Posted on by Zack Albert

No. 48 Chevrolet finishes sixth after caution foils strategy

RELATED: Full race results | Updated series standings

SONOMA, Calif. — Jimmie Johnson‘s bid for just his second-ever victory on a road course seemed to be gaining traction in the late stages Sunday at Sonoma Raceway. The team’s slightly different pit strategy and his track position up front were in alignment, all until a late yellow flag altered the plan.

From there, the traction went away, both for the Hendrick Motorsports driver’s momentum and from his much older Goodyear tires.

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Johnson stayed on the race track during the race’s final caution period, temporarily keeping the lead but eventually fading to sixth place after Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350. Johnson held off his challengers for part of the seven-lap dash to the finish, but surrendered the lead to eventual race winner Kyle Busch on Lap 106 of 110.

After crew chief Chad Knaus opted to leave the No. 48 Chevrolet out while the majority of drivers behind him pitted, Johnson wondered over the team radio whether he was a sitting duck for the final shootout.

"I kind of thought so," said Johnson, who led a race-high 45 laps. "Looked like so many guys came to pit road, but then there were more that stayed out. I was just surprised how fast they got through traffic and got to my bumper. Tires were definitely the call, but we had a strategy that we were going to stick to and one caution away from working it just right."

Just four other drivers remained on the track to set up for the final restart, putting Clint Bowyer sixth and Busch seventh as the foremost drivers on fresh tires. When Bowyer’s progress was halted somewhat by contact with Matt Kenseth on the frenzied restart, it opened the door for Busch to close on Johnson, who grasped the lead as long as he could before finally giving way 

Despite the outcome, Knaus said the strategy call was a simple one to make.

"The decision was easy," Knaus said. "If I had to do it again, I’d do it again. … The decisions are made behind us. I did what I wanted to do."

Johnson’s pit stop on Lap 67 essentially cut the race into two more green-flag runs for the No. 48 team, a strategy that unraveled when the late-race caution flew for Casey Mears‘ rear axle failure. Johnson may have missed out on the traditional Victory Lane goblet of wine, but wasn’t necessarily questioning either the performance or the team’s game plan.

"Road course races are just so hard to get right," Johnson said. "They’re just so inconsistent. Strategy and when to pit, when not to pit, track position, how many cars pit — all that pays such dividends on the race track. I really feel like we did the right strategy. If we came back and raced again tomorrow, we’d run the same strategy."

Posted on by Nascar

No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing driver talks team chemistry post-Sonoma

RELATED: Full race results | Updated series standings

SONOMA, Calif. — Kurt Busch finished second to younger brother Kyle for the first time in a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Sunday at Sonoma Raceway.

Both have been competing in the series full-time since 2005. Both have won plenty of races. Never had they finished 1-2, until now.

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The elder Busch (Kurt will be seven years older upon his birthday in August) wasn’t complaining following the Toyota/SaveMart 350, but if he’d had his druthers … 

"Now I wish I could have gotten up there and moved him," Kurt said, grinning. 

"I was trying to think if we’ve ever finished 1-2, and we did it today. That’s a pretty special moment. I’ve got over 500 starts. I know he’s over 300. Can you imagine, 800 starts between the two of us, we almost have 30 wins each, and that’s the first time we’ve ever finished 1-2."

Kurt nearly led the most laps in the 110-lap race, the 16th of 36 points races this season, sitting out front for 43 circuits. Only Jimmie Johnson led more, pacing the field for 45.

Kurt led under green for the final time from laps 67 through 74; he was 15th on a restart with 32 laps remaining after pitting when many others stayed out. 

One by one, he picked his way through the field, the run briefly delayed by an off-track excursion moments after he passed Joey Logano (Team Penske) for fourth with 15 laps remaining.

"I’ve lost all rear grip," Busch told his crew. 

He’d also picked up a noticeable amount of debris on the front of his Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet as well. When the caution flew moments later, coming to pit road was a no-brainer, said crew chief Tony Gibson. 

"We had a tire going down, a left rear tire that was going flat so it actually turned out good," Gibson said. "If we hadn’t pitted that last time there, I feel like we would have been in bad shape. So it actually worked out to our benefit to pit.

"We just needed to be about two cars up further on that restart." 

