Watch LIVE: NASCAR America at 6 p.m. ET on NBCSN

Today’s episode of NASCAR America airs from 6 – 7 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

Mike Massaro hosts with Parker Kligerman in Stamford, Connecticut. They are joined by Steve Letarte and Kyle Petty from Burton’s Garage.

Today’s episode gives you a final preview of the race weekend at Sonoma Raceway, one of two road courses the Sprint Cup Series visits.

We also bring you a look at Denny Hamlin‘s ride through San Francisco.

Also included:

• Four drivers with road-course victories will be seeking their first win of 2016 and a potential playoff spot at Sonoma.  Tune in for the breakdown by Parker, Kyle and Steve on which drivers will overcome the 12 twists and turns of the Sonoma road course.

• Parker Kligerman jumps into the simulator to show us the kind of challenges a driver faces at Sonoma, including various passing techniques.

• How would you compare a Modified to a Sprint Cup car?  Some may say they sound unlike any other car you’ve heard; the smell, unique in itself; and the feel you get as they fly by is indescribable.

• Before the Cup series heads to Daytona this year, it makes a stop at Sonoma Raceway in California.  The Golden State has been making an impact on NASCAR for well over 60 years. Eli Gold takes us through the racing history of the nation’s 31^st state.

If you’re not near a TV, you can watch online or on the NBC Sports app via at the NASCAR stream on NBC Sports.

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Once you enter that information, you’ll have access to the stream.

Click here at 6 p.m. ET to watch live via the stream.

Friday schedule at Sonoma Raceway

The Sprint Cup Series is back on track today after a week off. Teams will practice for the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway.

Here today’s schedule with TV information.

All times are Eastern.

11:30 a.m. – 9 p.m. – Sprint Cup garage open

3 – 4:55 p.m – Sprint Cup practice (Fox Sports 1)

6:30 – 7:55 p.m. – Final Sprint Cup practice (Fox Sports 1)

Erik Jones makes return to Truck series at Gateway

Thanks to a scheduling conflict for part-time driver Cody Coughlin, defending Camping World Truck Series champion Erik Joneswill make his first start of the season in the series this weekend at Gateway Motorsports Park.

Jones will start in the No. 51 Toyota due to Coughlin, Kyle Busch Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing agreeing Coughlin should devote his weekend to his championship efforts in the CRA Super Series (Super Late Model) and CRA/JEGS All-Star Tour (Pro Late Model).

The Drivin’ for Linemen 200 would have been Coughlin’s fourth of 11 scheduled starts this season. Instead Jones, a full-time driver in the Xfinity Series, will be in a truck for the first time since clinching the title at Homestead-Miami Speedway last November.

It will be Jones’ third start at Gateway. However, the 20-year-old failed to finish in his first two starts due to a crash and an electrical problem.

“It’s a place I took a liking to after making my first laps there in 2014,” Jones said in a press release. “We were really fast there the last two years, just didn’t have good endings. It’s always tough to pass there, so you need to qualify well and keep good track position if you are going to get a win.”

Jones did earn the pole at Gateway last year and led 84 laps before he dropped out of the race after 145 laps.

If Jones earns a win Saturday, it would be the 50th for Kyle Busch Motorsports. Of the 49 it has so far, Jones has been responsible for seven of them.

Jones is currently seventh in the Xfinity Series standings after earning two wins so far this season.

NASCAR’s weekend schedule at Sonoma, Gateway

After a week off the Sprint Cup Series returns this weekend with the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway. Meanwhile, the Camping World Truck Series is still in the Midwest as it visits Gateway Motorsports Park for its Drivin’ for Linemen 200.

Here is the full weekend schedule for both series, including TV and radio times.

All times are Eastern.

