Michael McDowell did not relish competing at Sonoma Raceway for most of his NASCAR Cup Series career, as his only top-20 finish in his first nine starts was 14th place in 2017. He has performed much better on the venue's road course of late, finishing third two years ago and seventh last season. McDowell hopes to continue the trend when he participates in the 2024 Toyota/Save Mart 350 on Sunday afternoon. The 39-year-old has recorded only two victories in 480 career Cup Series starts, with his most recent triumph coming on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway last August.
McDowell is listed at 15-1 in the latest 2024 Toyota/Save Mart 350 odds. Martin Truex Jr., who registered his fourth career win at Sonoma in this race last year, is the 5-1 favorite in the latest 2024 NASCAR at Sonoma odds. Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell are 15-2, while William Byron and Ty Gibbs round out the top five contenders at 17-2. Sunday's race is scheduled to start at 3:30 p.m. ET. Before making any 2024 Toyota/Save Mart 350 picks or NASCAR predictions, you need to see what NASCAR insider Steven Taranto has to say.
Taranto, who moonlights as a sim racer and has 20 career wins in iRacing, is the lead NASCAR writer for CBSSports.com, and he chronicles stock car racing with the same thoroughness and passion that he's had since becoming a full-time race fan in 2001. He has an annual NASCAR medial credential and also publishes a popular weekly NASCAR predictions column, famously calling Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez's breakthrough wins in 2022.
Taranto is off to a red-hot start for SportsLine in 2024, nailing eight winners in his best bets already, including 16-1 longshot Byron at the Daytona 500 and 14-1 longshot Chase Elliott at Texas three weeks ago. Anyone following his NASCAR picks has seen some huge returns.
Now, Taranto has analyzed the starting lineup and odds for Sunday's Toyota/Save Mart 350. He's sharing his best bets at SportsLine.
2024 Toyota/Save Mart 350 expert picks
For the 2024 Toyota/Save Mart 350, Taranto is high on A.J. Allmendinger, who is listed at 14-1. The 42-year-old from California has made only four starts in the Cup Series this year but has posted top-10 finishes in half of them. Allmendinger was sixth in the season-opening Daytona 500 and produced an identical result on the road course at the Circuit of the Americas in late March.
Allmendinger, who is a two-time Xfinity Series regular-season champion and has been competing full-time this campaign in NASCAR's second-tier circuit, has recorded all three of his Cup Series victories on road courses. The first came in 2014 when he captured the checkered flag at Watkins Glen International. Allmendinger finished 0.929 seconds ahead of Ryan Blaney at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2021 for his second win and crossed the finish line 0.666 seconds before William Byron at Charlotte Motor Speedway last year. He also performed well at Sonoma in 2023, as he was runner-up in the Xfinity Series race a day before finishing sixth in his Cup Series start at the track.
Another surprise: Taranto is fading William Byron, who is listed at 17-2. After registering a career-high six victories in the Cup Series last season, the 26-year-old native of North Carolina captured the checkered flag three times in his first eight starts of 2024. Byron is tied with Denny Hamlin for the most wins this season and shares first place in top-10 finishes (nine) with Tyler Reddick and Alex Bowman.
One of Byron's victories this year came on the road course at the Circuit of the Americas in March. However, the 2018 Cup Series Rookie of the Year hasn't had much success at Sonoma in his career. Byron has made five starts at the track and finished in the top 10 just once, as he was ninth in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 two years ago. See what other NASCAR picks he likes at SportsLine.
How to make 2024 Toyota/Save Mart 350 predictions
Taranto has also identified four other drivers in his 2024 NASCAR at Sonoma best bets. He's also high on a huge NASCAR longshot who's going off with triple-digit odds. You can only see who they are here.
So who wins the Toyota/Save Mart 350 2024, and which massive longshot could stun NASCAR? Visit SportsLine now to see the 2024 NASCAR at Sonoma picks and best bets from a NASCAR insider who has already nailed a colossal eight winners this year, and find out.
2024 Toyota/Save Mart 350 odds
See full NASCAR at Sonoma picks at SportsLine
Martin Truex Jr. 5-1
Christopher Bell 15-2
Kyle Larson 15-2
William Byron 17-2
Ty Gibbs 17-2
Chase Elliott 9-1
Tyler Reddick 19-2
A.J. Allmendinger 14-1
Chris Buescher 14-1
Michael McDowell 15-1
Austin Cindric 20-1
Denny Hamlin 20-1
Ryan Blaney 25-1
Kyle Busch 25-1
Ross Chastain 25-1
Daniel Suarez 25-1
Will Brown 28-1
Joey Logano 40-1
Alex Bowman 50-1
Cam Waters 50-1
Brad Keselowski 75-1
Chase Briscoe 100-1
Todd Gilliland 100-1
Justin Haley 100-1
Carson Hocevar 100-1
Bubba Wallace 250-1
Austin Dillon 400-1
Noah Gragson 500-1
Corey LaJoie 500-1
John Hunter Nemechek 500-1
Josh Berry 750-1
Erik Jones 750-1
Ryan Preece 750-1
Zane Smith 7500-1
Harrison Burton 1000-1
Kaz Grala 1000-1
Daniel Hemric 1000-1
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 1000-1
