The 2000 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion has two top-five and five top-10 finishes at the road course. Labonte's best finish is fourth-place and that has occurred twice (6/25/00 and 6/28/98). His average start is 18.1 and average finish is 20.1.-JTG Daugherty Racing
Labonte back in No. 47 at Sonoma Raceway
Bobby Labonte | 47
(June 19, 2013 11:25 AM EDT)
Bobby Labonte returns to the No. 47 Kingsford Toyota Camry at Sonoma Raceway and has made 20 starts at the venue.
Bowles assists Vickers in double-duty weekend
Jason Bowles | 55
(June 19, 2013 11:21 AM EDT)
Jason Bowles will assist Brian Vickers in pulling a cross-country double-duty weekend.
Vickers will spend Friday and Saturday driving his Nationwide Series car for Joe Gibbs Racing at Road America in Wisconsin. Saturday night he’ll fly a private plane over 2,200 miles to Sonoma Raceway where he’ll drive for MWR in Sunday’s Sprint Cup race. While Vickers is in Wisconsin, 2009 K&N Pro Series West Champion, Jason Bowles will practice and qualify the No. 55 Toyota. The 30-year-old, Ontario, Calif. native owns nine K&N Pro Series West victories including two at the ultra-fast road course in Sonoma, Calif. He won the 2011 Toyota Showdown at Irwindale Speedway and raced in 39 NASCAR Nationwide and three NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races.-Michael Waltrip Racing
Busy double-duty weekend for Brian Vickers
Brian Vickers | 720
(June 19, 2013 11:16 AM EDT)
Brian Vickers will spend Friday and Saturday driving his Nationwide Series car for Joe Gibbs Racing at Road America in Wisconsin.
Saturday night he’ll fly a private plane over 2,200 miles to Sonoma Raceway where he’ll drive for MWR in Sunday’s Sprint Cup race. Vickers finished fourth at Sonoma last year behind MWR teammate Clint Bowyer who won the race. While Vickers is in Wisconsin, 2009 K&N Pro Series West Champion, Jason Bowles will practice and qualify the No. 55 Toyota. In seven starts at Sonoma, Vickers has one pole, one top-five (June 2012) and has led 16 laps.-Michael Waltrip Racing
Sonoma is Kurt Busch’s sentimental favorite
Kurt Busch | 78
(June 19, 2013 11:09 AM EDT)
One would expect Kurt Busch to say his Cup win in 2011 or last year when he was contending for the win before a suspension problem dropped him to third as the Sonoma race that stands out for him.
"It was my win in the Southwest Series during 1999 NASCAR weekend," said Busch. "That victory put me on the map and fast-tracked my racing career."Busch’s overall Sprint Cup record at Sonoma Raceway includes 12 starts, one win, five top-fives, five top-10s, one pole and 139 laps led. He has completed 1,312 of 1,329 laps for a 98.7 percentage. He also has the best driver rating at Sonoma of 107.8 and the best average running position of 9.2.-Furniture Row Racing
Alex Bowman Road America event preview
Alex Bowman | 799
(June 19, 2013 11:00 AM EDT)
Though Alex Bowman has recorded laps at many of the tracks on the Nationwide Series circuit throughout his seasons in the K&N Pro Series and the ARCA Racing Series, he has not yet competed at Road America.
As he heads out on the four-mile road course for Nationwide Series practice this Friday afternoon, these will truly be his first laps here. Crew chief of the No. 99 Toyota Camry, Chris Rice, will be sitting atop the pit box at the Elkart Lake track for the first time, though he has road course experience under his belt competing twice at Watkins Glen and twice at Mexico City.-RAB Racing
Road course notes of interest on Tony Stewart
Tony Stewart | 14
(June 19, 2013 10:57 AM EDT)
The Toyota/SaveMart 350k will mark Tony Stewart’s 516th career Cup start, his 15th Cup start at Sonoma Raceway and his 29th Cup start on a road course.
Stewart has one pole, two wins, three second-place finishes, five top-fives, nine top-10s and has led a total of 82 laps in his 14 career Cup starts at Sonoma. His average start at the 1.99-mile, 10-turn road course is 11.1, his average finish is 10.9 and he has a lap completion rate of 98.6 percent. He has seven road-course wins in Sprint Cup competition – Sonoma in 2001 and 2005 and Watkins Glen in 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2009.-True Speed Communication
Villeneuve to drive No. 51 at Sonoma Raceway
Jacques Villeneuve | 51
(June 18, 2013 9:43 PM EDT)
Jacques Villeneuve takes over the #51 TAG Heuer Eyewear Chevy for Phoenix Racing at Sonoma Raceway.
The 42-year-old native of Montreal, Quebec, CAN isn't a stranger to NASCAR competition making three previous Sprint Cup Series, nine Nationwide and seven Camping World Truck Series starts. His best results were in the Nationwide Series where he earned four top-fives and six top-10 finishes; all on road courses. Villeneuve has also competed in F1, CART, and USAC races. He was most successful in F1 winning 11 times and CART where he won five times and was the series champion in 1995.-jayski.com
Ryan Newman's Sonoma Raceway statistics
Ryan Newman | 39
(June 18, 2013 9:39 PM EDT)
In 11 starts at Sonoma Raceway, Ryan Newman has two top-five finishes and five top-10s.
He has completed all 1,217 laps contested there since his rookie campaign in 2002, and he even scored a runner-up finish in 2006. With 11 races to go until the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup begins, Newman sits 18th in points, 28 points out of the Chase. As a team fighting for a spot in this season’s Chase, Newman & Company hopes to not only improve on its recent finishes at the Sonoma road course, but also contend for the win.-True Speed Communication
Larson to make first NASCAR road course start
Kyle Larson | 732
(June 18, 2013 9:36 PM EDT)
Rookie Kyle Larson will be making his first start at the 4.048-mile, 14-turn Road America road course in Elkhart Lake, Wis.
Larson has never made a start on a road course in any of the major series he has competed in. However, the entire Turner Scott Motorsports team participated in a test at Virginia International Raceway (VIR) several weeks ago, allowing time for the 20-year-old to get comfortable turning both left and right.-Turner Scott Motorsports
Justin Allgaier's Elkhart Lake history
Justin Allgaier | 731
(June 18, 2013 9:30 PM EDT)
This will be Justin Allgaier's fourth start at the 4.048-mile Road America road course.
In 2011, Allgaier was leading the race when his car when out of fuel while under caution on the last lap. In preparation for this year's road course race, Allgaier along with his TSM teammates participated in an open test last month at Virginia International Raceway (VIR). This weekend the No. 31 BRANDT Chevrolet team will utilize chassis TSM-305. TSM-305 has been updated for 2013 and is the same car Allgaier tested at VIR last month.-Turner Scott Motorsports