
The first race at Sonoma Raceway for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series took place in 1989 for the 74-lap, Banquet 300.
Ricky Rudd beat Rusty Wallace, Bill Elliott, and Dale Earnhardt to score the victory.
In recent years, nobody has dominated the road courses quite like Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon.
Check out the 18 drivers who have scored wins in wine country:
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18
Davey Allison, 1 win
Allison only made five career starts in his short career, scoring a win in 1991 after only leading two laps. Rusty Wallace dominated the race, leading 45 laps but finished third.
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17
Robby Gordon, 1
Gordon made a few appearances as a road-course ringer before driving full-time in the Cup Series. While driving the No. 31 for Richard Childress in 2003, Gordon swept the road courses, winning both Sonoma and Watkins Glen.
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16
Martin Truex Jr., 1
In his final season driving for Michael Waltrip Racing, Truex scored the win at Sonoma in the No. 56 Toyota in 2013. He finished fifth last year and should be a contender to get another win this weekend.
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15
Geoff Bodine, 1
Driving the No. 15 Ford for Budd Moore, Bodine led 30 laps after starting third and captured the checkered flag at Sonoma in 1993.
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14
Clint Bowyer, 1
Bowyer’s only win at Sonoma also came while driving for Michael Waltrip Racing. In 2012, Bowyer dominated the race by leading 71 laps and taking the No. 15 Toyota to Victory Lane.
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13
Carl Edwards, 1
Edwards ran extremely well on the California road course. In his final season driving the No. 99 for Jack Roush, Edwards led 26 laps and beat the Hendrick Motorsports duo of Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
12
Dale Earnhardt, 1
Speaking of Earnhardt, while Dale Jr. hasn’t won at Sonoma, The Intimidator scored a win in wine country in 1995. Earnhardt only led two laps but they were important ones after Mark Martin dominated the race by leading 66 laps.
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11
Kasey Kahne, 1
In his two seasons with Richard Petty Motorsports, Kahne ran extremely well at Sonoma. He scored a win in 2009 and finished fourth after starting on the pole in 2010. He’s also finished in the top 10 each of the past four races in Northern California.
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10
Juan Pablo Montoya, 1
Montoya entered NASCAR after an illustrious open-wheel career and was chalked up to be a road-course ringer. He climbed up from a 32nd-place starting spot to win his first race at Sonoma in 2007.
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9
Jimmie Johnson, 1
The seven-time champion excels at every track on the circuit. He’s only made it to Victory Lane once at Sonoma (2010) but has finished 15th or better in eight straight races.
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8
Kurt Busch, 1
Busch scored his lone win at Sonoma while driving the No. 22 Dodge for Roger Penske in 2011. He’s been all over the top-five in recent years, finishing as high as second in 2015.
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7
Mark Martin, 1
After finishing second in 1995 and 1996, Martin finally broke through in 1997 and scored his only win in Sonoma. He led 69 laps and put Jack Roush’s No. 6 Ford in Victory Lane.
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6
Ernie Irvan, 2
Irvan was a stud at Sonoma in the early ‘90s. He finished in the top 10 in five straight races and scored wins in 1992 and 1994.
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5
Kyle Busch, 2
In his first season with Joe Gibbs Racing, Busch battled from a 30th starting spot to lead 78 laps and take the checkered flag in 2008. He added a second victory in 2015 by beating his brother, Kurt.
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4
Rusty Wallace, 2
From the very first time NASCAR came to Sonoma, Wallace ran well. He finished second in the inaugural race and scored his first victory the next season. He’d get back to the winner’s circle in 1996 and posted 11 top-10 finishes in 17 starts.
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3
Ricky Rudd, 2
Rudd became the inaugural Sonoma winner in the No. 26 Buick for King Racing. He finished fourth or better in the first five races at the track and scored his final win at Sonoma with Robert Yates Racing in 2002.
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2
Tony Stewart, 3
There are only two names that come to mind when you think about road course racing in the 2000s: Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon. Smoke closed out his career last year by winning at Sonoma. His first two wins at Sonoma came while driving for Joe Gibbs Racing in 2001 and 2005.
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1
Jeff Gordon, 5
From 1998 to 2000, Gordon won three in a row at Sonoma and only finished outside the top 10 five times in 23 appearances at the track. His final win at the track came in 2006. He also finished second four other times at Sonoma. Without Gordon or Stewart in the field, it’s a wide open battle for road-course supremacy this weekend.
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