Sonoma Raceway Tag

By David Morgan, Associate Editor After getting to enjoy a much needed week off, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series is back in business with a little road course racing. This week, the series makes the trek out to California wine country to take on Sonoma Raceway, a 12-turn technical road course situated about 30 miles north of San Francisco. This week’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 consists of 90 laps, which calculates out to 226.8 miles, or 365 kilometers. Over the years, the course at Sonoma Raceway has gone through aRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor When Riverside International Raceway was shuttered following the 1988 season, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series was forced to look for another road course venue to replace it on the schedule. Officials didn’t have to look far as Sonoma Raceway, a winding 12-turn, 2.52-mile course in Northern California fit the bill and was added to the 1989 schedule with the running of the Banquet Frozen Foods 300. From the start of the weekend, the track proved treacherous, with Michael Waltrip flipping in practice and theRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Darrell Waltrip is one of only four broadcasters (the others being Mike Joy, Larry McReynolds and Matt Yocum) that’s been with FOX NASCAR since its inception in 2001. Now after 19 seasons, the NASCAR Hall of Famer announced Thursday that he’ll hang up his headsets for the final time after the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway June 23. Over the past few days, fans and media members alike have been locked into a huge social media battle regarding their views on the three-time Cup SeriesRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Motorsports Tribune reviews the season of the top 12 drivers from the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series championship. Our list continues with the third-place finisher, Will Power. Will Power, No. 12 Team Penske Chevrolet 2018: 3rd in the championship  Wins: 3, Top 5: 8, Top 10: 11, Poles: 4, Laps Led: 358 Best Finish: 1st (Indy GP, Indianapolis 500, Gateway) While he did not claim the Verizon IndyCar Series title, the legend of Will Power grew larger after claiming victory in the 102nd Running of the Indianapolis 500Read More

By Josh Farmer, Contributing Journalist Motorsports Tribune reviews the season of the top 12 drivers from the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series championship. Our list continues with the fourth-place finisher, Ryan Hunter-Reay. Ryan Hunter-Reay, No. 28 DHL Andretti Autosport Honda 2018: 4th in the championship  Wins: 2, Top 5: 10, Top 10: 12, Poles: 1, Laps Led: 132 Best Finish: 1st (Detroit Race 2, Sonoma) Ryan Hunter-Reay entered 2018 in the midst of a win-less drought dating back to Pocono in 2015 and finishing no better than ninth in the championship the lastRead More

By Josh Farmer, Contributing Journalist Motorsports Tribune reviews the season of the top 12 drivers from the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series championship. Our list begins with the 12th-place finisher, Takuma Sato. Takuma Sato, No. 30 Mi Jack/Panasonic Honda 2018: 12th in the championship  Wins: 1, Top 5: 4, Top 10: 7, Poles: 0, Laps Led: 32 Best Finish: 1st (Grand Prix of Portland) While Takuma Sato came off an all-time high last season with an Indianapolis 500 win for Andretti Autosport, he had a mixed bag of results highlighted by aRead More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer CONCORD, N.C. – Veteran Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers like Clint Bowyer have just one takeaway from Watkins Glen International (WGI) and Sonoma Raceway for the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course. The 2.28-mile oval-road course hybrid is virtually impossible to compare to NASCAR’s traditional road course events. As Bowyer and his No. 14 Mobil 1 / Advance Auto Parts Ford Fusion team enter the Bank of America ROVAL 400, his experience in road course racing will be put to the test. In 26 PremierRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer Marco Andretti enjoyed a quiet and solid fifth-place finish in Sunday’s INDYCAR Grand Prix of Sonoma. The 31-year-old Pennsylvanian remained under the radar for much of the 85-lap contest as his Andretti Autosport teammates drew much of the attention with Ryan Hunter-Reay taking the victory, and Alexander Rossi battling for a championship. That combination allowed Andretti to quietly parlay a fourth-place start on the grid into his second top five finish of the year. After participating in his first Firestone Fast Six during Saturday’s qualifying, Andretti hadRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer SONOMA, California — Welcome to the Verizon IndyCar Series, rookies. The Harding Racing duo of Colton Herta and Patricio O’Ward exceeded expectations in their debuts on Sunday at Sonoma Raceway. Both drivers finished on the lead lap, with O’Ward finishing ninth and Herta coming home 20th. Race strategist Brian Barnhart was proud of both by bringing his entries home with a clean car and lead lap finishes, stating that it was crucial of allowing the duo an opportunity to compete at the highest level before theRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer SONOMA, California — Ryan Hunter-Reay put in a dominating performance en route to victory in the Verizon IndyCar Series season finale at Sonoma Raceway. After starting on pole, the pilot of the No. 28 Andretti Autosport Honda led 80 of 85 laps and beat newly-crowned five time series champion Scott Dixon by 2.7573 second in the finale INDYCAR Grand Prix of Sonoma. It marked Hunter-Reay’s 18th Indy car victory and became the third drought he snapped this weekend. His pole from Saturday marked his first sinceRead More