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NASCAR heads west to the wine country for the 16th race of the season. This weekend, the Sonoma Raceway will host the Toyota/SaveMart 350 Cup race along with its inaugural Xfinity race, DoorDash 250.
Last weekend's winner, Kyle Busch, enters the weekend with momentum after three wins this season. Meanwhile, Ryan Blaney leads the drivers' standings after breaking his winless streak at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
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The 1.99-mile track layout in Sears Point, Sonoma, will host NASCAR's second road course race of the season. With the Xfinity race on Saturday, multiple drivers are doing double duty to get some extra laps under their belt.
Ahead of the Toyota/SaveMart 350 on June 11, let us take a look at the five drivers who could have a strong result in Sonoma.
#5 Chase Elliott
Chase Elliott enters the Sonoma Raceway after serving a one-race suspension for his dangerous driving at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Elliott's 2023 campaign has been scarred by the penalty and his six-race absence, but the Hendrick Motorsports driver could change his fortunes in Sonoma.
Elliott is one of the most successful road course drivers on the grid with 7 wins on such tracks. The #9 Hendrick Motorsports driver is desperately looking for a win to lock into the playoffs and the road course race provides a perfect setting to announce his comeback.
#4 Chris Buescher
Last year's runner-up in the Toyota/SaveMart 350, Chris Buescher is expected to have a strong weekend at Sonoma. Buescher has been consistent on road courses as he enters the weekend with six straight top-10s on such tracks.
The RFK Racing driver's results this season have also gone under the radar, as his last eight results hover around the 15th position, with half of them in the top 10. Buescher took a deserving second-place finish last year and is capable of bettering his result.
#3 AJ Allmendinger
California native AJ Allmendinger is excited for his home race this weekend. The road-course specialist is a threat to victory on any road course. His two Cup series victories and 11 Xfinity wins have come on NASCAR tracks with right turns.
However, Allmendinger has failed to impress on his home track with an average finishing position of 23.5. The Kaulig Racing driver is determined the improve the numbers this weekend.
#2 Daniel Suarez
It's been a year since Daniel Suarez got his breakthrough win on the same track last year. He has not been able to repeat his magic on road tracks since his win but is capable of achieving the same this year.
Suarez was running inside the top five in COTA until his race was ruined by the late-race chaos on the restart. The Trackhouse Racing driver is coming off a solid weekend in Gateway and will be looking to build on the momentum.
#1 Tyler Reddick
NASCAR's most recent road course race winner, Tyler Reddick, heads into the weekend as one of the favorites to win the race. Since his first win in Cup Series last year, Reddick has won three of the last five road course races. Add to that the fact that all the victories on such tracks have come in a dominant fashion.
The #45 Toyota driver has made only two starts on the 1.99-mile track and has an average finish of 27. However, Reddick is more likely to improve his track results as 23XI Racing managed to produce a fast car in COTA.
