Toyota/Save Mart 350: 5 takeaways from NASCAR at Sonoma

The first road course of the season gave us another first-time 2017 winner, but it didn’t shake things up too much overall, as we explain after watching what went down at Sonoma Raceway.

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series points leader, Kyle Larson, struggled during the Toyota/Save Mart 350 on Sunday and was never a factor in the last two stages of the race. His closest pursuer, Martin Truex Jr., blew up when it looked like he was going to be in the hunt for a victory.

A driver without a win stepped up and claimed the checkered flag, but it wasn’t a shock because one got the feeling that Kevin Harvick would figure out the way to Victory lane sometime this year. It just didn’t figure to be at Sonoma, where he had never won before.

So let’s agree to call it a mild surprise. On a day when massive upheaval could have on the menu, we got simply a little bit of disruption instead. Here are the things that stood out the most to us after the Toyota/Save Mart 350.

1. Stewart-Haas Racing can still be a factor

Between Chip Ganassi Racing, Furniture Row Racing and Team Penske, 2017 has been the year of the two-car teams, with Hendrick Motorsports holding it down for larger teams thanks primarily to Jimmie Johnson. But with Harvick’s win, Stewart-Haas Racing cemented the idea that it will definitely be a factor come playoff time.

Harvick and Kurt Busch will be in the playoffs by virtue of their race wins. Clint Bowyer’s position is more precarious, as he’d be the last driver in on points if the season ended right now, but he’s run well enough to figure he’s got a real shot. If SHR gets three playoff drivers, that’s a quarter of the field, so it can’t be ignored.

2. The 2017 points system is strange

Larson and Truex both had bad days at Sonoma, which normally would tighten up the standings behind them. Instead only the race winner is within 100 points of Truex in second place.

That doesn’t mean that points are as meaningless as when Drew Carey hosted Whose Line is it Anyway. The competition figure to be a nail-biter among the drivers competing to make the playoff field without a win. But at the top of the standings, it’s really a two-car breakaway, and that probably won’t change unless both Larson and Truex go into extended funks.

3. Stage racing might not be the greatest at road courses

It’s fine when heroic strategy calls win races, but the Toyota/Save Mart 350 threatened to be decided only that way. Even with an extra long green flag run to end it, there was little drama except maybe if Harvick would run out of gas, which he didn’t.

The guaranteed cautions at the end of stages haven’t outweighed the benefits of stage racing at most tracks, but at Sonoma, they were a bummer, encouraging pit strategy gambits at predictable times and slowing things down. NASCAR seems to be committed to the concept overall, which is commendable, but perhaps some tweaks for Sonoma and the Glen are in order.

4. Road course ringers probably aren’t winning any more races …

Boris Said is a pretty awesome driver who has raced all kinds of cars, yet he had some serious issues keeping the No. 33 on the track, especially late in the race. His vast experience on road circuits led one to believe it was the car and not him that was the problem.

Some of the lesser NASCAR teams bring in specialists for the road courses because their usual drivers don’t have the background to tackle places like Sonoma, but the best they can hope for in those cars is not to leave them completely mangled. Mid-pack drivers like A.J. Allmendinger can still be factors, but the Cup Series regulars, as a whole, are too good now and have too much of an equipment advantage for any road warriors to make it to Victory Lane.

5. … Unless Dale Earnhardt Jr. becomes a road course specialist

While nearly the entire NASCAR world is looking forward to Junior’s potential last visit to Daytona next week, he quietly made an impressive Toyota/Save Mart 350 run, ending up with the best finish of any Chevy driver. Better still, he overcame adversity to do it, something the 88 has not managed much of this season. Since he turned 40, Earnhardt Jr. can’t seem to help but get top-10s at Sonoma.

Next: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series standings after Sonoma

Impressed with his performance, the Fox Sports announcers jokingly wondered if some team would bring Junior in as a road warrior in 2018. We all know that’s not likely, but it’s definitely been a lot of fun seeing him turn a weakness into a strength this late in his career.