Sonoma, Calif.

William Byron recently got instruction on the finer points of road racing from two coaches. He also used a simulator, did countless hours of study and drove Saturday in the K&N Pro Series race to prepare for his first NASCAR Cup Series race at Sonoma Raceway.

"I feel like I've made some good progress on the road courses this year," Byron said after finishing third in the K&N race.

The 20-year-old rookie still realizes that nothing substitutes for experience on the winding turns and changing elevation of this unique track. Even then, it's awfully difficult for any oval-centric driver to sustain any career success in a race that hasn't had a repeat winner since 2000.

Byron is a quick study, though: He qualified in eighth in his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet on Saturday, putting himself in position to be a player Sunday in a race that nearly anybody can win.

"(On Friday) I really started getting my rhythm of what I needed to do better," Byron said. "I kind of put that all together (Saturday) to try to get where we need to be. It was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed it. It was cool."

Sonoma is a highly enjoyable stop on the Cup circuit for most of the drivers, but it's even more fun for their families and sponsors, who flock to Northern California for a pleasant weekend. The area's gracious vibe contrasts sharply with the difficult racing for drivers on a circuit with only three non-oval courses on its schedule.

"These are the types of events where, honestly, nobody cares about the race except us," Kevin Harvick said. "Everybody has a hell of a time when they come to Sonoma, because they can bring their wife, bring their friends, and the sponsors all come and we have big events. It could be the best race you've ever seen at Sonoma or the worst race, but everybody is going to have a great time."

Northern California's own Kyle Larson starts from the pole for the second consecutive year after topping qualifying.

IndyCar: Defending series champion Josef Newgarden won the pole Saturday for the race at Road America, leading a Team Penske sweep of the front row. Newgarden turned in a lap time of 1 minute, 43.20 seconds for his fifth career pole and second straight after taking pole position two weeks ago at Texas. He edged teammate Will Power by 0.05 seconds. Andretti Autosport drivers locked down the second row for the 222-mile race Sunday, with Ryan Hunter-Reay starting third.

Formula One: Lewis Hamilton secured a record-extending 75th pole position at Formula One's French Grand Prix ahead of Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas on Saturday. Points leader Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari will start the race from third, followed by Red Bull pair Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo.

Trucks: Justin Haley won the Camping World Truck Series race at Gateway Motorsports Park for his first career victory, pulling away on a wild last restart. The 19-year-old Haley, from Winamac, Indiana, took the lead when Kyle Busch Motorsports teammates Noah Gragson and Todd Gilliland made contact racing for the lead on a restart with seven laps to go. Haley then held off GMS Racing teammate Johnny Sauter, a four-time winner season, on the final restart with two laps left, with Brett Moffitt spinning near the front of the field. Haley won in his 37th series start. Gilliland was second, followed by Sauter, Myatt Snider, Zane Smith, Chad Finley, Jesse Little, Riley Herbst, Cody Coughlin and Gragson.