2023 Toyota/Save Mart 350 Explained

Type:	CUST
Description:	Race 16 of 36 in the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series
Race Name:	Toyota/Save Mart 350
Details Ref:	^[1] ^[2] ^[3] ^[4] ^[5] ^[6] ^[7] ^[8]
Year:	2023
Location:	Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California
Course Mi:	1.99
Course Km:	3.20
Distance Laps:	110
Distance Mi:	218.9
Distance Km:	352.285
Pole Driver:	Denny Hamlin
Pole Team:	Joe Gibbs Racing
Pole Time:	1:17.719
Most Driver:	Martin Truex Jr.
Most Team:	Joe Gibbs Racing
Most Laps:	51
Car:	19
First Driver:	Martin Truex Jr.
First Team:	Joe Gibbs Racing
Network:	Fox
Announcers:	Mike Joy, Clint Bowyer, and Jamie McMurray
Radio:	PRN
Booth Ann:	Doug Rice and Mark Garrow
Turn Ann:	Pat Patterson (2, 3, & 3a), Brad Gillie (4a & 7a), Nick Yeoman (8 & 9), and Rob Albright (10 & 11)

The 2023 Toyota/Save Mart 350 was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on June 11, 2023, at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California. Contested over 110 laps on the 1.99miles road course, it was the 16th race of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season.

Report

Background

Sonoma Raceway is a 1.99miles road course and drag strip located on the landform known as Sears Point in the southern Sonoma Mountains in Sonoma, California, U.S. The road course features 12 turns on a hilly course with 160feet of total elevation change. It is host to one of only seven NASCAR Cup Series races each year that are run on road courses. It is also host to the NTT IndyCar Series and several other auto races and motorcycle races such as the American Federation of Motorcyclists series. Sonoma Raceway continues to host amateur, or club racing events which may or may not be open to the general public. The largest such car club is the Sports Car Club of America. In 2022, the race was reverted to racing the club configuration.^[9]

Grant Enfinger replaced Noah Gragson for this race, after Gragson was diagnosed for concussion-like symptoms as a result of a brake failure the race prior.^[10]

Entry list

• (R) denotes rookie driver.
• (i) denotes the driver ineligible for series driver points.

	Driver	Team	Manufacturer
1			Chevrolet
2			Ford
3		nowrap		Chevrolet
4			Ford
5			Chevrolet
6			Ford
7			Chevrolet
8			Chevrolet
9			Chevrolet
10			Ford
11			Toyota
12			Ford
14			Ford
15			Ford
16			Chevrolet
17			Ford
19			Toyota
20			Toyota
21			Ford
22			Ford
23			Toyota
24			Chevrolet
31			Chevrolet
34			Ford
38	Zane Smith (i)		Ford
41			Ford
42	Grant Enfinger (i)		Chevrolet
43			Chevrolet
45			Toyota
47	nowrap			Chevrolet
48			Chevrolet
51			Ford
54	Ty Gibbs (R)		Toyota
77			Chevrolet
78	Josh Bilicki (i)		Chevrolet
99			Chevrolet
Official entry list

Practice

Kyle Larson was the fastest in the practice session with a time of 1:18.099 seconds and a speed of 91.73mph.^[11]

Practice results

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Time
1	5				1:18.099	91.730
2	19				1:18.657	91.079
3	16				1:18.708	91.020
Official practice results

Qualifying

Denny Hamlin scored the pole for the race with a time of 1:17.719 and a speed of 92.178mph.^[12]

