After a weekend off, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series is back for road course racing at Sonoma Raceway. Here is what to watch for this weekend.
Four lefts will finally make way to what is right. This Sunday, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series is back for road course racing at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California. After a week off, it’s back to the west coast for race number 16 on the 2018 schedule.
Previously, the NASCAR Cup Series raced at Michigan International Speedway with Clint Bowyer finding Lady Luck in the FireKeepers Casino 400. Bowyer and crew managed to put the #14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford out front before the rain came to end the race. The win was Bowyer’s second in 2018. Strangely enough, it was Bowyer’s second win the week before an off week as well.
A different style of racing will be on display this weekend at Sonoma Raceway. Road course racing will bring out the best of the best as we watch 350 kilometers of right and left-hand turns. Here’s what to watch for in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at the track on Sunday.
Different names towards the front
There are very seldom opportunities to call drivers such as A.J. Allmendinger a favorite to win. However, this weekend, Allmendinger is one of the drivers who you can bet on seeing toward the front. Road course racing offers fans the opportunity to see some lesser-known drivers who we don’t normally see up front battling for a win in the Toyota Save Mart 350.
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The twist and turns offered by a road course cause drivers to have to be deadly accurate at every turn. Sonoma tests drivers with a significant amount of right turns as opposed to the normal amount of left turns with no right turns, so don’t be too surprised on Sunday when you see a few unfamiliar names in the mix.
Cars going airborne
Road courses offer fans the ability to see which drivers use the rumble strips to their advantage. Drivers will utilize the rumble strips to gain a time advantage and we as fans get to watch as their cars catapult into the air, putting drivers on two or three wheels. Even better is when the television coverage slows the shot down and we get a nice slow motion view of a car hopping up on two wheels.
Late caution to shake up the front
All things considered, It’s almost always a given to see the yellow flag come out within 10 laps to go during a road course race. Sometimes there is a spin, and other times drivers’ fuel mileage strategies fail them.
A late caution flag period frequently happens at road courses, and when it does, it creates mass chaos at the first turn when the race restarts. Keep a close ear on the commentators talking about drivers stretching their fuel loads to the limit.
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Which drivers do you think will best take to the twists and turns in this weekend’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway? Will the winner be one of the regular dominant drivers or will someone come out from the shadows to shock us all? Tune in this Sunday on Fox Sports 1 at 3:00 p.m. ET to find out!