Random Power Rankings: Turns at Sonoma Raceway

While not the most dramatic turns at Sonoma Raceway, the elevation changes of Turns 3 and 3a make this quick left-right a pivotal point in the track -- not to mention a spot for super-cool photos when cars' rear tires nearly lift off the ground exiting Turn 3a.

Between the 180-degree Turn 11 and the start-finish line lives the oft-overlooked Turn 12. It seems the full-throttle Turn 12 exists primarily to make the driver leaving the hairpin agonize about what just happened -- normally the lead car looks smaller and smaller out the windshield accelerating through Turn 12 toward the start-finish line.

You have to feel for Turn 9 a little bit. It's a high-speed turn that's hardly treated like a turn. In NASCAR, drivers barely give it the time of day, powering right through at full speed, almost as if its sole purpose is to set up for Turn 10. Still, seeing cars whip through this corner (loose definition of the word) and try to make it as straight a line as possible is fun to watch.

The quick-back-and-forth Turns 8 and 8a break up the back straightaway and set up for the final portion of the course. We know the name's already taken, but given the fact Sonoma Raceway exists in the wine center of the United States, we think the esses should be renamed to the corkscrew. Look out for our petition.

"What Turn 4?" Pocono Raceway asks. This Turn 4. This is the one. The straightaway after Turn 3a is now truncated earlier than in years past with the re-addition of the Carousel -- no more of this Turn 4a business. That means a downhill hard-braking right-hander where drivers where muscle memory from previous years won't matter much.

Or, more specifically, the uphill exit to Turn 1: the Marcos Ambrose heartbreak turn. Don't shut off your car here if you're trying to save fuel.

Why do two very different turns share a number? Our theory is Sonoma Raceway wanted to keep a 12-turn count to avoid an unlucky No. 13, like those fancy hotels. Turns 6 and 6a, part of the Carousel, feature some of the most intense elevation changes on the entire course. It's like a rollercoaster except throwing your arms in the air is a terrible idea on this ride.

Turn 10 is an underrated turn. It's one of the fastest corners of the track and sets up for the final turn into the hairpin. It's not difficult to overshoot the corner and slide off-track in Turn 10, at least if my own non-expert hot laps on iRacing tell me anything.

If you became a NASCAR fan in the past two decades, you don't know the treat that is Turn 7, the exit to the Carousel. Similar to Turn 11, it's a 180-degree corner, but it's not quite as tight as its bigger sibling. If you bump somebody in Turn 7, you've got the esses ahead, making an escape much more difficult than in the high-speed Turns 11-12 combo.

Sonoma Raceway's Turn 11 hairpin is one of the best -- though slowest -- turns in NASCAR. It's like the tight, flat corners of Martinsville, except drivers are turning right, and the inside wall is a pile of tires instead of an actual wall. It's the best place on the track to drive over the car in front of you and blame it on wheel hop, then quickly escape into Turn 12 and back to the checkered flag.