Happy belated Father’s Day to all those dads out there! After a week off for Father’s Day it’s time to turn our attention to the first road course of the year at Sonoma Raceway for the Toyota/Save Mart 350 on Sunday. Road Courses are a unique challenge in the middle of the NASCAR schedule that allow the drivers to show a different set of skills.

 Avg.Avg.     Laps  HighLow Avg.DiffLaps LedLaps Led
DriverStartFinishRacesWinsTop 5'sTop 10'sTop 20'sLedPolesFinishFinishDNFRatingPts.Pts.Pts./race
Carl Edwards920.521111260140195.2-11.56.53.25
Kyle Busch15.51321111170125089.32.54.252.13
Clint Bowyer15.56.520122903100102.792.251.13
Dale Earnhardt Jr.18.552012200370106.413.500.00
Kurt Busch3.57201124302120116.4-3.510.755.38
Kevin Harvick11.512201122304200105.7-0.55.752.88
Jamie McMurray9.57.520112914110103.522.251.13
Joey Logano14.510.52011230516083.840.750.38
Paul Menard20.592011200513081.711.500.00
Jimmie Johnson17.56.520022460670117.71111.55.75
Kasey Kahne287200220068097.32100.00
Ryan Newman11.5102001200911090.91.500.00
Greg Biffle20.5182001100927076.92.500.00
Tony Stewart1415.520002001219078.5-1.500.00
Austin Dillon31.5172000200171706614.500.00
Kyle Larson3.521.520001001528086.3-1800.00
Casey Mears1025.520001001338175.4-15.500.00
Martin Truex Jr.1528.520001001542170.3-13.500.00
Aric Almirola2718.520001001423067.48.500.00
Danica Patrick162120001001824065.6-500.00
Denny Hamlin15.52220001001826064.4-6.500.00
Brad Keselowski11.520.520001001922064.3-900.00
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.3225.520001002031058.56.500.00
A.J. Allmendinger1.5372000036137370101.8094.50
Matt Kenseth8.531.520000002142170.4-2300.00
David Ragan2037.520000003639157.3000.00
Cole Whitt30.524.520000002227054.4600.00
Michael McDowell25.52920000002434052.2-3.500.00
Trevor Bayne312310000002323049.2800.00
David Gilliland27.53220000002143148.6-4.500.00
Matt DiBenedetto302910000002929043.3100.00
Reed Sorenson403210000003232039.1000.00
Michael Annett4231.520000003033035.610.500.00
Josh Wise35.53420000002840035.41.500.00
Landon Cassill3839.520000003643127.3-1.500.00
Chase Elliot0000000000000000.00
Chris Buescher0000000000000000.00
Jeffrey Earnhardt0000000000000000.00
Brian Scott00.000000000000000.00
Patrick Carpentier00.000000000000000.00
Dylan Lupton00.000000000000000.00

*With the recent track data being limited, since they only race there once a year, the top-15 drivers section is the history at the track instead of track type.

 Avg.Avg.     Laps HighLow  DiffLaps LedLaps Led
DriverStartFinishRacesWinsTop 5'sTop 10'sTop 20'sLedPolesFinishFinishDNFRatingPts.Pts.Pts./race
Tony Stewart11.412.411725914821139179.5-1.0120.51.21
Kyle Busch16.519.091122361050140091.9-2.5926.252.39
Kurt Busch9.214.815177919711360111.6-5.649.253.28
Clint Bowyer15.68.6101689820131091.7720.52.05
Jimmie Johnson16.412.43141491213101361103.13.9732.752.34
Carl Edwards16.216.45111357400140196.2-0.25100.91
Kasey Kahne14.118.17121257412141081-4.0710.250.85
Martin Truex Jr.16.121101125670142276.7-4.916.751.68
Kevin Harvick15.715.1315046113302370109.60.578.250.55
Ryan Newman12.412.641402613110225081.6-0.242.750.20
Greg Biffle16.114.8513026990437178.31.252.250.17
Jamie McMurray13.116.231302211413237089.7-3.1310.250.79
Joey Logano1214.2970136181533093.7-2.294.50.64
Dale Earnhardt Jr.20.919.44160129903421104.71.462.250.14
Casey Mears25.220.3312012750538173.14.871.250.10

Drivers to watch this week:

Kurt Busch- Kurt has been on top of his game all season and now he’s at the top of the salary list at $10,700 this week and for good reason. He has been one of the top drivers at the 1.99-mile loop over the last couple of years and his career as a whole, leading the second most laps recently and the most in his career. Busch also hasn’t finished worse than 12th in the last two races and with a string of top-10 finishes this season he is a sure bet to do it again.

Jimmie Johnson- J.J. is one of only three drivers in the $10,000 range this week but he is worth it as a top-10 driver and having led the most laps in the last two races. He also owns the second best average finish in the last couple of contests at 6.5 after starting between 17th and 18th on the grid. Historically, Johnson has a win and nine top-10 finishes in 14 runs at the circuit. However he does have just four 34+ point showings since his early season hot streak cooled at Texas Motor Speedway.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.- Jr. has the best average finish of the lot at fifth, after starting 18.5 in the last two races. Overall however, he has been solid at Sonoma in 16 tries at the track. One thing to keep in mind is that he won’t get you a lot of laps led as he has just nine total led in the whole time at the circuit. A GPP lineup would be the best option for Jr. given his up and down finishes this season and his $9,700 price tag should allow for nice flexibility.

Clint Bowyer- Bowyer loves Sonoma. A top-three driver in the last two races, only by virtue that he hasn’t won, and in his career, he is a top-four driver at the track. He has two top-10’s in the last two races and eight overall in 10 chances at Sonoma and has led the fourth most laps with 82 in his career. Since the calendar turned to May, Bowyer has three 39+-point races out of six Sprint Cup points contests with another two 30-plus point races making him a very good value at $7,700 this week.

Paul Menard- Menard has been boom or bust this season with as many, three, 40-point races as negative scoring efforts, but this week sets up nicely for another boom type week. He owns the third best positional differential at Sonoma with a +11.5 mark on average. In the last five races at the track he has five top-20 finishes with three straight top-13 finishes. At $6,900 this week, he can fit into a GPP lineup nicely, though it’s a little bit more than I would’ve liked to see him coming into the race.