Breaking down the Sonoma starting lineup

SONOMA, Calif. — Kevin Harvick is looking to be the first repeat winner at Sonoma Raceway since Jeff Gordon won three consecutive races from 1998 to 2000.

That isn’t the only trend he’s trying to break this weekend. In the past nine races at Sonoma, there have been nine different winners (two of those drivers — Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart — aren’t even in the field).

“I think you will see a repeat winner this time,” Harvick said Friday with a smile.

Maybe so. Harvick will start sixth Sunday in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 on the 1.99-mile road course, the first of three road courses on the schedule this year.

“It is a unique track,” Harvick said. “The restarts get rough. The great part about this place is the fact that a few dented-in sides or a caved-in nose or a bent-in fender doesn’t end your day here. It is just part of the race.”

Here’s the starting lineup breakdown for the 110-lap event, the shortest race, in terms of miles, of the season at 218.9 miles (unless there is overtime, of course):

1. Kyle Larson (Chip Ganassi Racing No. 42 Chevrolet): Larson is hoping for better results after winning the pole last year, a race in which he finished 26th.

2. Martin Truex Jr. (Furniture Row Racing No. 78 Toyota): Truex is a solid road course racer, and he won the race at Sonoma in 2013, but he has an average finish here of 21st.

3. Chase Elliott (Hendrick Motorsports No. 9 Chevrolet): Elliott started eighth and finished eighth at Sonoma a year ago. He could use a good run as he tries to create more separation from the playoff bubble.

4. Jamie McMurray (Chip Ganassi Racing No. 1 Chevrolet): McMurray has started from the front row six times here, but he has just two top-5 finishes.

5. AJ Allmendinger (JTG Daugherty Racing No. 47 Chevrolet): Allmendinger is known for being stout on road courses, but he has finished outside the top 10 in the past four events at the track.

6. Kevin Harvick (Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Ford): It seems almost amazing that this race last year was Harvick’s first win of the season. He already has five this year.

7. Jimmie Johnson (Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 Chevrolet): This is the best starting spot of the season for Johnson — in fact, it was just the second time he has made the final round in qualifying.

8. William Byron (Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 Chevrolet): Like Johnson, it’s his best starting spot of the year. He is one of five drivers who have gotten extra track time by competing in the K&N West race Saturday (Daniel Suarez, Alex Bowman, Erik Jones and Aric Almirola are the others).

9. Kyle Busch (Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota): Busch is the only driver in the field with more than one career Cup win at Sonoma. He has two. And he’s also the only driver with more than two Cup wins on road courses (he has four).

10. Brad Keselowski (Team Penske No. 2 Ford): Keselowski had his best Sonoma race a year ago as he led 17 laps on his way to finishing third for his first top-5 at the track.

11. Ryan Blaney (Team Penske No. 12 Ford): He had a solid run here a year ago with a ninth-place finish.

12. Joey Logano (Team Penske No. 22 Ford): Logano has four top-10s in his last seven Sonoma starts.

13. Trevor Bayne (Roush Fenway Racing No. 6 Ford): Back in the car for the first time in six events, Bayne has never started better than 25th at Sonoma.

14. Ryan Newman (Richard Childress Racing No. 31 Chevrolet): In 16 career Sonoma starts, he has led 11 laps — all in the 2006 race in which he finished second.

15. Paul Menard (Wood Brothers Racing No. 21 Ford): Last year he started in the same spot and finished 11th.

16. Daniel Suarez (Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota): He’s making just his second start at Sonoma, where he started 11th and finished 16th last year.

17. Alex Bowman (Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet): Even though he was driving underfunded cars, starts in 2014 and 2015 at Sonoma at least give him some experience with the course.

18. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (Roush Fenway Racing No. 17 Ford): He has never started in the top 20 at Sonoma and has a career-best finish of 20th. So starting 18th is a step in the right direction.

19. Clint Bowyer (Stewart-Haas Racing No. 14 Ford): He won here in 2012 and finished second a year ago.

20. Erik Jones (Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota): He’s starting 10 spots better than he did in his Sonoma debut a year ago, when he finished 25th.

21. Denny Hamlin (Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Toyota): After this disappointing qualifying result, Hamlin tweeted he’s looking forward to the challenge, as he has a faster car than what he showed.

22. Michael McDowell (Front Row Motorsports No. 34 Ford): He has a road course Xfinity Series win, having captured the 2016 victory at Mid-Ohio with Richard Childress Racing.

23. Kurt Busch (Stewart-Haas Racing No. 41 Ford): He won at Sonoma in 2011 and has four top-5s — and six top-10s — in his past seven starts at the track.

24. Aric Almirola (Stewart-Haas Racing No. 10 Ford): He’s seeking his first top-10 at Sonoma, but road courses haven’t been nice to him.

25. Chris Buescher (JTG Daugherty Racing No. 37 Chevrolet): While people look at his teammate, A.J. Allmendinger, Buescher won the 2014 Xfinity race at Mid-Ohio, showing he can turn right, too.

26. Kasey Kahne (Leavine Family Racing No. 95 Chevrolet): Kahne has a new crew chief (Jon Leonard) this week after the team decided a change in leadership was needed, releasing rookie crew chief Travis Mack.

27. Austin Dillon (Richard Childress Racing No. 3 Chevrolet): The one bit of good news for Dillon? He has finished better than where he started in all four of his Sonoma starts.

28. David Ragan (Front Row Motorsports No. 38 Ford): With McDowell as a teammate, Ragan has tried to lean on him for a little help. So while he also started 28th last year, he hopes to improve on the 31st he got in that race.

29. Gray Gaulding (BK Racing No. 23 Toyota): Gaulding is making his first career Cup start at Sonoma.

30. Matt DiBenedetto (Go Fas Racing No. 32 Ford): He was 23rd here last year.

31. Ty Dillon (Germain Racing No. 13 Chevrolet): He’s starting better than he did as a rookie last year (he started 35th). He finished 28th.

32. Cole Whitt (TriStar Motorsports No. 72 Chevrolet): Whitt has had decent finishes at Sonoma (21st and 22nd).

33. Justin Marks (Premium Motorsports No. 15 Chevrolet): Marks will make his first Cup start since the Daytona 500.

34. Parker Kligerman (Gaunt Brothers Racing No. 96 Toyota): Like Marks, Kligerman is making his second start of the season. And like Marks, he’s never competed in a Cup car at Sonoma.

35. Darrell Wallace Jr. (Richard Petty Motorsports No. 43 Chevrolet): Wallace has never competed in any type of car at Sonoma, so it’s no surprise he has struggled.

36. Chris Cook (Rick Ware Racing No. 51 Chevrolet): A road course racing instructor, Cook has three previous starts at Sonoma.

37. Tomy Drissi (StarCom Racing No. 00 Chevrolet): Drissi has finished 38th in each of his three previous Sonoma starts.

38. Cody Ware (Rick Ware Racing No. 52 Chevrolet): Ware is making his second Cup start of the season.