The 16th NASCAR Cup race of the regular season at Sonoma Raceway was also the second of five road course races this season. After a dramatic finale, Kyle Larson achieved his third win of the season and his second success in the wine capital of Sonoma. His 26th Cup victory was also his fifth victory on a road course.
Stage 1: Reddick wins ahead of Blaney
Joey Logano won qualifying in his Penske Ford. This was his third pole award this year. The first stage, over 25 laps, was made an agonizing experience by three yellow phases. For overall leader Denny Hamlin, the race was over after just three laps due to engine failure in his Gibbs Toyota.
Logano led the first 16 laps of the race before making a pit stop under yellow. Tyler Reddick took the lead in the 23XI Toyota and secured his third stage win of the season. Defending champion Ryan Blaney in the Penske Ford took second place, ahead of Larson.
Stage 2: Buescher with tactical victory
In the second 30-lap stage, Reddick continued to lead the field for a long time. Shortly before the end of the stage, he turned in for service. Chris Buescher in the RFK Ford took his second stage win on lap 55, followed by Ryan Preece in the Stewart-Haas Ford and Martin Truex Junior in the Gibbs Toyota.
Stage 3/Finish: Victory for Larson, drama for Truex
The decisive third race segment over 55 laps and thus over half the race distance brought the different strategies together again. After Buescher, Kaulig part-time driver AJ Allmendinger briefly led the field. Then Larson took command until lap 80. The next leader was his teammate Chase Elliott.
From lap 84 onwards, Buescher was in the lead again. Lap after lap, Truex came closer and closer. Larson also caught up a lot. On lap 101, Truex overtook Buescher, who had no chance. But Larson clearly had the fastest car and overtook Buescher and Truex on the same lap.
After leading for a total of 19 laps, Larson won the 16th race of the season with a lead of over four seconds. Truex was on his way to a safe second place, but ran out of fuel shortly before the finish. Truex was pushed across the finish line by a truck and was only classified in 27th place.
Top 10 & overall standings
Behind Larson, Michael McDowell in the Front Row Ford finished second ahead of Buescher. For McDowell, it was his best finish of the season. Elliott finished in fourth place. He was followed by the top 10 drivers Ross Chastain (TrackHouse-Chevy), Allmendinger, Blaney, Reddick with the most laps led (35), Christopher Bell (Gibbs-Toyota) and Todd Gilliland (Front Row-Ford) in tenth place.
For the third time, Zane Smith in the Spire-Chevrolet was the best-placed rookie in 16th place. Pole-setter Logano finished the race in 21st position. Debutants Will Brown (RCR-Chevrolet) and Cam Waters (RKF-Ford) were classified in 31st and 35th place, laps behind. There were eight yellow phases over 22 laps and 11 lead changes by nine different drivers.
Larson overtook Hamlin in the overall standings and is now the new leader. There were hardly any changes in the top 16. Kyle Busch, Logano and Chase Briscoe are pushing for a playoff spot behind them. McDowell made it into the top 20 for the first time.
Gallery: All pictures from Sonoma Raceway
Statistics for the 16th race of the season (Regular Season)
Laps & race duration:
110 (Stages: 25/30/55) laps (218.9 miles), 2:56:14 hours
Winner:
Kyle Larson (3rd win in 2024, 2nd Sonoma win, 26th career win)
Best driver with the most points:
Kyle Larson, 48 (8/-/40) points
Stage wins (2024):
Stage 1: Tyler Reddick (3)
Top 10: #45, 12, 5, 9, 48, 34, 1, 99, 7, 38
Stage 2: Chris Buescher (2)
Top 10: #17, 41, 19, 8, 16, 6, 43, 38, 22, 21
Stage 3/Goal: Kyle Larson (3rd win 2024)
Top 10: #5, 34, 17, 9, 1, 16, 12, 45, 20, 38
NASCAR Cup standings
TOP 20 (after race 16/36)
Regular Season 2024
(with all bonus points & penalties)
—–
all winners (races 1-26):
1. (3) Kyle Larson, 561 points (3 wins)
2. (1) Denny Hamlin, 535 points (3 wins)
3. (2) William Byron, 495 points (3 wins)
4. (4) Christopher Bell, 465 points (2 wins)
5. (5) Chase Elliott, 547 points (1 win)
6. (6) Tyler Reddick, 512 points (1 win)
7. (7) Brad Keselowski, 466 points (1 win)
8. (8) Austin Cindric, 320 points (1 win)
9. (9) Daniel Suarez, 316 points (1 win)
—–
Total points (without win):
10. (10) Martin Truex Jr., 508 points
11. (11) Ty Gibbs, 466 points
12. (13) Ross Chastain, 453 points
13. (12) Alex Bowman, 445 points
14. (14) Ryan Blaney, 444 points
15. (16) Chris Buescher, 412 points
16. (15) Bubba Wallace, 388 points
—–
On the bubble:
17. (19) Kyle Busch, 380 points
18. (18) Joey Logano, 372 points
19. (17) Chase Briscoe, 361 points
20. (24) Michael McDowell, 295 points
The first 16 drivers are qualified for the PLAYOFFS
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