Clint Bowyer survived a late restart and a charge from Tony Stewart to score the triumph in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma. It is Bowyer's first win of 2012, his first win with Michael Waltrip, the sixth of his career, the third for team owner Waltrip, and the first for either on a road course.
Stewart finished second ahead of Kurt Busch, Brian Vickers, and Jimmie Johnson. Jeff Gordon recovered from running out of gas to finish sixth, ahead of Greg Biffle, polesitter Marcos Ambrose, A.J. Allmendinger, and Joey Logano.
Martin Truex Jr., running in eighth position on the final lap, spun off track and wound up a disappointing 22nd. Dale Earnhardt Jr. crashed on the restart and wound up 23rd, a week after his victory at Michigan.
It was a banner day for Waltrip's team, with Bowyer winning, Vickers taking fourth, and Truex having a strong run all race before the last-lap misfortune. All told, Bowyer and Truex combined to lead 86 of the 112 laps, extended by two because of a green-white checkered. Bowyer led 71 of those in a very impressive performance, perhaps the finest of his Sprint Cup career.