From a NASCAR Fan’s View
For the second weekend in a row, the NASCAR Cup Teams are taking on a road course, and this one is at Sonoma in California. For the second weekend in a row, Shane Van Gisbergen will start on the pole. So, does that mean this race at Sonoma will be pretty much a repeat of last weekend’s race at Chicago, with the same winner dominating the field? Well, I don’t know if that’s going to be true, but this fan thinks it could be a very good possibility.
If there is one thing that’s become pretty obvious as I’ve watched SVG run the races, he is one whale of a road course racer. I would add to that, I don’t know that there’s anyone who can match him. Well, at least not at this moment in time.
Now that I’ve been so bold as to make a statement like that, there is more than one way to keep him from running away with another road race. That would be for him to have some kind of trouble with his car, either engine or mechanical failure, and that failure take him out of contention or completely out of the race. Of course, there is also the possibility that he could get caught up in someone else’s problem and end his day competitively.
If we look back at the race in Mexico, unless memory fails me, he won that race by sixteen seconds. Last weekend at Chicago, he was pulling away from the second-place car and made everyone else look like the also-rans they were. Though some tried, no one could really come close to catching him. He outclassed the rest of the field, and it looks to this fan that this weekend’s race could definitely be a repeat of last weekend.
There is no doubt he is probably the best road racer in NASCAR right now, but there are a bunch of other drivers who are very good road racers, also. It is true. If he can go through a race without suffering any problems, he will very likely be the winner. If not, there are several others waiting in the wings for him to have trouble.
Probably one of the surprises to this fan is how well all of the TrackHouse teams qualified at Sonoma. Of course, SVG is a part of that team, but so are Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez. No, they weren’t at the very top of the qualifying list, but they did show they have something to offer.
Another person that I am somewhat surprised at is William Byron. After last weekend, he has been showing a lot of speed in practice and qualifying this weekend, and it is quite possible he could be one of the ones to give SVG a run for his money. Of the four Hendrick drivers, he is the one who showed the most speed in qualifying. Alex Bowman also had a very good car in practice and qualifying and should run well even though he didn’t show the same speeds as SVG did.
The way Chase Elliott has been running is a little confusing to this fan. He is very consistent in his finishes, but he just looks like he struggles with speed just about every week in practice and qualifying. One thing is certain about racing at Sonoma. It is hard to pass and so qualifying closer to the front is just about key to being able to contend for the win. In a way, I guess that’s my way of saying he is going to have to work for every spot, even though his qualifying effort wasn’t all that bad.
If we look at the last few weeks, I think when it comes to qualifying and running in the races, Kyle Larson has to be one of the most disappointed drivers in Cup right now. Like I said last week, he has really been struggling ever since he attempted the double at the end of May, and his finishes have been mediocre at best. I could say the same thing about his qualifying during that time, too.
Denny Hamlin is another one who just doesn’t seem to be hitting on all cylinders lately either. Sure, he has wins this season, and he is qualified to be in the playoffs, but he has struggled in qualifying the last couple of weeks and it remains to be seen how he will finish. The same goes for Christopher Bell. He has also been struggling in qualifying and in the races. He and Kyle Larson have been going through what I call a time of bad racing luck. For Bell, if it weren’t for bad luck, he’d have no luck at all. That would also apply to Larson.
I’m kind of torn about what this race will be like. We all know it is going to be a race that is highly dependent on strategy, and I think, in some ways, that old nemesis, ‘racing luck’ is going to play a major role. It is possible that SVG could dominate just like last week. If I may say so, it is also possible that ‘racing luck’ could play a part in how this race at Sonoma ends up. If qualifying speeds were all that matter when it comes to the one that’s sitting in Victory Lane when this one is over, then SVG will likely be there. If racing luck turns against him, well, you know what that means, don’t you?
Hey, this is Russ and that’s my view… See ya next time…
All views expressed are strictly the opinion of the writer
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Rusty Norman, Nascarfansview.com and Justafansview.com
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