36 HOT CARS
TOYOTA / SAVE MART 350
Martin Truex Jr. “smokes” the competition in Sonoma
The 2019 Toyota/Save Mart 350
was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup
Series race held on June 23, 2019 at
Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, Cali-
fornia. With 90 laps on the 2.52-mile
road course, it was the 16th race of
the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR
Cup Series season, and introduced
drivers to the famous “Carousel” (The
Carousel plunges from Turn 4, down
through Turns 5 and 6 and navigates
a more than 200-degree radius turn
before dropping onto the raceway’s
longest straightaway into the Turn 7
hairpin), part of the track that hadn’t
been used by NASCAR since 1998.
We were expecting of road excursions
and crashes with the introduction of
the Carousel, but drivers seemed to
love the new addition!
The race was won by its defending
champion Martin Truex, Jr., marking
his third overall victory at Sonoma.
Truex ran away with the race and also
set the event’s fastest average speed.
His victory lap saw Truex stopping
at several points around the track
putting on long tire burnouts for the
crowd! His first stop was in the Car-
ousel where he was the first to leave
his victory tread marks on the newly
reopened part of the track!
