The NASCAR Cup Series and the Camping World Truck Series travel to the 1.99-mile road course at Sonoma Raceway this weekend. The Xfinity Series is off and will return to competition at Nashville Superspeedway on June 25.
The 2018 Cup Series champion led 20 of 242 over-scheduled laps and prevailed in a late crossover battle with Kyle Busch to capture the inaugural Cup event in Madison, Illinois.
The 22-year-old Smith from Huntington Beach, California, will be filling in for Buescher, who will not compete at Gateway following a positive COVID-19 test.
This weekend the NASCAR Cup Series makes its debut at World Wide Technology Raceway (Gateway) before a first-ever sellout crowd. The Camping World Truck Series will join them for the series’ 22nd race at the 1.25-mile paved oval.
Denny Hamlin started on pole at Charlotte, but faded quickly and was not much of a factor until a big wreck on an overtime restart left Hamlin with the lead. Hamlin battled Kyle Busch in the second overtime and edged his teammate by 0.014 seconds.
The 41-year-old Hamlin from Chesterfield, Virginia, led four times for 15 of 413 over-scheduled laps and outlasted the on-track chaos and two overtime attempts to notch his first 600 triumph at the Queen City.
The 28-year-old Blaney from High Point, North Carolina, survived an overtime shootout against Denny Hamlin to cash in a million dollars for the first time in his career at the Lone Star state.