Qualifying results

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer
1	11			Toyota	1:17.826	1:17.719
2	45			Toyota	1:18.295	1:17.812
3	34			Ford	1:17.768	1:17.819
4	20			Toyota	1:17.973	1:17.974
5	16			Chevrolet	1:17.981	1:17.977
6	54	Ty Gibbs (R)		Toyota	1:18.287	1:18.023
7	17			Ford	1:17.909	1:18.030
8	19			Toyota	1:18.091	1:18.094
9	99			Chevrolet	1:18.364	1:18.339
10	9			Chevrolet	1:17.894	1:18.460
11	3			Chevrolet	1:18.056	—
12	8			Chevrolet	1:18.122	—
13	47			Chevrolet	1:18.359	—
14	48			Chevrolet	1:18.398	—
15	1			Chevrolet	1:18.426	—
16	5			Chevrolet	1:18.431	—
17	22			Ford	1:18.476	—
18	23			Toyota	1:18.506	—
19	7			Chevrolet	1:18.616	—
20	10			Ford	1:18.650	—
21	4			Ford	1:18.680	—
22	41			Ford	1:18.680	—
23	31			Chevrolet	1:18.730	—
24	14			Ford	1:18.762	—
25	6			Ford	1:18.980	—
26	24			Chevrolet	1:19.100	—
27	77			Chevrolet	1:19.138	—
28	43			Chevrolet	1:19.326	—
29	78	Josh Bilicki (i)		Chevrolet	1:19.370	—
30	38	Zane Smith (i)		Ford	1:19.498	—
31	12			Ford	1:19.599	—
32	51			Ford	1:19.722	—
33	15			Ford	1:19.787	—
34	2			Ford	1:19.955	—
35	42	Grant Enfinger (i)		Chevrolet	1:20.223	—
36	21			Ford	1:20.361	—
Official qualifying results

Race

Race results

Stage results

Stage OneLaps: 25

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	10
2	19	Martin Truex Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	9
3	20	Christopher Bell	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	8
4	16	A. J. Allmendinger	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	7
5	34	Michael McDowell	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	6
6	45	Tyler Reddick	23XI Racing	Toyota	5
7	17	Chris Buescher	RFK Racing	Ford	4
8	54	Ty Gibbs (R)	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	3
9	48	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	2
10	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	1
Official stage one results

Stage TwoLaps: 30

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1	8	Kyle Busch	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	10
2	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	9
3	1	Ross Chastain	Trackhouse Racing	Chevrolet	8
4	24	William Byron	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	7
5	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	6
6	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	5
7	19	Martin Truex Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	4
8	34	Michael McDowell	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	3
9	20	Christopher Bell	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	2
10	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	1
Official stage two results

Final Stage results

Stage ThreeLaps: 55

Pos	Grid		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Points
1	8	19	Martin Truex Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	110	53
2	12	8	Kyle Busch	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	110	45
3	17	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	110	43
4	7	17	Chris Buescher	RFK Racing	Ford	110	37
5	10	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	110	32
6	5	16	A. J. Allmendinger	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	110	38
7	3	34	Michael McDowell	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	110	37
8	16	5	Kyle Larson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	110	29
9	4	20	Christopher Bell	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	110	39
10	15	1	Ross Chastain	Trackhouse Racing	Chevrolet	110	36
11	21	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	110	28
12	13	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	110	32
13	22	41	Ryan Preece	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	110	24
14	26	24	William Byron	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	110	30
15	14	48	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	110	24
16	25	6	Brad Keselowski	RFK Racing	Ford	110	21
17	18	23	Bubba Wallace	23XI Racing	Toyota	110	20
18	6	54	Ty Gibbs (R)	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	110	22
19	11	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	110	23
20	19	7	Corey LaJoie	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet	110	17
21	23	31	Justin Haley	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	110	16
22	9	99	Daniel Suárez	Trackhouse Racing	Chevrolet	110	15
23	27	77	Ty Dillon	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet	110	14
24	32	51	Todd Gilliland	Rick Ware Racing	Ford	110	13
25	34	2	Austin Cindric	Team Penske	Ford	110	12
26	35	42	Grant Enfinger (i)	Legacy Motor Club	Chevrolet	110	0
27	36	21	Harrison Burton	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	110	10
28	20	10	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	110	9
29	24	14	Chase Briscoe	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	110	8
30	29	78	Josh Bilicki (i)	Live Fast Motorsports	Chevrolet	110	0
31	31	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	110	6
32	28	43	Erik Jones	Legacy Motor Club	Chevrolet	109	5
33	2	45	Tyler Reddick	23XI Racing	Toyota	109	9
34	30	38	Zane Smith (i)	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	109	0
35	33	15	Andy Lally	Rick Ware Racing	Ford	109	2
36	1	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	92	11
Official race results

