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| Martin Truex Jr won at Sonoma in 2018. |
Drivers will make both right and left turns for the first time in 2019 while the fans will get wine and charcuterie selections at the track for the first time in 2019.
The road race at Sonoma is probably my favorite race of the season just because it’s the most unique and it gives the drivers a chance to race as most do in other series around the world. It’s a challenge to the drivers because most of them grew up on ovals never making right turns. Most of them have had to learn road racing on the fly and some have become very good at it while others absolutely hate it, and it shows year after year with some of them.
The thing that makes Sonoma so unique is that the 12-turn course goes through 160 feet of elevation changes. It’s a technical course that doesn’t allow for many stretches where drivers can mash the pedal. They have to massage the course and set themselves up for proper entry into every turn so they can roll out of the exit as fast as possible. These big bulky cars bump and bang all the way through what is again a 2.52-mile course.
Sonoma Raceway celebrates its 50-year anniversary, so they’re going back to the old layout, rather than the 1.99-mile course NASCAR has used since 1998.
NASCAR at Sonoma doesn’t offer quite the same elegance as Formula One does at Monte Carlo, but it’s certainly the fanciest and most regal of all 36 races on the season. Las Vegas has most of the best restaurants, shows, and lodging on tour, but at Sonoma, you can see the Golden Gate Bridge on a clear day.
Sonoma also offers some best vineyards and spas in the world. It’s also 40 miles east from Bodega Bay where Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds” was filmed and an hour north of where Clint Eastwood’s “Dirty Harry” bullied crime in San Francisco and Steve McQueen gave the greatest car chase scene ever in “Bullitt.”
Yes, this is my favorite race of the year and the opinion is probably aided by the fact that it’s my favorite area in the world. I’ve always said I’m going back to live there but never have. So I’ll just visit a few times a year, catch a race and a Giants game, have some wine and a steak at the Maltese Falcon (John’s Grill) and enjoy clean air off the ocean the way air was meant to be breathed.
O.K., so let’s make some money. Sonoma is expensive and a win this week would be nice. The odds on the favorites will be lower than usual because we can cut out more drivers as candidates to win than usual. They’ll be using the race package with no aero ducts and engines that produce 750 horsepower which is very similar to what they used at Sonoma last season.
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