Kyle Larson secured his third victory of the season and moved to No. 1 in the NASCAR Cup Series points after winning at Sonoma on Sunday. Along with a new No. 1, there is a new driver in this week’s top 10.
Larson’s successful performance was due in part to advice from spotter Tyler Monn, who told him to “just be you” during the race. This led Larson to take the lead and secure his second victory in his last five Cup starts at Sonoma. With a series-high 22 playoff points, Larson is now leading the championship race.
Denny Hamlin, who previously held the top spot, finished last for the second consecutive year at Sonoma after engine trouble on the second lap. This ended his streak of five consecutive top-five finishes. Chase Elliott’s fourth-place finish at Sonoma moved him from ninth to second in the points standings, just behind Larson.
Brad Keselowski saw his streak of three consecutive top-three results come to an end after a 13th-place finish at Sonoma. Despite this setback, Keselowski has achieved five top-five finishes in the last eight races and has risen from 18th to seventh in the points rankings. Tyler Reddick secured a stage win and finished eighth at Sonoma, bringing his streak of top-10 finishes to three races and giving him a total of 10 top-10 finishes this season.
Christopher Bell’s ninth-place finish at Sonoma marked his fourth top-10 result in the last five races. Meanwhile, William Byron’s difficult race saw him finish 30th after dealing with a leaking tire and getting caught in an incident. This marks the fourth time in the last six races that Byron has failed to finish in the top 10. Ross Chastain’s fifth-place finish at Sonoma is his second top-10 finish in the last three races.
Alex Bowman finished 15th at Sonoma, marking his second consecutive race outside of the top 10 after a previous streak of five top-10 finishes
