2019 Toyota/Save Mart 350

The **2019 Toyota/Save Mart 350** was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race held on June 23, 2019 at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California. To be contested over 90 laps on the 2.52-mile (4.06 km) road course, it was the 16th race of the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.

The race was won by its defending champion Martin Truex Jr., marking his third overall victory at Sonoma. Truex also set the event's fastest average speed.

## Report

### Background

 File:Infineon Raceway.tif
**Sonoma Raceway,** formerly **Sears Point Raceway** and **Infineon Raceway** is a 2.52-mile (4.06 km) road course and drag strip located on the landform known as Sears Point in the southern Sonoma Mountains in Sonoma, California, USA. The road course features 12 turns on a hilly course with 160 feet (49 m) of total elevation change. It is host to one of only three Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races each year that are run on road courses (the others being Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, New York and the road course layout for the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway). It is also host to the NTT IndyCar Series and several other auto races and motorcycle races such as the American Federation of Motorcyclists series. Sonoma Raceway continues to host amateur, or club racing events which may or may not be open to the general public. The largest such car club is the Sports Car Club of America.

#### Entry list

* **(i)** denotes driver who are ineligible for series driver points.
* **(R)** denotes rookie driver.

## Practice

### First practice

Martin Truex Jr. was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 95.168 seconds and a speed of 95.326 mph (153.412 km/h).

 2
 3

### Final practice

Kyle Larson was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 95.026 seconds and a speed of 95.469 mph (153.642 km/h).

 2
 3

## Qualifying

Kyle Larson scored the pole for the race with a time of 94.784 and a speed of 95.712 mph (154.034 km/h).

### Qualifying results

* Kyle Weatherman practiced and qualified the No. 15 for Ross Chastain, who was in Gateway for the Truck Series race.

## Race

### Stage 1

Byron grabbed the lead away from Larson after taking the green flag on Lap 1. He looked to be the dominant car as he led every lap in Stage 1. Byron finished over two seconds ahead of Denny Hamlin(11). With Joey Logano, the winner at MIS in 3rd. Pole sitter Larson finished 4th.

### Stage 2

Chase Elliott(9) and Martin Truex Jr.(19) led the field to green to start Stage 2. They had stayed on track during the Stage ending caution. Truex led until pitting with two laps to go in the stage. Denny Hamlin inherited the lead and picked up the Stage 2 win.

### The Final Stage

Truex took the top spot at the start of the Final Stage and held on until he pitted out of the lead with 26 laps to go. With 23 to go, pit stops had cycled through and Truex was back in the lead. Kyle Busch closed to within a second of Truex as the laps wound down. The Joe Gibbs Racing teammates finished one-two as Truex was able to hold off Busch. It was the 4th win of the year for the 2017 NASCAR Champion.

This was the final race for the Fox broadcast season. Darrell Waltrip retires from the broadcast booth, an all-star stock car driver and an all-star broadcaster.

### Stage results

**Stage One**
*Laps:* 20

**Stage Two**
*Laps:* 20

### Final stage results

**Stage Three**
*Laps:* 50

### Race statistics

* Lead changes: 7 among 5 different drivers
* Cautions/Laps: 2 for 6
* Red flags: 0
* Time of race: 2 hours, 42 minutes and 9 seconds
* Average speed: 83.922 miles per hour (135.059 km/h)

## Media

### Television

The race was televised by FS1, as Fox's final Cup Series event of the season. It also marked Darrell Waltrip's final race as a broadcaster, retiring after a 19-year career spent exclusively at Fox. Several drivers (particularly those who share numbers that Waltrip had used during his racing career) ran commemorative paint schemes paying tribute to Waltrip, with Matt DiBenedetto using a design inspired by Waltrip's Terminal Transport #95 from the 1970's, David Ragan using a design inspired by Waltrip's "chrome car" from 1997 (which Waltrip employed as part of his 25th anniversary season), and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. using a design inspired by Waltrip's Western Auto #17 from the 1990's.

### Radio

Radio coverage of the race was broadcast by the Performance Racing Network. PRN's broadcast of the race was simulcasted on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Doug Rice and Mark Garrow announced the race in the booth while the field was racing on the pit straightaway. Pat Patterson called the race from a stand outside of turn 2 when the field was racing up turns 2, 3 and 3a. Brad Gillie called the race from a stand outside of turn 7a when the field was racing through turns 4a and 7a. Doug Turnbull called the race when the field raced thru turns 8 and 9. Rob Albright called the race from a billboard outside turn 11 when the field was racing through turns 10 and 11. Heather Debeaux, Brett McMillan, Wendy Venturini and Jim Noble reported from pit lane during the race.

 **Lead announcer:** Doug Rice**Announcer:** Mark Garrow | **Turns 2, 3 & 3a:** Pat Patterson**Turns 4a & 7a:** Brad Gillie**Turns 8 & 9:** Doug Turnbull **Turns 10 & 11:** Rob Albright | Heather DebeauxBrett McMillanWendy VenturiniJim Noble

## References

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