The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Sonoma Raceway on June 12 for the second road course race of the year. The initial odds highlight some specific drivers that have excelled at the various road courses on NASCAR’s schedule.
According to BetMGM, Chase Elliott is the name to watch entering the race weekend. The 2020 Cup Series champion has 9-2 odds to reach Victory Lane, which puts him just ahead of teammate Kyle Larson (7-1). The two Hendrick Motorsports drivers actually finished one-two during the 2021 race at Sonoma with Larson taking the checkered flag.
Martin Truex Jr., who has three wins at Sonoma Raceway, is just behind them at 8-1 with an opportunity to win his fourth race at the California track and break a tie with Hall of Famer Tony Stewart. Ross Chastain (9-1) and Kyle Busch (9-1) round out the top five drivers in BetMGM’s odds. Busch has two wins at Sonoma Raceway while Chastain pursues his first win at the road course.
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The Dinger Will Pursue a Strong Finish at Sonoma Raceway
GettyAJ Allmendinger (front) has solid odds to win at Sonoma.
One intriguing name to watch entering the Sonoma weekend is AJ Allmendinger. The Kaulig Racing driver is fresh off an Xfinity Series win at Portland International Raceway, which gave him 10 career road course wins across the national NASCAR series. This broke a tie with Jeff Gordon, who had nine road course wins in the Cup Series.
Allmendinger has two road course wins in the Cup Series. He captured the Watkins Glen race in 2014 and then he won the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course race in 2021, which was Kaulig Racing’s first Cup Series win. Allmendinger was also within reach of the Cup Series win at Circuit of the Americas on March 27, but Chastain punted him into the side of Alex Bowman’s No. 48 on the final lap.
Allmendinger will now head to a track where he has extensive experience, and he will face 12-1 odds to win. He has made 10 Cup Series starts at Sonoma Raceway during his career with two top-10 finishes and one pole award to his name. Though these statistics don’t exactly tell the full story.
The 2016 trip to Sonoma Raceway stands out as a unique race for Allmendinger. He posted the second-fastest time during qualifying and secured a spot on the front row next to Carl Edwards. He then battled the Joe Gibbs Racing driver throughout the early portions of the race, and he led 20 total laps in the JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet.
Allmendinger would have likely contended for the win, but an expected issue derailed his day. His crew received a penalty during the late stages of the race, which dropped him to the rear of the field. Allmendinger was able to salvage a 14th-place finish after working his way back through the field, but he was not able to battle with Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin, and race-winner Tony Stewart.
A Rookie Driver Faces Decent Odds Overall
While Elliott and Larson stand out as the favored drivers, there is another that could steal the show. Rookie Austin Cindric will make his first Cup Series start at Sonoma Raceway, and he will face 18-1 odds to win. This puts him in a tie with teammate Joey Logano and Richard Childress Racing’s Tyler Reddick.
Cindric has only made four road course starts during his Cup Series career, three of which took place during a part-time season in 2021. He made his road course debut during the rain-shortened trip to Circuit of the Americas and finished 25th overall. He then returned for the Cup Series race at Road America, but a mechanical issue shortened his day and led to a 38th-place finish.
Cindric’s past two road course starts in the Cup Series have turned out much better. He finished ninth in the 2021 race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course while avoiding two massive incidents in the final stage that collected 16 total cars. Cindric then returned to COTA in 2022 as a full-time driver and finished eighth overall.
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Road Course Aces Headline Initial Sonoma Odds