Sonoma doesn’t care how fast you are. With a varied terrain, different elevations, and technical corners, the rather scenic Californian raceway is as beautiful as a challenge. But if you crack the code there as a racer, your life becomes much easier. Michael McDowell, who has been racing there long enough, knows exactly why some guys suddenly look like road-course geniuses, and it’s not what you’d think.
“Sonoma is more what I would call old-school NASCAR racing, where you’re trying to drive the car straight and trying not to buzz the tires,” McDowell told PRN Live on Friday. “Now you add more horsepower to it, and it’ll become more challenging.
“And you’ve seen guys excel really well there. Kyle Larson, Martin Truex Jr., and Clint Bowyer. He suddenly looked like a road racer because he was so good at those places where the tires fall off. I think the guys that manage wheel spin a lot, it’s a benefit.”…