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Tappin’ The Rockies In Wine Country: McMurray Goes For Another Sonoma Coors Light Pole
Most people visit Sonoma for the wine.

Jamie McMurray prefers its Coors Light (Pole Award, anyway).

The No. 1 Chevrolet driver has won the last two Coors Light Pole Awards at Sonoma Raceway. His 2007 Sonoma pole gives him three for his career at the West Coast road course.

McMurray turned last year’s pole into a fourth-place finish. Otherwise, he hasn’t done well at Sonoma. His only other top-10 finish there was a runner-up showing in 2004.

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For 12 consecutive years, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has held the title of “NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver.” As of a week ago, he now has a new one: ‘fiancé.’

Earnhardt proposed to his girlfriend Amy while on a vacation in Germany (spoiler alert: she said yes), and sealed the deal with a shiny engagement ring. The circular ring is meant to be a symbol of eternity. So it’s odd timing that Earnhardt now heads to one of the few NASCAR tracks that isn’t a circle – Sonoma Raceway.

It took a while, but Earnhardt might finally love Sonoma as much as Amy. After 15 starts, he got his first top-10 finish at Sonoma last year, a third-place result. Still, his average Sonoma finish of 20.3 makes the track tied with Homestead for his second worst, behind only Watkins Glen (22.4), the other road course track in the series.

Earnhardt has all but locked up a spot in this year’s Chase thanks to a win at Talladega, and now aims to grow his Chase bonus points total. All 16 Chase drivers will have their points reset to 2,000 to start the Chase, with three additional bonus points added for each win in the regular season.

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Northern California is about to witness the end of an era.

Native son Jeff Gordon, born in Vallejo, California, will make his final start at Sonoma Raceway – a track he has dominated during his career – in Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350. In all, Gordon has finished third or better in 13 of his 22 starts at Sonoma.

Still, Gordon has not visited Victory Lane at the 12-turn loop since 2006, but boasts the track record for wins (5), Coors Light Pole Awards (5), average finish (7.9), top fives (14), top 10s (18) and laps led (457).

Here is a list of drivers second in each category for comparison: wins (four drivers, 2), Coors Light Pole Awards (Ricky Rudd, 4), average finish (Dale Earnhardt, 8.4), top fives (Ricky Rudd, 10), tops 10s (Mark Martin, 13), laps led (Rusty Wallace, 171).

Gordon stands as NASCAR’s all-time leader in road course wins with nine.

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You don’t have to be Albert Einstein or Stephen Hawking to notice the pattern of parity at Sonoma Raceway.

The last 10 races at the road course have produced 10 different winners. Two of those drivers – Tony Stewart in 2005 and Jimmie Johnson in 2010 – went on to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship.

All 10 previous winners will compete for the checkered flag in Sunday’s Toyota / Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway (3 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1): Carl Edwards (2014), Martin Truex Jr. (2013), Clint Bowyer (2012), Kurt Busch (2011), Jimmie Johnson (2010), Kasey Kahne (2009), Kyle Busch (2008), Juan Pablo Montoya (2007), Jeff Gordon (2006) and Tony Stewart (2005).

The only track with a longer active streak of different winners is New Hampshire Motor Speedway with 11.

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NASCAR Statement

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (June 23, 2015) – “As we continue to mourn the tragic loss of life last week in Charleston, we join our nation’s embrace of those impacted. NASCAR supports the position that South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley took on the Confederate Flag on Monday. As our industry works collectively to ensure that all fans are welcome at our races, NASCAR will continue our long-standing policy to disallow the use of the Confederate Flag symbol in any official NASCAR capacity. While NASCAR recognizes that freedom of expression is an inherent right of all citizens, we will continue to strive for an inclusive environment at our events.”

Statement from International Speedway Corporation® (ISC) President John Saunders:

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (June 23, 2015) –“We join NASCAR in support of South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley’s position on the Confederate Flag. ISC strives to ensure all fans are welcome to enjoy our events and maintains an inclusive environment at our facilities nationwide. ISC will continue our long-standing practice to prohibit the sale of Confederate Flag material on our property.”