The NASCAR Cup Series takes on its second road course race of the 2024 season at the newly-repaved Sonoma Raceway. Drivers took to the 1.99-mile track for a 50-minute practice session Friday afternoon prior to group qualifying Saturday to set the lineup for Sunday’s 110-lap event.
Ryan Blaney paced the field in practice as his best lap was over four seconds faster than the pole time a season ago while 23 cars posted times that were faster than the previous track record. Blaney was scored fifth in five-lap average and seventh in 10-lap average.
Ryan Blaney, driver, No. 12 Menards/Moen Ford Mustang
1st
Austin Cindric, driver, No. 2 America’s Tire Ford Mustang
13th
Joey Logano, driver, No. 22 Autotrader Ford Mustang
25th
HEAR FROM BLANEY: “Overall, a really good day. I thought all the Team Penske Fords had good speed. It was nice to start close to where we wanted to be and get a little better throughout the day. Hopefully it bodes well for the rest of the weekend.”
RETURNING TO SONOMA: Ryan Blaney (Charlotte Roval, 2018) and Joey Logano (Watkins Glen, 2015) are among 14 active Cup Series drivers with a road course win entering the weekend in Sonoma. Logano has two top-five finishes in his last three starts at the California road course – including a career-best third-place run a season ago. Blaney has posted four top-10s in his seven career Cup Series starts at Sonoma while Austin Cindric’s fifth-place finish during his rookie season in 2022 marks the best of his two career starts at the 1.99-mile road course.
Team Penske has a pair of Cup Series wins at Sonoma to its credit, coming from Rusty Wallace in 1996 and Kurt Busch in 2011.
MIC’D UP: Joey Logano returns to the broadcast booth for Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Sonoma alongside Adam Alexander and Daniel Suarez. Coverage begins at 8 ET on FS1.
WEEKEND AT SONOMA: Saturday’s on-track action at Sonoma consists of group qualifying beginning at 6 p.m. ET on FS2. Coverage of Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 begins at 3:30 p.m. ET. on FOX, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
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