Race Lineup

Toyota / Save Mart 350

Sunday, June 11th, 2023

Sonoma Raceway, Sonoma, CA

  • 16 Chevrolet
  • 14 Ford
  • 6 Toyota

  • Sonoma Raceway
  • Toyota / Save Mart 350
  • Busch Pole Award Pole Winner: Denny Hamlin
  • Age: 42
  • Team : No. 11 - Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota
  • Owner: Joe Gibbs
  • Crew Chief: Christopher Gabehart
  • Denny Hamlin won the Pole Award for the Toyota / Save Mart 350 with a lap of 77.719 seconds, 92.178 mph.
  • This is his 38th pole in 630 NASCAR Cup Series races.
  • This is his second pole and seventh top-10 start in 2023.
  • This is his first pole in 17 races at Sonoma Raceway.
  • Tyler Reddick (second) posted his ninth top-10 start of 2023 and his third in three races at Sonoma Raceway.
  • Michael McDowell (third) posted his second top-10 start at Sonoma Raceway. It is his second in 16 races this season.
  • Ty Gibbs (sixth) was the fastest qualifying rookie.

  • Sunday, June 11th, 2023
  • NASCAR Wire Service - Reid Spencer
Martin Truex Jr. picks up fourth Sonoma victory in dominating fashion

What a difference a year makes.

After struggling mightily last year at Sonoma Raceway in the debut season for NASCAR’s Next Gen car, Martin Truex Jr. pulled off a dominating 180-degree turnaround in Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350.

Overcoming an inopportune caution and leading a race-high 51 of 110 laps, Truex scored his second victory of the season and his fourth at the 1.99-mile road course, most among active drivers and second only to Jeff Gordon’s five in track history.

Truex’s 33rd career victory, by a 2.979-second margin over runner-up Kyle Busch, was a far cry from last season’s lackluster performance, when Truex started 28th and finished 26th.

“Hats off to my team,” said Truex, who was winless in the 2022 campaign. “To be so bad here last year and to come back and do that with the same car basically, it’s really unbelievable. Just proud of them. We’re having a great year. I feel really good about our team…

“Man, it just feels incredible to have a day like that and a run like that and a team like I have. They’re doing everything right, and it’s a lot of fun to drive these cars… This is why you go through years like we had last year. You just keep fighting. You never give up on it. You always believe in each other.

“We haven’t changed anything on our team other than parts and pieces. It’s just through a lot of hard work of a lot of people.”

On Lap 33, Truex passed Joe Gibbs Racing teammate and pole winner Denny Hamlin for the top spot, after Hamlin led the first 32 laps and won the race’s first stage. For the next 18 laps, it appeared that Truex and Hamlin would deliver a 1-2 punch to the rest of the field.

That was before a tire from Zane Smith’s Ford bounced off the inside pit wall into the middle of pit road on Lap 50. The resulting caution turned the race upside down and handed the lead to Busch, who had pitted seven laps before the yellow.

Busch won the second stage—his second stage victory of the season—but Truex caught the No. 8 Chevrolet on Lap 69, outbraking Busch into Turn 7 and regaining the lead. Truex pitted on Lap 75 but reclaimed the top spot five laps later and held it until Hamlin hit the wall in Turn 12 on Lap 92, ping-ponged between the two frontstretch barriers and broke the right rear toe link on his Toyota.

Chase Elliott, Tyler Reddick and Ryan Blaney stayed out on older tires during the ensuing caution, but Truex made short work of those drivers, retaking the lead off Turn 4 on Lap 97, with Busch following him into the second spot.

Busch chased Truex over the final 14 laps—to no avail.

“I wish we had a little bit more,” said Busch, who won last Sunday at World Wide Technology Raceway. “I tried really hard at the end to at least try to keep Martin honest. Felt like I could beat him a little bit on a lap, then I would mess up. He would beat me by a little bit more on the next lap. We were just kind of trading a little bit there. He was able to pull away there late…

“We gave it everything that we had. We made a lot of changes. We got a lucky break there with a yellow with only three laps on tires, so we were able to kind of cycle to the front. Once we got up there, we could maintain pace with some of the good cars and have a good top-three speed race car. Just kind of flip-flopped the race a little bit.

“Good fortunes for us. Nice to come out here with a P2 after a win last week.”

Joey Logano finished third, followed by Chris Buescher and Elliott. AJ Allmendinger, Michael McDowell, Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell and Ross Chastain completed the top 10.

Truex leads the series standings by 13 points over William Byron, who finished 14th. Grant Enfinger came home 26th in relief of Noah Gragson, who missed the race because of concussion symptoms deriving from a hard wreck last Sunday at WWT Raceway.

