLIOTT (5): Elliott has never won at Sonoma, but that does not mean he is a bad pick this week. Elliott finished 6 of his last 7 races in Sonoma in the top-8. The only race he failed to finish in the top-8 was in 2019 when his engine blew while dominating the race. Elliott did not light up the practice speed chart and he did not qualify inside the top-10, but he typically doesn’t run well on Saturday. The No. 9 team usually performs well on Sunday though. Elliott has a good chance to finish in the top-five Sunday.
(GARAGE PICK) CHRIS BUESCHER (5): Buescher has been the most consistent driver at Sonoma in the Gen-7 car. Buescher finished 2nd, 4th and 3rd in his three races at Sonoma in the Gen-7 car. His 117.7 Driver Rating is also the best in the series at Sonoma. Buescher should be a safe insurance policy to have in the garage Sunday.
* I only have 3 allocations left with Kyle Larson, two left with William Byron and one left with Tyler Reddick. I need to save these drivers for the oval tracks. I would use Byron and/or Reddick over Elliott and Buescher if I had more than 3 allocations with them.
Good luck and be sure to follow me on X (Twitter) @MrFantasyNASCAR. I will send out a Tweet during the race to let you know if I plan to swap out one of my drivers for my Garage pick.