Kevin Harvick circles four drivers to win at Sonoma

During the latest episode of Harvick’s Happy Hour, Kevin Harvick, Kaitlyn Vincie and Mamba Smith locked in some predictions for this weekend’s trip to Sonoma for the NASCAR Cup Series.

First, Harvick highlighted for drivers for the Toyota/Save Mart 350, believing the testing that was done at the track earlier in 2024 will go a long way towards success for whoever wins on Sunday afternoon.

“This is a tough one,” Harvick prefaced. “I think that, we’ve got new pavement. I think it’s going to come down too, not a lot of tire fall-off. I think it’s going to come down to strategy. I’m not even going to pick anybody this week. I’m not picking. So you had [Martin] Truex [Jr.], Josh Berry, I don’t even know who the other one was, who the Chevrolet was, that went out there and tested — so you’ve got those three cars that tested, and then you had SVG (Shane Van Gisbergen) do the wheel-force test for Chevrolet. It might’ve been [Ross] Chastain that went out there and did the test.

“So I think those guys have an advantage, to get started right off the bat. But we have a 50-minute practice. This is going to come down to taking some risk on pit road.”

One of those drivers caught Vincie’s ear, as she believes Martin Truex Jr. will win back-to-back races at the track, after he captured the win in Sonoma in 2023, as well.

“I’m going Martin Truex Jr. There was a time where this was one of his best race tracks,” Vincie explained. “He was an excellent road course racer. We know he’s still looking for that first win of the year. Maybe the ole No. 19 team can relive some of those glory days, with the wine sipping, and get a victory.”

As for Smith, he decided to sprinkle some love on Justin Haley and William Byron before picking Chase Briscoe and the No. 14 team to get their first win of the season at Sonoma.

“I’m between a couple guys,” Smith started. “I have one picked. But I think they deserve some love. Justin Haley is going to be tough. He’s — this is a place, if tick-tack can do some magic on strategy, this is a place that you can do that. I don’t want to pick him, but I do think he’ll have a good day. I think the No. 24 (William Byron), they need to get their stuff rolling. William Byron needs to get going. He had a really phenomenal weekend at COTA.

“But I’m going to go on a little bit of a limb, and give it to Chase Briscoe. We’re going Chase Briscoe. Another guy that can really flip it on strategy. He’s good on road courses. I think it’s time. They need one. I think it’s a good place to get one for him.”

As you can tell, there’s a myriad of wheelmen who could find victory lane on the road course, but it’s anyone’s guess who will end up victorious at Sonoma this weekend.