Race statistics

• Lead changes: 10 among 6 different drivers
• Cautions/Laps: 2 for 6 laps
• Red flags: 0
• Time of race: 2 hours, 40 minutes, and 12 seconds
• Average speed: 81.989mph

Media

Television

Fox NASCAR televised the race in the United States on Fox for the seventh year and the first since 2006. Mike Joy was the lap-by-lap announcer, while 2012 Sonoma winner Clint Bowyer and Jamie McMurray were the color commentators. Jamie Little and Regan Smith handled the pit road for the television side. Larry McReynolds provided insight from the Fox Sports studio in Charlotte. This was Fox Sports' last Cup race for their portion of the 2023 season as NBC Sports and USA Network takes over NASCAR broadcasts for the rest of the season.

Radio

Radio coverage of the race was broadcast by the Performance Racing Network. PRN's broadcast of the race was also simulcasted on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Doug Rice and Mark Garrow announced the race in the booth while the field was racing on the pit straightaway. Pat Patterson called the race from a stand outside of turn 2 when the field was racing up turns 2, 3 and 3a. Doug Turnbull called the race from a stand outside of turn 7a when the field was racing through turns 4a and 7a. Brad Gillie called the race when the field raced thru turns 8 and 9. Rob Albright called the race from a billboard outside turn 11 when the field was racing through turns 10 and 11. Heather DeBeaux, Alan Cavanna, Brett McMillan and Wendy Venturini reported from pit lane during the race.

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

	Pos	Driver	Points
3	1	Martin Truex Jr.	525
	2	William Byron	512 (–13)
2	3	Ryan Blaney	501 (–24)
1	4	Ross Chastain	501 (–24)
2	5	Kevin Harvick	500 (–25)
1	6	Kyle Busch	496 (–29)
1	7	Christopher Bell	493 (–32)
	8	Denny Hamlin	462 (–63)
3	9	Joey Logano	444 (–81)
1	10	Kyle Larson	440 (–85)
2	11	Chris Buescher	430 (–95)
1	12	Brad Keselowski	424 (–101)
3	13	Tyler Reddick	420 (–105)
	14	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	400 (–125)
	15	Bubba Wallace	354 (–171)
1	16	Alex Bowman	331 (–194)
Official driver's standings

Manufacturers' Championship standings

	Pos	Manufacturer	Points
	1	Chevrolet	602
	2	Toyota	563 (–39)
	3	Ford	546 (–56)

• Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.

. – Driver has clinched a position in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.

Notes and References

1. Web site: 2023 schedule . Jayski.com. . October 10, 2022.
2. Web site: Sonoma Raceway. NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC.. May 3, 2023. January 3, 2013. April 28, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170428050314/http://www.nascar.com/en_us/nascar-tracks/sonoma-raceway.html. dead.
3. News: NASCAR unveils 2023 schedule for its national series . September 14, 2022 . March 29, 2023 . National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC.
4. Web site: Entry List. Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. June 5, 2023. June 5, 2023.
5. Web site: Practice Results. NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC.. June 10, 2023. June 10, 2023.
6. Web site: Qualifying Results. NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC.. June 10, 2023. June 10, 2023.
7. Web site: Toyota/Save Mart 350 Results. NASCAR.com. NASCAR. June 11, 2023. June 11, 2023.
8. Web site: Points standings. Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. June 11, 2023. June 11, 2023.
9. Web site: Sonoma Raceway bringing back the Chute for 2022 NASCAR Weekend. 2022-01-10. SpeedwayMedia.com. en-US.
10. Web site: Grant Enfinger to fill in for Noah Gragson at Sonoma Raceway . . June 8, 2023 . June 9, 2023.
11. Web site: Utter. Jim. Kyle Larson leads the way in Sonoma Cup practice. Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. June 10, 2023. Sonoma, California. June 10, 2023.
12. Web site: Utter. Jim. Denny Hamlin beats Reddick to NASCAR Cup pole at Sonoma. Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. June 10, 2023. Sonoma, California. June 10, 2023.