  • Drivers Entered: 36
  • Laps Scheduled: 110
  • Margin of Victory: 02.979 Seconds
  • Time of Race: 2 Hours 40 Minutes 12 Seconds
  • Average Speed: 81.989
  • Cautions: 2 for 6 laps
  • Lead Changes: 10
  • Green Flag Passes: 2,693 (25.9 passes per green flag lap)

  • Sonoma Raceway
  • Toyota / Save Mart 350
  • Race Winner: Martin Truex Jr.
  • Age: 42
  • Team : No. 19 - Bass Pro Shops Toyota
  • Owner: Joe Gibbs
  • Crew Chief: James Small
  • Martin Truex Jr. won the Toyota / Save Mart 350, his 33rd victory in 637 Cup Series races.
  • This is his second victory and eighth top-10 finish in 2023.
  • This is his fourth victory and seventh top-10 finish in 17 races at Sonoma Raceway.
  • Kyle Busch (second) posted his ninth top-10 finish in 18 races at Sonoma Raceway. It is his ninth top-10 finish in 2023.
  • Joey Logano (third) posted his sixth top-10 finish in 14 races at Sonoma Raceway.
  • Ty Gibbs (18th) was the highest finishing rookie.
  • Martin Truex Jr. leads the point standings by 13 points over William Byron.
Chase Elliott, Tyler Reddick and Ryan Blaney race
Sonoma, California - June 11, 2023 : Chase Elliott, driver of the #9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, Tyler Reddick, driver of the #45 The Beast Unleashed Toyota, and Ryan Blaney, driver of the #12 Menards/Moen Ford, race during the NASCAR Cup Series Toyota / Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway.
Logan RielyGetty Images
Race lineup for the Toyota / Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway
START VEH # DRIVER MAKE SPONSOR TEAM CREW CHIEF
1 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota Sport Clips Haircuts Joe Gibbs Racing Chris Gabehart
2 45 Tyler Reddick Toyota The Beast Unleashed 23xi Racing Billy Scott
3 34 Michael McDowell Ford Love's Travel Stops Front Row Motorsports Travis Peterson
4 20 Christopher Bell Toyota Rheem / Resideo Joe Gibbs Racing Adam Stevens
5 16 AJ Allmendinger Chevrolet Gabriel Glas Kaulig Racing Matt Swiderski
6 54 Ty Gibbs Toyota Monster Energy Joe Gibbs Racing Chris Gayle
7 17 Chris Buescher Ford Fifth Third Bank Rfk Racing Scott Graves
8 19 Martin Truex Jr Toyota Bass Pro Shops Joe Gibbs Racing James Small
9 99 Daniel Suarez Chevrolet Freeway Insurance Trackhouse Racing Travis Mack
10 9 Chase Elliott Chevrolet NAPA Auto Parts Hendrick Motorsports Alan Gustafson
11 3 Austin Dillon Chevrolet BREZTRI Richard Childress Racing Keith Rodden
12 8 Kyle Busch Chevrolet McLaren Custom Grills Richard Childress Racing Randall Burnett
13 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr Chevrolet Kroger/Cottonelle Jtg Daugherty Racing Mike Kelley
14 48 Alex Bowman Chevrolet Ally Pride Hendrick Motorsports Blake Harris
15 1 Ross Chastain Chevrolet Kubota Trackhouse Racing Phil Surgen
16 5 Kyle Larson Chevrolet Valvoline Hendrick Motorsports Cliff Daniels
17 22 Joey Logano Ford Autotrader Team Penske Paul Wolfe
18 23 Bubba Wallace Toyota DoorDash 23xi Racing Bootie Barker
19 7 Corey Lajoie Chevrolet Schluter Systems Spire Motorsports Ryan Sparks
20 10 Aric Almirola Ford Smithfield Stewart-haas Racing Drew Blickensderfer
21 4 Kevin Harvick Ford Mobil 1 Stewart-haas Racing Rodney Childers
22 41 Ryan Preece Ford Autodesk Stewart-haas Racing Chad Johnston
23 31 Justin Haley Chevrolet Cirkul Kaulig Racing Trent Owens
24 14 Chase Briscoe Ford Ford Performance Racing School Stewart-haas Racing Mike Bugarewicz
25 6 Brad Keselowski Ford King's Hawaiian Rfk Racing Matt McCall
26 24 William Byron Chevrolet RaptorTough.com Hendrick Motorsports Rudy Fugle
27 77 Ty Dillon Chevrolet TBA Spire Motorsports Kevin Bellicourt
28 43 Erik Jones Chevrolet Allegiant Legacy Motor Club Dave Elenz
29 78 Josh Bilicki Chevrolet TBA Live Fast Motorsports David Ingram
30 38 Zane Smith Ford Wellcare Front Row Motorsports Ryan Bergenty
31 12 Ryan Blaney Ford Menards\Moen Team Penske Jonathan Hassler
32 51 Todd Gilliland Ford Serial 1 E-Bikes Rick Ware Racing Billy Plourde
33 15 Andy Lally Ford Camping World Rick Ware Racing Jerry Kelley
34 2 Austin Cindric Ford America's Tire Team Penske Jeremy Bullins
35 42 Grant Enfinger Chevrolet Sunseeker Resort Legacy Motor Club Luke Lambert
36 21 Harrison Burton Ford DEX Imaging Wood Brothers Racing Brian Wilson