There are six drivers from the top 16 of the NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series standings who have yet to taste victory, but this upcoming race in Sonoma offers another shot for the likes of Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, and Chase Elliott. Read on for our preview of this weekend’s race favorites, sleeper, and long shot.
Logano is sitting on a 10th-place spot on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup standings with 398 points and he’s coming off a nice third-place finish in Michigan, a good momentum builder entering this weekend’s race in Sonoma. A win this Sunday would give him a guaranteed spot in the playoffs. The opportunity is there for Logano to do just that as he’s done well at the track, having recorded back-to-back top-five finishes in Sonoma.
Busch, meanwhile, is still in search for a win in the Series. It’s been disappointing to look at that “0” under his win column this season. Having said that, it’s still hard to ignore Busch’s potential to finally take a W for Joe Gibbs Racing. Busch has won races in Sonoma twice before, which includes the 2015 edition of the Toyota/Save Mart 350. He also has nine top-five finishes in 17 career races at the track.
Sleeper: Denny Hamlin
Hamlin is looking to one-up his second-place finish in this event last year. He’s a competitor especially on road courses such as the one he’ll race in this Sunday, where a year ago he led in 33 laps before bitterly falling short of a win. He did follow that up with a win at another road course when he topped the field at Watkins Glen.
Long Shot: Paul Menard
There are not a lot of people sweating on Menard, but those are very likely the same set of folks who don’t know that the 36-year-old driver of Richard Childress Racing has a 14.1 average finish in Sonoma. That’s a decent figure for a long shot, one who’s worth taking a flyer on. Menard’s best finish in Sonoma was fifth place in the 2014 Toyota/Save Mart 350. He was 16th last year.
