As the long summer stretch to the Chase gets into high gear, race #16 provides a diversion – a trip to the pastoral setting of California’s Sonoma wine country where debates over one’s preference for Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon are hotter than ones of “Bow Ties” and “Blue Ovals,” with its track like no other on the Sprint Cup series, the 1.99 Sonoma Raceway, a road course, one of only two on the 2012 calendar. All will be put to test with tomorrow’ Toyota/Save Mart 350.
Road racing is, truthfully put, a diversion. Some fans are die-hard road racing fans wanting to see more events including a race in the chase while others would just assume see the series devoted exclusively to a variety of ovals. Regardless of fan preference, the skill set is different from regular series events giving some drivers the reputation of “road race specialists” while some of the lesser teams employ road race “ringers” to attempt to gain higher positions than their regular pilots could accomplish. Still, who are some of the current most successful road race drivers? Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, and Jimmy Johnson; however, two drivers including tomorrow’s pole sitter, the Tasmanian Devil himself, Marcos Ambrose and former Indy Car driver, Juan Pablo Montoya having only won on road courses are in the “specialist” category at least until they win on ovals, a feat looking closer all the time for the #9 car.
Despite the inclusion of some “ringers,” tomorrow’s starting lineup shows mostly well-established veterans at the top of the lineup. Jeff Gordon, a driver desperately in need of some good momentum lines up second on the front row beside Ambrose with teammate, Jimmie Johnson, lurking right behind with points leader, Greg Biffle, to his side. Dale Earnhardt Jr., yet to prove himself on road courses wanting to build momentum after last week’s big win, starts a mediocre 19th while the master of almost anything with wheels whose season has cooled off after a hot start defending his championship, Tony Stewart starts a lowly 23rd.
Complete lineup:
| POS | CAR | DRIVER | MAKE | SPONSOR | SPEED |
| 1 | 9 | Marcos Ambrose | Ford | Stanley | 95.262 |
| 2 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | Drive to End Hunger | 95.067 |
| 3 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | Lowe's | 94.795 |
| 4 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Ford | 3M / US Stationary | 94.722 |
| 5 | 56 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | NAPA Auto Parts | 94.686 |
| 6 | 15 | Clint Bowyer | Toyota | 5-hour Energy | 94.679 |
| 7 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | M&M's | 94.632 |
| 8 | 51 | Kurt Busch | Chevrolet | Phoenix Construction Services | 94.557 |
| 9 | 17 | Matt Kenseth | Ford | Ford EcoBoost | 94.524 |
| 10 | 39 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | Quicken Loans/Childrens Tumor Foundation | 94.509 |
| 11 | 99 | Carl Edwards | Ford | Aflac | 94.503 |
| 12 | 42 | Juan Montoya | Chevrolet | Target | 94.319 |
| 13 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Dodge | Miller Lite | 94.269 |
| 14 | 20 | Joey Logano | Toyota | The Home Depot | 94.209 |
| 15 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | Farmers Insurance | 94.206 |
| 16 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | FedEx Ground | 94.199 |
| 17 | 22 | AJ Allmendinger | Dodge | Shell / Pennzoil | 94.184 |
| 18 | 47 | Bobby Labonte | Toyota | Clorox | 94.103 |
| 19 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | Diet Mountain Dew/National Guard/7-Eleven | 94.026 |
| 20 | 13 | Casey Mears | Ford | GEICO | 93.991 |
| 21 | 55 | Brian Vickers | Toyota | RKMotors Charlotte.com | 93.949 |
| 22 | 95 | Scott Speed | Ford | Leavine Family Racing | 93.913 |
| 23 | 27 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | Menards / Moen | 93.840 |
| 24 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet | Office Depot / Mobil 1 | 93.824 |
| 25 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | McDonald's | 93.732 |
| 26 | 29 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | Rheem | 93.728 |
| 27 | 38 | David Gilliland | Ford | 1-800LoanMart | 93.524 |
| 28 | 32 | Boris Said | Ford | HendrickCars.com | 93.268 |
| 29 | 34 | David Ragan | Ford | Green 1 High Performance Green | 93.166 |
| 30 | 43 | Aric Almirola | Ford | Medallion Financial | 93.153 |
| 31 | 78 | Regan Smith | Chevrolet | Furniture Row / Farm American | 93.064 |
| 32 | 36 | Dave Blaney | Chevrolet | Tommy Baldwin Racing | 92.964 |
| 33 | 98 | David Mayhew | Ford | Phil Parsons Racing | 92.833 |
| 34 | 7 | Robby Gordon | Dodge | MAPEI / SaveMart Supermarkets | 92.563 |
| 35 | 31 | Jeff Burton | Chevrolet | Wheaties | 92.459 |
| 36 | 87 | Joe Nemechek | Toyota | AM/FM Energy Wood/Pellet Stoves | 92.140 |
| 37 | 19 | Chris Cook | Toyota | Humphrey Smith Racing | 92.076 |
| 38 | 49 | J.J. Yeley | Toyota | America Israel Racing / JPO Absorbents | 91.927 |
| 39 | 93 | Travis Kvapil | Toyota | Burger King / Dr Pepper | 91.836 |
| 40 | 26 | Josh Wise* | Ford | MDS Transport | 91.729 |
| 41 | 10 | Tomy Drissi+ | Chevrolet | Ice Age Continental Drift | 90.579 |
| 42 | 83 | Landon Cassill+ | Toyota | Burger King / Dr Pepper | 89.341 |
| 43 | 33 | Stephen Leicht* | Chevrolet | Little Joes Autos.com | 91.686 |
| Out | |||||
| 44 | 30 | Brian Simo | Toyota | Inception Motorsports | 91.078 |
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