Kienan.ODoherty@pressdemocrat.com

The top drivers on the country’s most well known motorsports circuit have descended on Sonoma County for the region’s largest sporting event of the year.

And after two packed days of action on the Sonoma Raceway track, the main event has arrived.

The green flag drops on NASCAR’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 at 12:30 p.m. today for the 36th running of the event at the southern Sonoma County motorsports hub, where up to 50,000 fans are expected.

For the NASCAR Cup Series drivers contending in today’s race, the 1.99-mile road course presents a plethora of obstacles: steep elevation changes, tight turns and technical braking areas that make the track one of the most unusual on the entire circuit.

But that doesn’t mean the competitors aren’t up for the challenge. In fact, some speak fondly of the Cup series’ annual return to wine country.

“Coming out to Sonoma is always a bright spot on the year,” Ross Chastain, who drives the No. 1 Chevrolet for Trackhouse Racing, told The Press Democrat earlier this month. “I mean, I grew up on a farm in southwest Florida, and although I’m far from home when I come out here, it still kind feels like home with all the agriculture.”

Chastain had a solid start last year at Sonoma, leading toward the end of the first stage and into the second before falling back and finishing 24th.

“Sonoma lays out well because they repaved it a couple of years ago,” Chastain said. “But with all of the events and races and cars that have come out on the track within the calendar year, it’s aged quickly even with the mild winter out here.”

Shane van Gisbergen, the man who took the checkered flag that day (and who happens to be Chastain’s Trackhouse teammate) is considered the one to beat this time around, too, as the favorite in today’s race.

The big Kiwi’s Sonoma triumph was one of five races he won in 2025. He led a whopping 97 of 110 laps in that race, and even survived four late cautions to hang on for the win.

“SVG” only has one win so far this year, but it came at Watkins Glen, the New York track where he led start to finish as he continued to cement himself as the Cup series’ road course ace.

But he’ll have his challengers, too, including a familiar face.

The third Trackhouse teammate is Connor Zilisch, the red-hot superstar and reigning regular-season champion in the second-tier O’Reilly Auto Parts series. He beat van Gisbergen in Saturday’s OAP race last year and won the second-tier race at Watkins Glen last month, too.

As far as the Cup season so far, Tyler Reddick leads with 716 points, with Denny Hamlin not far behind with 708. Ryan Blaney is in third and 2024 Sonoma champion Kyle Larson is fourth.

Today’s race also serves as the starting point for the Cup series’ second consecutive In-Season Challenge, with 32 drivers squaring off in bracket-style head-to-head matchups over five consecutive races, ending with the champions round July 26 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Full brackets for the challenge, which has a $1 million prize, can be found at nascar.com.

Before the race

World Series champion manager Dusty Baker will be the honorary grand marshal. Baker won the World Series with the Houston Astros in 2002 but is best known in the Bay Area as the Giants’ skipper from 1993-2002.

NBA champion and sports analyst Festus Ezeli, who Warriors fans know well as a key member of the 2015 championship squad, will be the honorary pace car driver.

And three-time World Series champion pitcher Matt Cain, the Giants’ ace during his 13 seasons in the Bay Area, will be the honorary race official and deliver the pre-race invocation.