The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
Jun. 24, 2016
What to Watch: Friday
by The Frontstretch Staff
Evernham is a former Modified racer in his own right and has a great love for the division. Prior to the race, Evernham hosted a "Roots of Racing" in which he talked about the different eras of race cars that competed in what is now the Whelen Modified Tour. Admittedly, the machinery was relatively similar to what was being used at Northeastern dirt tracks until you got into the 1980's. We saw old Ford coupes, a Pinto, no Gremlins that I could see (although Evernham did mention that the Gremlin body style was popular), and some other cars. Aside from the cool machinery, much of which will probably find a home at the new North East Motor Sports Museum, which is apparently on schedule to open in September, you could just see the legitimate joy in Evernham when he was doing this. That's the kind of behavior that I want to see.
I enjoyed the action from Thompson. There was a lot of good racing and NBCSN did a good job bringing it to the viewers. Evernham and Sheheen were pretty good in the booth, while Pernesiglio was right at home in the pits with the Modifieds, despite the fact that he really wasn't used all that much.
Records and facts
In last year's race, the Busch brothers were the dominant force, leading more than half of the laps. However, pit strategy put Jimmie Johnson in the lead late. Kyle Busch was able to run Johnson down and pass him with five laps to go. Kyle then held on to claim his first victory of the year. Kurt Busch was second, followed by Clint Bowyer, Kevin Harvick and Joey Logano.
Only two active drivers have more than one win at Sonoma. They are Tony Stewart and defending champion Kyle Busch, who each have two. Everyone else that's active and has won there has only done it once (Kurt Busch, Martin Truex, Jr., Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson, etc.).
All-time, only one man has more than two wins at Sonoma. That man is Jeff Gordon, who has five wins. He swept the three races run on the 1.949 mile short course (1998-2000), then won two more once the track was reconfigured into the current design in 2001. In addition to Stewart and Kyle Busch, Ernie Irvan, Rusty Wallace and Ricky Rudd all have two wins at Sonoma. Rudd is the only one of that group to win on both the short course and the long course.
Track Facts
Track / Race Length: 1.99-mile road course, 110 laps (218.9 miles)
Grandstand Seating: 47,000
Pit Road Speed: 40 mph
Pace Car Speed: 45 mph
Opened: 1968 (as), first Cup race in 1989
Website: http://www.racesonoma.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/racesonoma
Twitter: http://twitter.com/RaceSonoma
Say What?!
"Sonoma is so tricky. Track position is so, so important there. It's a quirky race and the last two times there we have been one of the better cars but just haven't had it work out, so I'm optimistic that we can get everything right over the course of the event. If you can save fuel it usually creates more opportunities. Last year it came down to tires and I was the only guy on old tires and it cost us the race. As a California native, I'm always happy to get back there." - Jimmie Johnson
"I love it out there. It's probably a close second on favorite tracks behind Richmond. It's just a challenging racetrack. It's a track where you just have to get into a rhythm. A lap around there, you just don't get much time to relax so when you get in the race, you have to be spot on the whole time.
"When I started, I think there were probably two legitimate contenders to win road-course races. Now you can look at it and say there are 15 or 16 guys who could put together a good day if they don't get wrecked and have a shot at winning. It is much like Martinsville. Sonoma becomes a demolition derby at the end. If you can get a long run to get to the end of it, it makes it nice. If you get a restart with 10 laps or less, it is an absolute demolition derby. There are a lot of places two cars don't fit very well, side-by-side, and somebody always gets the short end of the stick. There are a lot of areas where guys can dive down there and take your line away and put guys in a bad spot. That always seems to bite somebody. There are a lot of drivers who have their feelings hurt and are upset when they leave there. I have been in that situation a lot of times." - Tony Stewart
"We used to test really hard to figure out how to get better at road courses. Now we just show up and race, and that's really been refreshing … and it's made the race weekends a lot more enjoyable. We've had great race cars at the road courses – we've gotten better as a company, which has helped me a lot and helped carry me. Sonoma is the most challenging track that I race at. We've just got to take care of our car and make it through to the end." - Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
"I thought last year we could have had a top-15 finish so I'm looking forward to Sonoma this weekend. Last year we struggled in qualifying so we will focus on that on Friday to make sure we earn a good starting spot. Seat time is very valuable to me at these road courses and making sure I hit all my marks and don't make any mistakes. With not many races before the Chase, we need to make sure we capitalize and get the best finish we can to stay close to 16th in the point standings." - Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.
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by the Frontstretch Staff
Q: As previously noted, Sonoma Raceway has a history of big crashes. The late Bob Wollek is just one more example of a great driver who got it wrong on the twisty road course back in 1987. What happened?
Thursday's Answer:
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