The NASCAR Cup Series will stay in California this week for another road course race. This time the Cup Series will compete at Sonoma Raceway. This is the most technical of the road course tracks on the schedule. Shane van Gisbergen destroyed the field last year at Sonoma. He led 97 of the 110 laps and went to Victory Lane. Will the race this weekend turn into “The SVG Show”? I wouldn’t bet against it. The Toyota / Save Mart 350 can be seen Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET on TNT. (Yes, the TV coverage switches from Prime Video to TNT, so make sure you are on the right channel Sunday.
Here are my Driver Rankings for the race at Sonoma Raceway Sunday…
Need to know which driver would be the best pick for your Fantasy NASCAR lineup Sunday? Simply play the driver highest in the rankings.
UPDATED BEST BETS
Can anyone beat Shane van Gisbergen Sunday? He is clearly the best road course racer in the Cup Series and the sports books know it. His odds this week were -165 before qualifying. If you are not betting SVG to win, you are essentially betting against him. I am not doing that this week, so I am sitting this one out. There is just not enough meat on the bone to bet SVG at his current odds and I just do not see any driver outrunning the No. 97 car Sunday.
Here are some drivers to bet on if you feel like taking a chance against SVG this week…
MICHAEL MCDOWELL (15-1): McDowell is one of the best road course drivers in the Cup Series. He told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio last week, “We should have beat SVG last year in Chicago. We had the faster car. We also had the speed to run with him at Watkins Glen. We are not that far behind SVG. We just need to execute our races better.” McDowell is not lying. He did have similar speed to SVG in those races. He has also be fantastic at Sonoma. McDowell finished 3rd at Sonoma in 2022, 7th in 2023, 2nd in 2024 and 3rd last year. That is a lot of success for a driver with 15-1 odds.
CHRIS BUESCHER (22-1): Buescher look just as fast as SVG last week. Was SVG sandbagging? Probably, but Buescher has had the talent and the speed to run up front on the road course tracks. He finished 2nd at Sonoma in 2022, 4th in 2023 and 3rd in 2024. If he keeps knocking on Victory Lane’s door, sooner or later it is going to open. 22-1 odds are just ridiculous for a driver with stats like Buescher on the road course tracks.
CHASE ELLIOTT (35-1): Did I read this right? 35-1 on Elliott to win at his best road course track? Elliott said last week that his team is having a hard time figuring out this new tire on the road courses. The No. 5 team seems to have figured it out last week and that information should be passed over to the No. 9 team. If Elliott is ever going to figure out this tire and the new Chevy Chassis, it will be at Sonoma. He finished 3rd last year at Sonoma, 4th in 2024 and 5th in 2023. Not bad for a driver with 35-1 odds.
I cannot bet on Shane van Gisbergen this week because his odds are too short. I am sitting this one out. If you want to add a few drivers, I would go with KYLE LARSON and CHASE BRISCOE.
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