Photo – Todd Warshaw/Getty Images
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to the wine country of California to race at Sonoma Raceway this weekend. It will be the first of two road-course stops for Cup this season, with the other being at Watkins Glen International in upstate New York.
There have been nine different winners in the last nine races at Sonoma with Michael Waltrip Racing winning the last two. Current IndyCar driver Juan Pablo Montoya won his first Cup race there in his rookie year in 2007.
The variety of winners has been proven at Sonoma, but will the Hendrick Motorsports dominance in 2014 end this weekend. Hendrick has won the last five Cup races: three with Jimmie Johnson and one with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon apiece.
The six-time Cup champ Johnson has won three of the last four races, including his first win at Michigan last weekend. It looks like the No. 48 is starting to excel after going winless in the season’s first 11 races.
“I’m thrilled on multiple levels,” Johnson said after his Michigan victory. “The success that we’ve had as a team, kind of hitting our stride and getting to Victory Lane three times in the last four weeks.”
Gordon now leads the points standings with Johnson in fourth and the Hendrick organization is slowing no signs of slowing down.
“Our teammates and their success, the company, and you look at our engines in our cars and what they’re able to do,” Johnson added. Rick gives us all the tools to go out there and do our jobs and to have everything so fast and so good, you want it to last forever. We know that it won’t, but it’s just a good time to sit back and reflect and enjoy it.”
Kasey Kahne had a bright spot at Michigan last week by finishing fifth and won at Sonoma in 2009.
A driver who is in desperate need of a good run this weekend is defending Sonoma winner Martin Truex Jr. The No. 78 hasn’t had the best luck this season, but a win at the California road course can change all of that.
Truex typically runs well on road courses and scored top-five finishes in both Cup road course races last season.
What is more impressive is how well Kurt Busch has run here the last three years. He won in dominating fashion at Sonoma in 2011 and just fell short in 2012 after knocking out the rear end housing but hung on for a third-place finish.
Busch appeared to have the best car again last year for Furniture Row, until he was on track when a caution came out as several drivers already pitted under the green flag. The Outlaw made a mad dash back to the front and grabbed a fourth-place finish.
He’ll look for his second win on the season after scoring a win at Martinsville Speedway in March, the first for Busch since Dover International Speedway in September 2011.
A road course race can also be considered a wild card. With the strategy playing out right, it’s possible to see someone new in victory lane.
Speaking of opportunity, this weekend has potential for being big for Marcos Ambrose and A.J. Allmendinger. Both run well at road courses and Sonoma could be their ticket to punch into the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
Ambrose hasn’t had the winning car at Sonoma but came so close in 2010 while leading and stalled the car going up the hill past the start-finish line.
The team Ambrose drove at Sonoma for in 2010, JTG Daugherty Racing, now has A.J. Allmendinger as their full-time driver.
Allmendinger won at Road America and Mid-Ohio last season in the Nationwide Series for Roger Penske and ran a few Cup races for JTG as well. He had a good run going at Watkins Glen in the Cup race last year but a speeding penalty sent the No. 47 car to the tail end of the field. The California driver rebounded nicely to score a ninth-place finish.
A lot of road course excitement this weekend with the Cup Series at Sonoma and the Nationwide Series at Road America. The Toyota/Save Mart 350 airs live on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on TNT.