Sonoma Raceway

Friday, June 24

11:30 a.m. – 9 p.m. – Sprint Cup garage open

3 – 4:55 p.m – Sprint Cup practice (Fox Sports 1)

6:30 – 7:55 p.m. – Final Sprint Cup practice (Fox Sports 1)

Saturday, June 25

10 a.m. – 6 p.m. – Sprint Cup garage open

2:15 p.m. – Sprint Cup qualifying; multi-car/two rounds (FS1, Performance Racing Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

Sunday, June 26

10 a.m. – Sprint Cup garage opens

1 p.m. – Driver-crew chief meeting

2:30 p.m. – Driver introductions

3 p.m.  – Toyota/Save Mart 350; 110 laps, 218.9 miles (FS1, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

Camping World Truck Series

Saturday, June 25

8 a.m.  – Truck garage opens

9:30 – 10:25 p.m. – Truck practice (No TV)

11: 30 a.m. – 12:55 p.m.  – Final Truck practice (FS1)

4 p.m. – Driver-crew chief meeting

5:45 p.m. – Qualifying; multi-car/three rounds (Fox Sports 2)

8 p.m. – Driver introductions

8:30 p.m. – Drivin’ for Linemen 200; 160 laps, 200 miles (Fox Sports 1, Motor Racing Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

Chase Elliott will get extra track time and extra help at Sonoma

Chase Elliott will do double duty this weekend at Sonoma Raceway, competing in Sunday’s Sprint Cup race and Saturday’s K&N Pro Series West race.

This weekend marks Elliott’s first time at Sonoma Raceway, a 1.99-mile road course. It’s not uncommon for drivers competing there for the first time to run the companion K&N West race to gain more track time.

Trevor Bayne competed in the K&N West race last year, finishing 10th, a day before his first Cup start at Sonoma. Austin Dillonplaced sixth in last year’s K&N West race to gain extra experience on the road course a day before his second Cup start there. Kyle Larson won the 2014 K&N West race a day before his first Cup start at that track. Elliott is the only Sprint Cup driver on the preliminary entry list for this weekend’s K&N West race.

Elliott has competed in seven road course races in his NASCAR career, six in Xfinity and once in the Camping World Truck Series. He won the 2013 Camping World Truck race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park after contact with leader Ty Dillon on the final corner of the last lap.  

Also this weekend, Hendrick Motorsports stated that Elliott’s father, NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott, will serve as a second spotter. It’s not uncommon for teams to use a second spotter on the road course to help with a portion of the track the main spotter might not have as good a view.

Elliott enters this Cup weekend having scored six consecutive top-10 finishes. Kurt Buschhas the series’ longest active streak of top-10 finishes with nine.

Entry list for Truck series race at Gateway Motorsports Park

The Camping World Truck Series has a standalone race this weekend at Gateway Motorsports Park in Madison, Illinois.

There are 34 trucks on the initial entry list for the Drivin’ for Linemen 200.

With the Sprint Cup Series at Sonoma Raceway, there are no Cup drivers entered into the race.

Cole Custer is the defending winner at Gateway, which has hosted 15 Truck races since 1998. This will be the third Truck race after a three-year absence.

Rookie William Byron will seek to win his third race in a row. That hasn’t been done sinceKyle Busch – who owns Byron’s truck – did it at Kansas, Charlotte and Dover in 2014.

Entry list 

Furniture Row Racing honoring California National Guard with logo on car at Sonoma

Beginning with this weekend’s race at Sonoma Raceway, the No. 78 of Furniture Row Racing will honor the military with special logos placed on its car.

The recognition begins with the patch of the California National Guard.

According to a press release, the California National Guard is “among the nation’s largest and most frequently deployed National Guard force. Cal Guard soldiers and airmen have deployed across the world more than 44,000 times since 9/11, and 29 of its soldiers have sacrificed their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

In 2013, the California National Guard reportedly had 21,000 troops, including 16,565 soldiers and 4,572 airmen. FRR racing features nine military veterans. Among them is owner Barney Visser.

“The longer I live and the more things I experience the more I appreciate the sacrifice and dedication that our military men and women have made, and will continue to make to preserve our freedom,” said Visser in a press release. Visser is a Vietnam veteran, having served in the U.S. Army’s 173rd Airborne Brigade in the late 1960s. “We are proud to showcase the California National Guard, which not only responds and takes action in state emergencies but also in combat deployment throughout the world.”

Martin Truex Jr. will make his 11th start at Sonoma Raceway. Truex won the 2013 race at the road course for the second win of his career.