episode 2621-Cup Teams Road Racing At Sonoma

From a NASCAR Fan’s View

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For the second week in a row, the NASCAR Cup teams are taking on another Road Course. Even though they are still in California, there is really no comparison between the two venues other than that they are both Road Courses. This one is shorter and possibly more challenging, even though that might be a hard sell to the drivers. Maybe I should qualify that statement a bit. The Naval base was brand new to them, and Sonoma has long been on the NASCAR circuit. At the Naval base, they had no notes to go off of and started a new book for that course. At Sonoma, they have plenty of notes, but it will still be a challenge. It has always been that way, and it is a real driver’s track.

So, am I saying that the track at the Coronado Naval Base wasn’t a real challenge other than being new? No, not at all. It was also a driver’s track and a real learning experience for the crew chiefs as well as the drivers.

So, getting back to Sonoma, a few things come to mind that might be considered obvious. Once again, SVG is a favorite to be leading the field at the end of the day. That may be true, and it is hard to argue with his abilities on the road courses, but if qualifying gives any indication for how the race might go, he just might have a few challengers in this race.

I don’t know that it is that much of a surprise that Ty Gibbs took the pole for today’s race. He has been showing a lot of speed this season and is generally much improved overall. The question is whether or not he will be there at the end of the day. Not to be critical, but he has sometimes struggled to finish at the front, even though he does often seem to be a contender as the races draw to their final laps. I’m gonna put my opinion on hold and just see how he does in this one.

Carson Hocevar has once again surprised many and qualified second. He sat at the top until Gibbs ran his fast lap. Even though he still lives up to his aggressive style, he is showing that he is maturing and making better decisions as the races progress. He’s been showing speed, but hasn’t always followed up his good qualifying sessions with good finishes.

If you want to talk about surprises, well, from this fan’s view, I would have to say that Kyle Larson not having a win since sometime last season is the biggest, at least from my view. It’s not that he hasn’t shown any speed as the season has progressed, but he has had some bad luck affect his finishes, and it still appears to me that the Toyotas still have an advantage over the Chevys so far this season. He may be starting third, and this could be the day that turns his season around as far as wins go, but even he has his work cut out for himself.

Did I mention that SVG qualified sixth? No, I didn’t, and that was another surprise as this race gets closer to starting today. I’m not going to count him out from winning because he always seems to show really good speed at Sonoma, even though he doesn’t dominate at this track as he does at some of the road courses. Unless he experiences some bad racing luck like he did last weekend, I still think he could be pressing for the lead as this one draws to a close. He really needs a good race, since he sits 17th in the points standings, and this is the last road-course race of the season. I only bring this up because he has been performing better on the road courses than the ovals. That means he needs to have a good race today and keep on improving his performance on the ovals for the rest of the season.

If you listen to the odds-makers, they still put SVG at the top of the list for today’s race. They also mention Kyle Larson as second. I don’t know that I agree with their assessment of today’s race all that much. There are nine races left for drivers to make the Chase, and you can bet that’s going to be on their minds as they face today’s race and the ones that follow. I expect things to be a bit more aggressive because of the limited time left to qualify and that could make things quite a bit more interesting in today’s race and over the next several weeks.

I’m really expecting an unexpected winner in today’s race. The way things have been going lately, that isn’t an unreasonable expectation. There are a bunch of good road course racers in this one, and several that this fan can easily see as possible winners.

Does that mean I will be right in my thinking? Well, that remains to be seen, but I will say this: don’t be surprised if I am…

Hey, this is Russ and that’s my view… See ya next time…

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