The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series returned to the west coast for a one race stint at Sonoma Raceway. This year the road course incorporated the carousel to add more difficulty. This change also features a hairpin turn coming off the carousel and adds another challenging breaking zone, as drivers struggle with overusing their brakes at Sonoma.

Kyle Larson was the pole sitter for the third straight year but was no match for William Byron who took the early lead on the start of the race. As Byron increased his lead on the field, Larson faded further back into the field. Multiple drivers came down pit road late in the stage trying to gain track position between stages but Byron stayed out to win the first stage of the race.

Chase Elliott and Martin Truex Jr. made up the front row starting stage two. Elliott made a mistake on the restart allowing Truex Jr. to capitalize and take control of the race. The second stage ran straight through without any cautions. Truex Jr. made a trip to pit road right before the stage ended, surrendering his lead to Denny Hamlin. Hamlin did not pit near the end of the stage and won Stage Two.

Martin Truex Jr. reclaimed the lead entering the final stage of the race. Chase Elliott and Kyle Busch were both hotly pursuing the leader early in the final stage with Busch passing Elliott and continuing to hunt down Truex Jr. As the final stage matured, Busch settled down as the leaders logged some laps to bring them to the green flag pitstops. Busch stayed out longer than anyone else and finally made his way down pit road while Truex Jr. cycled his way back to the lead. Once Busch left pit road, he was seven seconds behind Truex Jr. Busch made a valiant effort track down the leader. but could not quite catch up, allowing Truex Jr. to win the Save Mart 350 by six car lengths at Sonoma Raceway.

Martin Truex Jr won his fourth race of the season to match his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch for most wins in the series to date. Joe Gibbs Racing is looking like the strongest team this year with their acquisition of Martin Truex Jr. helping tremendously. It seems that all members of Joe Gibbs Racing have made big improvements this year with all four drivers racing strong and competitive in every race thus far. It will be interesting to see how this season matures into the later months of summer. Seasons past have shown that some teams that have been hot early in the year run out of momentum when the playoffs start.

Next week’s race is at Chicagoland Speedway with only ten races left before the first playoff race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The series points race has been tight all season long as it seems no one is able to take control of the season to prove dominance. As the summer moves forward, look for multiple teams to push for every possible point.