This Weekend in NASCAR – Sonoma Storylines

This weekend sees the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with the only NASCAR national event; the NASCAR XFINITY Series is off until July 4 at Daytona International Speedway and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is back on track July 9 for a Thursday night show at Kentucky Speedway.

This weekend’s storylines follow…

Pattern Of Parity At Sonoma

You don’t have to be Albert Einstein or Stephen Hawking to notice the pattern of parity at Sonoma Raceway.

The last 10 races at the road course have produced 10 different winners. Two of those drivers – Tony Stewart in 2005 and Jimmie Johnson in 2010 – went on to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship.

Nine of the 10 previous winners will compete for the checkered flag in Sunday’s Toyota / Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway (3 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1): Carl Edwards (2014), Martin Truex Jr. (2013), Clint Bowyer (2012), Kurt Busch (2011), Jimmie Johnson (2010), Kasey Kahne (2009), Kyle Busch (2008), Jeff Gordon (2006) and Tony Stewart (2005). Juan Pablo Montoya won in 2007 and is not entered in the race.

The only track with a longer active streak of different winners is New Hampshire Motor Speedway with 11.

Homecoming King: Jeff Gordon Returns To Hometown Track For Final Time

Northern California is about to witness the end of an era.

Native son Jeff Gordon, born in Vallejo, California, will make his final start at Sonoma Raceway – a track he has dominated during his career – in Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350. In all, Gordon has finished third or better in 13 of his 22 starts at Sonoma.

Still, Gordon has not visited Victory Lane at the 12-turn loop since 2006, but boasts the track record for wins (5), Coors Light Pole Awards (5), average finish (7.9), top fives (14), top 10s (18) and laps led (457).

Here is a list of drivers second in each category for comparison: wins (four drivers, 2), Coors Light Pole Awards (Ricky Rudd, 4), average finish (Dale Earnhardt, 8.4), top fives (Ricky Rudd, 10), tops 10s (Mark Martin, 13), laps led (Rusty Wallace, 171).

Gordon stands as NASCAR’s all-time leader in road course wins with nine.

Ring It Up: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Engages In Some Road Course Racing

For 12 consecutive years, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has held the title of “NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver.” As of a week ago, he now has a new one: ‘fiancé.’

Earnhardt proposed to his girlfriend Amy while on a vacation in Germany (spoiler alert: she said yes), and sealed the deal with a shiny engagement ring. The circular ring is meant to be a symbol of eternity. So it’s odd timing that Earnhardt now heads to one of the few NASCAR tracks that isn’t a circle – Sonoma Raceway.

It took a while, but Earnhardt might finally love Sonoma as much as Amy. After 15 starts, he got his first top-10 finish at Sonoma last year, a third-place result. Still, his average Sonoma finish of 20.3 makes the track tied with Homestead for his second worst, behind only Watkins Glen (22.4), the other road course track in the series.

Earnhardt has all but locked up a spot in this year’s Chase thanks to a win at Talladega, and now aims to grow his Chase bonus points total. All 16 Chase drivers will have their points reset to 2,000 to start the Chase, with three additional bonus points added for each win in the regular season.

Tappin’ The Rockies In Wine Country: McMurray Goes For Another Sonoma Coors Light Pole

Most people visit Sonoma for the wine.

Jamie McMurray prefers its Coors Light (Pole Award, anyway).

The No. 1 Chevrolet driver has won the last two Coors Light Pole Awards at Sonoma Raceway. His 2007 Sonoma pole gives him three for his career at the West Coast road course.

McMurray turned last year’s pole into a fourth-place finish. Otherwise, he hasn’t done well at Sonoma. His only other top-10 finish there was a runner-up showing in 2004.

Follow Him If You Want To Win! Schwarzenneger Saddles Up As Sonoma Pace Car Driver

Arnold Schwarzenneger is a man with many talents, and faces.

He’s been a Terminator, Mr. Freeze, a governor, even a kindergarten cop.

On Sunday, he will lead the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series field to green as the Official Pace Car Driver for the Toyota / Save Mart 350.

Schwarzenneger will pilot a 2016 Toyota Mirai, a hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle that emits only water from its exhaust. It will be the first hydrogen fuel cell vehicle used as a pace car in Sonoma. As Governor, Schwarzenegger championed and established California’s Hydrogen Highway, the nation’s first network of hydrogen fueling stations.

The long-time actor/bodybuilder/politician joins a star-studded list of celebrities who have participated in NASCAR festivities this year, including: Vince Vaughn, Guy Fieri, Bill Goldberg, SpongeBob SquarePants and Rob Gronkowski.

Hopefully, he’ll be back.

Stewart A Mobil(e) One At Sonoma

Tony Stewart – a multi-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion and sure-fire NASCAR Hall of Famer – has struggled so far in 2015.

He claims only one top-10 finish–a sixth-place showing in a wild rainy race at Bristol in April.

Still, Stewart can make the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup with a win and top-30 points finish.

Sonoma Raceway could be where he clinches that win.

The No. 14 Chevrolet driver is a Mobil(e) one at the Northern California Race track. (Get it? Mobil 1 is his sponsor. #punny)

Stewart owns two wins (12.5%), five top fives (31.2%), nine top 10s (56.2%) and a Coors Light Pole Award in 16 starts at Sonoma. Among active drivers at the 1.99-mile road course, he boasts the most fastest laps run (79), the second-best average running position (12.0), the second-most quality passes (274) and the third-best driver rating (98.8).

Bowyer Aims For First Win At Strongest Track

Clint Bowyer has a reputation as a short-track ace. But in actuality, his best track is the Sonoma Raceway road course. He has an average finish there of 9.2, which make the Northern California track his best. He comes into this race with four consecutive top 10s at Sonoma, including a win in 2012.

In that 2012 win, Bowyer had an incredible average running position of 1.8, along with 71 laps led and a driver rating of 142.8 (a perfect rating is 150.0).

History Lesson: All Gordon All The Time (Except for the First Couple of Years)

Jeff Gordon will retire as the winningest driver in Sonoma Raceway history. Despite more than 20 years of dominance at the track, winning did not always come easy for the California native.

Gordon has five wins at the Northern California track, including three in a row from 1998-2000. But as the old adage goes, Gordon had to first experience the agony of losing at his “home track” before achieving the ecstasy of victory.

In 1996, Gordon started sixth and worked his way into the lead on Lap 57 of 74. A late caution set up a restart with six laps remaining with NASCAR Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace lining up second, behind Gordon. Wallace was able to pass Gordon for the win shortly after the restart, with Gordon eventually finishing sixth.

The following season, Gordon started third and was on race leader Mark Martin’s bumper throughout the final lap. Gordon gave one last attempt to get around Martin in the hairpin turn but came up short once again.

In 1998, everything clicked for Gordon, who started the weekend by winning his first Sonoma pole. Gordon led 48 laps, including the final 11, to win his first road course race and move into first place in the standings. It also kicked off a remarkable stretch of seven wins in nine races that propelled Gordon to his third career championship.