The NASCAR Cup Series will travel from SoCal to NorCal this weekend to race at Sonoma Raceway. I haven’t been to every track on the schedule, but I have been to most of them. Sonoma is one of my favorites. Wine Country is beautiful and sitting on top of the hill gives you a good look at the entire track. You do not get that at most road course tracks. Make sure Sonoma is on your bucket list if you have never been to a race in wine country. TheToyota / Save Mart 350 can be seen Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET on TNT. (The TV coverage moves from Prime Video to TNT this weekend, with the practice and qualifying on TruTV. Make sure you are on the right channel for Sunday’s race)
Here are my picks for your season long Fantasy NASCAR games…
DRIVER GROUP GAME PICKS FOR SONOMA
GROUP A DRIVERS
SHANE VAN GISBERGEN (6): Who knew that fading SVG would be the right move last week at Navy Base Coronado? I would not bet on that happening this week at Sonoma. SVG smoked the filed in wine country last year. He won the pole, led 97 of the 110 laps, scored 19 Stage Points and SVG won the race. Do not try to be cute and fade the No. 97 car Sunday. Simply click on SVG’s name and move onto the next pick.
KYLE LARSON (7): There is a 99.9% chance that I will use SVG in my starting lineup, so I need a driver for qualifying points. Kyle Larson has been the best driver in the field at qualifying at Sonoma. He has won the pole in 5 of the last 8 races at Sonoma Speedway. I know I am not going to lose an allocation with Larson Sunday, so I will have him in the lineup for bonus points on Saturday.
GROUP B DRIVERS
MICHAEL MCDOWELL (7): McDowell is one of the best road course drivers in the Cup Series and Sonoma is one of his best tracks. He finished 3rd, 7th, 2nd and 4th in his four races in the Gen-7 car at Sonoma. He also has a streak of five consecutive top-five finishes on the road courses going. McDowell should be a safe pick for your Driver Group Game lineup Sunday.
CHRIS BUESCHER (4): Buescher may not win as many road course races as Shane van Gisbergen, but it is hard to find a driver as consistent as Buescher on the road courses. He has finished 19 of his last 25 road course races in the top-10. Buescher is good at Sonoma too. He finished three of the four races in the Gen-7 car at Sonoma in the top-five. Buescher has a good chance to finish in the top-five again this week in the Toyota / Save Mart 350.
TY GIBBS (5): Gibbs has been one of the best road course racers over the last year. He finished 4th at COTA and 3rd at Watkins Glen. The race at the base did not go his way last week, but Gibbs should bounce back at Sonoma. He finished 7th in wine country last year. I expect another top-10 finish from the No. 54 car Sunday.
TYLER REDDICK (3): There is no question that Reddick is one of the best road course racers in the Cup Series, but I cannot use Reddick in my starting lineup. I need to save him for the large oval tracks. I will use Reddick for qualifying points at the bottom of my Driver Group Game lineup. He won the pole in two of the last four road course races. Reddick should be fast enough to do it again Sunday.
GROUP C DRIVERS
AJ ALLMENDINGER (5): This is the last road course on the schedule, so it is our last good chance to get a quality start out of Allmendinger in our Driver Group Game lineups. Allmendinger finished 9th at COTA, 7th at Watkins Glen and 5th at Navy Base Coronado. If the trend continues, Allmendinger should finish 3rd at Sonoma Sunday. The No. 16 car is just too fast on the road courses to fade right now.
DANIEL SUAREZ (6): I had Connor Zilisch penciled in as the pick in Group C, but I just cannot trust the No. 88 car right now. I will pivot to Suarez. He won the race in the Gen-7 car at Sonoma in 2022. Suarez finished 13th in his last two road course races (Navy Base Coronado and Watkins Glen). He is typically better at Sonoma, so I expect Suarez to compete for a top-10 finish Sunday in wine country.
* CONNOR ZILISCH (8): I expect Zilisch to show up Saturday with a lot of speed in practice and he will probably qualify in the top-10. Can he finish all of the laps in the race this weekend? The trend says no. His average finishing position over the last five races is 35th. Zilisch has an average finishing position of 24th on the road course races this year. You can use Zilisch for qualifying points, but it is hard to trust him in the race this weekend.
* Be sure to check back Sunday morning for my starting lineup.
SPEEDWAY COLLECTIVE PICKS
GROUP A DRIVERS: My picks for Group A in the Speedway Collective game will be Tyler Reddick and Chase Elliott. Reddick is one of the top-five drivers in the Cup Series on the road course tracks and the best choice in Group A. I went with Kyle Larson in Group A in the Driver Group Game, so I will go with Elliott in the Speedway Collective game. Both Hendrick Motorsports drivers should be good picks at Sonoma Raceway.
GROUP C DRIVERS: My picks for Group B will be Chris Buescher and Connor Zilisch. I know I am using Buescher in my starting lineup, so I only need Zilisch for one lap in qualifying. I trust Zilisch for one lap, but not for the entire race.
GROUP C DRIVERS: Shane van Gisbergen is a lock for Group C. I am 99.9% positive that I will play SVG in my starting lineup, so I will use Michael McDowell for qualifying points Saturday. These are my top-two drivers for the race Sunday at Sonoma Raceway.
GROUP D DRIVERS: Daniel Suarez is the best choice in Group D, but I am out of allocations with the No. 7 car. I will pivot to Riley Herbst and Todd Gilliland. Herbst looked really good at Navy Base Coronado last week, so I will likely use him in my starting lineup Sunday. Gilliland has been good at qualifying on the road course tracks, so he gets the second spot in the lineup.
* Be sure to check back Saturday night for my starting lineup.
FANTRAX PICKS
* Each league in Fantrax is different. Some leagues have bench drivers and award qualifying points and others do not. The two leagues that I am playing in do not have bench drivers. Also, most leagues (including mine), do not require your lineup to be set until minutes before the race starts. My picks will change after practice and qualifying for most races. If you need bench drivers, you can use my picks from the Driver Group Game.
* Be sure to check back Saturday night for my starting lineup.
Good Luck Sunday!
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