As the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series schedule moved past the midway point, the prime points pretender (Ross Chastain) was bounced from the top spot in the standings and replaced by proven contenders (Ryan Blaney, William Byron and Sunday’s winner Kyle Busch).
Busch and Byron pace the circuit with three wins each and Blaney has collected nine top-10 finishes during the opening 15 events. Blaney, the new points leader, captured the Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day. Byron trails Blaney by 13 points and Busch, the two-time points champion, stands in seventh place, 44 points behind.
Busch dominated Sunday’s event at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, leading 121 laps and possessed enough poise and power to withstand five restarts over the final 40 laps.
Counting NASCAR’s three national series, Busch, 38, has compiled 228 wins, including 63 on the premier stage. Busch will attempt to make capture back-to-back events next Sunday at Sonoma Raceway.
“We’ve had some really good runs,” Busch said, as reported by NASCAR.com. “We’ve had peaks and valleys so far this year. We just got to find the greater plains, if you will, and level this thing out a little bit.”
Chastain, meanwhile, has placed 22nd in consecutive events.
— Ryan Blaney (@Blaney) June 5, 2023
NASCAR Weekend Schedule
Here is a list of events at Sonoma Raceway (All Times ET):
Friday
- 11 a.m.: ARCA West Series garage hours
- 1 p.m.: Xfinity Series garage hours
- 2 p.m.: ARCA West Series practice
- 3:10 p.m.: ARCA West Series qualifying
- 4:05 p.m.: Xfinity Series practice
- 6:10 p.m.: ARCA West Series driver introductions
- 6:30 p.m.: ARCA West Series General Tire 200 race
Saturday
- Noon: Cup Series garage hours
- 1 p.m.: Xfinity Series garage hours
- 3 p.m.: Xfinity Series qualifying
- 5 p.m.: Cup Series practice
- 6 p.m.: Cup Series qualifying
- 7:35 p.m.: Xfinity Series driver introductions
- 8 p.m.: Xfinity Series DoorDash 250 race
Sunday
- 12:30 p.m.: Cup Series garage hours
- 2:45 p.m.: Cup Series drivers’ meeting
- 2:55 p.m.: Cup Series red carpet walk
- 3 p.m.: Cup Series driver introductions
- 3:30 p.m.: Cup Series Toyota/Save Mart 350 race
Ready to put on a ＳＨＯＷ 👊
It’s finally race week!#NASCAR75 | #ToyotaSaveMart350 | #DoorDash250 pic.twitter.com/7j8QW1hHOK
— Sonoma Raceway (@RaceSonoma) June 5, 2023
NASCAR Cup Series Toyota/Save Mart 350 Entry List
Entry, Driver, Team, Car No.
- 1, Ross Chastain, Trackhouse Racing Team, No. 1 Chevrolet
- 2, Austin Cindric, Team Penske, No. 2 Ford
- 3, Austin Dillon, Richard Childress Racing, No. 3 Chevrolet
- 4, Kevin Harvick, 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, Aric Almirola, 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, TBA, 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, Justin Haley, Kaulig Racing, No. 31 Chevrolet
- 24, Michael McDowell, Front Row Motorsports, 34 Ford
- 25, Zane Smith, Front Row Motorsports, No. 38 Ford
- 26, Ryan Preece, Stewart-Haas Racing, No. 41 Ford
- 27, Noah Gragson, 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, Todd Gilliland, Rick Ware Racing, No. 51 Ford
- 33, Ty Gibbs, Joe Gibbs Racing, No. 54 Toyota
- 34, Ty Dillon, Spire Motorsports, No. 77 Chevrolet
- 35, Josh Bilicki, Live Fast Motorsports, No. 78 Chevrolet
- 36, Daniel Suárez, Trackhouse Racing Team, No. 99 Chevrolet
𝐈𝐓’𝐒 𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐍 𝐍𝐎𝐖. 🍷🏁#NASCAR75 | #ToyotaSaveMart350 | @NASCAR pic.twitter.com/t8IURJqJlP
— Sonoma Raceway (@RaceSonoma) June 5, 2023
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