SONOMA, Calif. – Kyle Larson celebrated NASCAR approving his participation in the playoffs with his third Cup victory of the season — a Sunday win at his home track.
Larson grew up 80 miles from Sonoma Raceway in Elk Grove and was his second on the rolling road course in picturesque wine country. It was the fifth win on a road course for NASCAR’s 2021 Cup champion, which moved him to the top of the current series standings.
Kyle Larson won the Save Mart 350k to score his 26th career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his third of the season and his second at Sonoma. His margin of victory over second-place Michael McDowell was 4.258 seconds.
There were eight caution periods for a total of 22 laps. Twenty-seven of the 38 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.
Stage 1 Winner: Tyler Reddick of 23XI Racing (Toyota)
Stage 2 Winner: Chris Buescher of RFK Racing (Ford)
Larson leaves Sonoma as the new championship leader with a 14-point advantage over second-place Chase Elliott.
Stewart Haas Racing Finish:
- Ryan Preece (Started 30th, Finished 18th / Running, completed 110 of 110 laps)
- Noah Gragson (Started 19th, Finished 26th / Running, completed 110 of 110 laps)
- Josh Berry (Started 32nd, Finished 32nd / Suspension, completed 95 of 110 laps)
- Chase Briscoe (Started 23rd, Finished 34th / Transmission, completed 73 of 110 laps)
Stewart Haas Racing Points:
- Chase Briscoe (17th with 361 points, 200 out of first)
- Josh Berry (23rd with 269 points, 292 out of first)
- Noah Gragson (24th with 266 points, 295 out of first)
- Ryan Preece (26th with 239 points, 322 out of first)
Preece earned his seventh top-20 of the season and second top-20 in four career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Sonoma.
“If we didn’t spin out there, we probably would’ve ended up with a top 10,” said Ryan Preece, driver of the No. 41 Caymus Vineyards Ford Mustang Dark Horse. The car was pretty good but just lost track position at that point. One costly mistake.”
Preece finished second in Stage 2 to earn nine bonus points.
This was the first NASCAR Cup Series start at Sonoma for both Gragson and Berry.
“We got wrecked,” stated Noah Gragson, driver of the No. 10 Overstock.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse.
“Our race was going OK, but after the incident there in (turn) 11, the car just kind of drove funny and, ultimately, we couldn’t make it to the end,” said Josh Berry, driver of the No. 4 Mobil 1 50th Anniversary Dark Horse.
“It was definitely kind of wild from the get-go, just guys kind of driving through each other and everything else. It was a wild day,” said Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 14 Ford Performance Racing School Ford Mustang Dark Horse. “For us, it was anything that could go wrong kind of went wrong, between getting spun out and just not having our balance really that great, and then we had a water pressure issue, and then there at the end, the rear end just blew up, so it was not a great day for us, especially when we kind of need a good one. It’s unfortunate, and now we’ll go on to Iowa, which is probably my favorite racetrack, so we’ll try to regain some of these lost points.” –
Next Up:
The next NASCAR Cup Series schedule event is the Iowa Corn 350 powered by Ethanol, which will be held on Sunday, June 16, at Iowa Speedway in Newton. The race begins at 7 p.m. EDT and will be covered live by USA and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
