iNSIDE SCOOP: Sonoma Is Real Racing

I know that most of you are sort of down on the road course races on the schedule. Some of you are, and that’s the way it should be.

I’m a fan. A big-time fan. I like all kinds of racing, and NASCAR Sprint Cup cars on the twisty bits is good racing. 

Because they don’t do it a lot, you’ll see stuff you won’t normally see on the ovals. Oh, sure, you’ll see spins, wall-bangers and such, just not the way you’re used to.

Sonoma is a technical track. It’s not like Watkins Glen. It is narrower, has more of an altitude to it, and you can’t just mat it and expect to come out the other side like you can at the Bus Stop at the Glen.

If they ran the full course, you’d have half the field stuck at the bottom of the hairpin, or wadded up into Turn 10 and 11 three laps in. So there are limitations. Pit strategy, just like at the Glen, is paramount. 

And, for some reason, the boys get a bit testy when racing at close quarters and when turning right. 

Who can forget when Tony Stewart got mad at Brian Vickers and ended up beached atop the tires in Turn 11 as payback?

It’s a great time, and I can’t wait for Sunday!