About 80 miles from his hometown of Elk Grove, Calif., Kyle Larson didn’t have to utilize cunning track strategy to capture Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway and move back into the NASCAR Cup Series points lead.
All Larson needed to secure his third win of the season Sunday was the power of his No. 5 Chevrolet, coming from near the back of the field to Victory Lane.
“Yeah, I didn’t know what we were doing as far as strategy,” Larson said, as reported by NASCAR.com. “I don’t know, we study all the strategy, but it’s like doing homework. I don’t really know what I’m looking at.”
Infamous around the garage for being hands-off on everything but the steering wheel, the 2021 Cup champion overcame continuous yellow flags during the opening two stages to take control during the final stage.
“Well, that’s all you really can do when you’re behind the wheel is just trust that they’ve got it figured out, and then as long as you keep the car on the race track, don’t get passed by people, usually whatever strategy I feel like you’re on is going to typically work out OK,” Larson said. “You may not win, but you’re still going to finish good.”
Larson had two reasons to celebrate Sunday. The Hendrick Motorsports driver also received a playoff waiver after missing the Coca-Cola 600 when he attempted to complete “The Double” during Memorial Day weekend. Larson will try to maintain his lead in the regular-season standings by shifting from the road course at Sonoma to an unfamiliar short track at Iowa Speedway for next Sunday’s Iowa Corn 350 Powered by Ethanol.
KYLE LARSON COUNTRY. 🫶#ToyotaSaveMart350 | @KyleLarsonRacin pic.twitter.com/vFM1buqtGx
— Sonoma Raceway (@RaceSonoma) June 9, 2024
NASCAR National Series Weekend Schedule
Here is a list of NASCAR national series events this weekend at Iowa Speedway (All Times ET):
Friday
- 3 p.m.: ARCA Menards Series practice
- 4 p.m.: ARCA Menards Series qualifying
- 4:35 p.m.: Xfinity Series practice
- 5:35 p.m.: Cup Series practice
- 8 p.m.: ARCA Menards Series Atlas 150 race
Saturday
- 12:05 p.m.: Xfinity Series qualifying
- 1:05 p.m.: Cup Series qualifying
- 3:30 p.m.: Xfinity Series Hy-Vee Perks 250 race
Sunday
- 7 p.m.: Cup Series Iowa Corn 350 Powered by Ethanol race
If you build it, they will come.
See you next June, @NASCAR 👋 pic.twitter.com/y39LYwHi2H
— Iowa Speedway (@iowaspeedway) October 3, 2023
NASCAR Cup Series Iowa Corn 350 Powered by Ethanol Entry List
Entry, Driver, Team, Car No.
- 1, Ross Chastain, Trackhouse Racing, No. 1 Chevrolet
- 2, Austin Cindric, Team Penske, No. 2 Ford
- 3, Austin Dillon, Richard Childress Racing, No. 3 Chevrolet
- 4, Josh Berry, Stewart-Haas Racing, No. 4 Ford
- 5, Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports, No. 5 Chevrolet
- 6, Brad Keselowski, RFK Racing, No. 6 Ford
- 7, Corey LaJoie, Spire Motorsports, No. 7 Chevrolet
- 8, Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing, No. 8 Chevrolet
- 9, Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports, No. 9 Chevrolet
- 10, Noah Gragson, Stewart-Haas Racing, No. 10 Ford
- 11, Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing, No. 11 Toyota
- 12, Ryan Blaney, Team Penske, No. 12 Ford
- 13, Chase Briscoe, Stewart-Haas Racing, No. 14 Ford
- 14, Kaz Grala, Rick Ware Racing, No. 15 Ford
- 15, AJ Allmendinger, Kaulig Racing, No. 16 Chevrolet
- 16, Chris Buescher, RFK Racing, No. 17 Ford
- 17, Martin Truex Jr., Joe Gibbs Racing, No. 19 Toyota
- 18, Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing, No. 20 Toyota
- 19, Harrison Burton, Wood Brothers Racing, No. 21 Ford
- 20, Joey Logano, Team Penske, No. 22 Ford
- 21, Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing, No. 23 Toyota
- 22, William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports, No. 24 Chevrolet
- 23, Daniel Hemric, Kaulig Racing, No. 31 Chevrolet
- 24, Michael McDowell, Front Row Motorsports, 34 Ford
- 25, Todd Gilliland, Front Row Motorsports, No. 38 Ford
- 26, Ryan Preece, Stewart-Haas Racing, No. 41 Ford
- 27, John Hunter Nemechek, Legacy Motor Club, No. 42 Chevrolet
- 28, Erik Jones, Legacy Motor Club, No. 43 Chevrolet
- 29, Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing, No.45 Toyota
- 30, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., JTG Daugherty Racing, No. 47 Chevrolet
- 31, Alex Bowman, Hendrick Motorsports, No. 48 Chevrolet
- 32, Justin Haley, Rick Ware Racing, No. 51 Ford
- 33, Ty Gibbs, Joe Gibbs Racing, No. 54 Toyota
- 34, David Starr, Power Source, No. 66 Ford
- 35, Zane Smith, Spire Motorsports, No. 71 Chevrolet
- 36, Carson Hocevar, Spire Motorsports, No. 77 Chevrolet
- 37, Daniel Suárez, Trackhouse Racing, No. 99 Chevrolet
Joining us for #IowaCorn350 weekend? Here’s 5 things to know before you go! pic.twitter.com/TkLwNxIW7V
— Iowa Speedway (@iowaspeedway) June 7, 2024
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