Entry List : Sonoma Raceway

• Sonoma Raceway
• 33rd Annual Toyota/Save Mart 350
• Busch Light Pole Award Pole Winner: Kyle Larson
• Age: 29
• Team : No. 5 - HendrickCars.com Chevrolet
• Owner: Hendrick Motorsports
• Crew Chief: Cliff Daniels
• Kyle Larson won the Busch Light Pole Award for the 33rd Annual Toyota/Save Mart 350 with a lap of 77.776 seconds, 92.111 mph.
• This is his 12th pole in 275 NASCAR Cup Series races.
• This is his second pole and 10th top-10 start in 2022.
• This is his fourth pole in eight races at Sonoma Raceway - most among active drivers and second only to Jeff Gordon (five poles) for the most all-time in the series at Sonoma.
• Chase Elliott (second) posted his seventh top-10 start of 2022 and his fifth in six races at Sonoma Raceway.
• Chris Buescher (third) posted his third top-10 start at Sonoma Raceway. It is his fourth in 15 races this season.
• Todd Gilliland (24th) was the fastest qualifying rookie.
• Five different manufacturers in the NASCAR Cup Series have won a pole at Sonoma Raceway; led by Chevrolet (18 poles), followed by Ford (seven), Pontiac (three), Toyota (three) and Dodge (two).

• Sunday, June 12th, 2022
• NASCAR Wire Service - Holly Cain

Mexican Daniel Suárez wins first career NASCAR Cup Series race at Sonoma Raceway

“Win Numero Uno.” Those were the words on the flag Mexican driver Daniel Suárez held out the window of his No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet as he turned celebratory “donuts” on the frontstretch of Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway Sunday afternoon in the ecstatic first moments of his first ever NASCAR Cup Series victory.

Suárez’s No. 99 Chevrolet pulled away from runner-up Chris Buescher’s RFK Racing Ford in the closing laps to take an impressive 3.849-second maiden NASCAR Cup Series win on the 1.99-mile Northern Californian road course – the third victory of the season for the second-year Trackhouse Racing team whose members rushed over the pit road wall to embrace their driver and celebrate the historic achievement.

With the win, in his 195th NASCAR Cup Series start, Suárez becomes the fifth different driver not born in the United States to win in the NASCAR Cup Series; joining Marcos Ambrose (Australia), Juan Pablo Montoya (Colombia), Earl Ross (Canada) and Mario Andretti (Italy). And he did so convincingly. He led a race best 47 of the 110 laps and ultimately took one of the largest margins of victory on the season.

Suárez, the 2016 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion, screamed in joy on his team radio on the cool-down lap and after exiting his car, smashed a pinata.

Congratulations soon came in from across the racing world on social media – including former seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson – all before Suárez had even hoisted his trophy.

“I have so many thoughts in my head right now," an emotional Suárez said, thanking his team owner Justin Marks, his family, and “all the people who helped me get to this point."

“So very happy we were able to make it work," Suárez added, saying of his team, “They believed in me from day one."

He then offered a message of thanks in Spanish to the large crowd of his “Amigos” - the name of his fan club cheering trackside – and ended it in English by promising, “this is one of many.”

The 30-year-old Suárez, from Monterrey, Mexico, is now the 12th different winner of the 2022 season – and fourth first-time winner.

The top-four finishing drivers Sunday were all looking for their first win of the season. Front Row Motorsports driver Michael McDowell finished third, followed by Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick in fourth.

This year’s Daytona 500 winner, Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate Austin Cindric was fifth, followed by his Team Penske Racing teammate Ryan Blaney. Suárez’s Trackhouse Racing teammate Ross Chastain was seventh, followed by Hendrick Motorsports drivers Chase Elliott and William Byron.

Buescher’s RFK Racing teammate and team co-owner Brad Keselowski was 10th – his best finish since a ninth-place showing in the season-opening Daytona 500.

For much of the early-going, it looked like Elliott and his Hendrick teammate – defending race winner Kyle Larson – may well decide the win. But both had to overcome uncharacteristic pit stop miscues that allowed Suárez to essentially dominate the closing laps.

Elliot, who led 26 laps, pitted outside his box and had to serve a penalty that put him 34th - last in the field among those still running. His rally to an eighth-place finish was impressive considering the adventurous day.

Larson, the polesitter who also led 26 laps and won Stage 1, had a right front wheel come off his Chevrolet heading into Turn 2 right after a pit stop. His team now faces a mandatory penalty for that infraction that includes a four-race suspension for the team’s crew chief (Cliff Daniels) and both the tire changer and jackman. The defending series champion finished 15th.

On an upside, however, the combined 52 laps led by Elliott and Larson topped the 100,000 all-time miles led mark for Hendrick Motorsports – most in NASCAR history.

With his eighth-place finish, Elliott still holds a 16-point advantage on Chastain in the NASCAR Cup Series championship standings.

• Drivers Entered: 36
• Laps Scheduled: 90
• Laps Actual: 110 - NASCAR OVERTIME!
• Margin of Victory: 03.849 Seconds
• Time of Race: 2 Hours 48 Minutes 22 Seconds
• Average Speed: 78.008
• Cautions: 4 for 14 laps
• Lead Changes: 6
• Green Flag Passes: 2,235 (23.3 passes per green flag lap)

• Sonoma Raceway
• 33rd Annual Toyota/Save Mart 350
• Race Winner: Daniel Suarez
• Age: 30
• Team : No. 99 - Onx Homes/Renu Chevrolet
• Owner: Justin Marks
• Crew Chief: Travis Mack
• Daniel Suarez won the 33rd Annual Toyota/Save Mart 350, his first victory in 195 Cup Series races.
• This is his first victory and fifth top-10 finish in 2022.
• This is his first victory and first top-10 finish in five races at Sonoma Raceway.
• Chris Buescher (second) posted his first top-10 finish in six races at Sonoma Raceway. It is his fourth top-10 finish in 2022.
• Michael McDowell (third) posted his first top-10 finish in ten races at Sonoma Raceway.
• Austin Cindric (fifth) was the highest finishing rookie.
• Daniel Su?rez has won his first career NASCAR Cup Series victory at Sonoma Raceway; he joins Juan Pablo Montoya as the second driver to win his first career Cup race at the 1.99-mile road course.
• Su?rez becomes the first driver from Mexico (Monterrey) to win in the NASCAR Cup Series.
• Su?rez becomes the fifth different driver all-time not from the United States to win a NASCAR Cup Series race; joining Marcos Ambrose (Australia), Juan Pablo Montoya (Colombia) Earl Ross (Canada) and Mario Andretti (Italy).
• Of the 12 different race winners this season, four are first-time NASCAR Cup Series winners: Team Penske?s Austin Cindric (Daytona 500), Stewart-Haas Racing?s Chase Briscoe (Phoenix) and Trackhouse Racing?s Ross Chastain (COTA) and Daniel Su?rez (Sonoma).
• This is Track House Racing's third victory in the NASCAR Cup Series - Ross Chastain (COTA, Talladega) and Daniel Su?rez (Sonoma).
• Six different manufacturers have won in the NASCAR Cup Series at Sonoma Raceway, led by Chevrolet with 13 victories; followed by Ford with eight, Toyota (five), Dodge (three), Pontiac (two) and Buick (one).