The final caution saw several drivers hit pit road; Johnson chose to stay out, as did a few others. Busch was ninth on the restart.

He passed Clint Bowyer for second with one lap remaining. His brother wasn’t long gone, but gone just the same.

"We had a fast car; I think we had the car to win for sure," Gibson said. "There at the end I knew those guys would get swallowed up on old tires. You saw that last year here with 10 to go when (Dale Earnhardt) Junior and those guys pitted and drove right back up through there.

"We lost a couple of spots getting on pit road … which probably made the difference and the 15 (Bowyer) held us up a little bit there. But at the end of the day we led a lot of laps, it was an awesome race car and the guys did a great job." 

Busch was suspended for the season’s first three races, but has won twice (at Richmond and Michigan) since returning. He’s 10th in points and assured of being on of this year’s 16 drivers competing in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

"We almost could have had as many race wins as we had races we were under suspension, so there’s so many things that have gone into place for us to be successful," Busch said. "And the number one thing is Tony Gibson. He builds great race cars, and it’s a pleasure to drive for him, and I love the team camaraderie. 

"I haven’t had this type of team chemistry since my championship year (2004). It feels good to have that."

Posted on by Nascar

McMurray, Truex Jr., Gordon and Johnson affected at Sonoma

SONOMA, Calif. – Tire issues affecting at least four NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams during Sunday’s Toyota/SaveMart 350 were the result of the soft compound and harsh race conditions, according to Goodyear.

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The teams of Jamie McMurray (Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates), Martin Truex Jr. (Furniture Row Racing), Jeff Gordon (Hendrick Motorsports) and Jimmie Johnson (Hendrick) saw unusual tire wear after early pit stops in the 110-lap race.
 
According to a Goodyear spokesperson, the tire being used for Sunday’s race was on the softest end of the range of compounds. Compared to what was used previously at Sonoma, this tire featured increased thickness for improved wear, however some tires were showing signs of tearing.
 
Individual set-ups by the teams were not considered factors in the unusual wear.

 

Posted on by Nascar

Read the notes NASCAR provides during the drivers’ meeting

Play: NASCAR Fantasy Live

NASCAR SPECIAL AWARDS

Award Driver
Coors Light Pole Award AJ Allmendinger
3M Lap Leader Kevin Harvick
Duralast Brakes "Brake in the Race" Award Carl Edwards
Freescale "Wide Open" Award Kurt Busch
Ingersoll Rand Power Mover Award Jamie McMurray
American Ethanol "Green Flag Restart" Award Carl Edwards
Mahle Engine Builder of the Race Award Kurt Busch
Mobil 1 Command Performance Driver of the Race Award Kurt Busch
Moog Chassis Parts Problem Solver of the Race Award Paul Menard
Sherwin-Williams Fastest Lap Award Carl Edwards
Sunoco Rookie of the Race Award Brett Moffitt

RACE TIME

Event Time (ET)
Driver Introductions 2:25 p.m.
Pre-race prep: Tires, interior & remove generators 2:40 p.m.
Line up crews — facing the flag 2:59 p.m.
Invocation 3 p.m.
National Anthem 3:01 p.m.
Command to start engines 3:08 p.m.

SPECIAL INFORMATION

Number of Laps 110 laps
Pit Road Speed 40 mph
Caution Car Speed 45 mph
Pit Road Speed Begins 145 feet before the first pit box
Pit Road Speed Ends 80 feet past the last pit box
Minimum Speed 85.66 seconds
Exiting the Pits (Blend Line) Stay to driver’s left until you pass the bridge
Fuel Pit Stalls 1-43 Sunoco pumps
Post-Race 2-5 in pit stalls 17-22
All Others/Two crew members per car Double-file near yellow line, across from pit stall 23

NEXT RACE

Event Track/Day/Time (ET)
Next week Daytona International Speedway
Hauler parking 6 p.m. ET, Thursday, July 2
Garage opens 9 a.m. ET, Friday, July 3
First practice 3 p.m. ET, Friday, July 3

EXITING PIT ROAD, THE LAST PIT ROAD SPEED SEGMENT IS SHORT IN DISTANCE
ODD # STARTING/RESTARTING POSITIONS WILL BE IN THE DRIVER’S RIGHT LANE (3RD, 5Th, 7TH, etc.)
ONE TO GO WILL GIVEN AT TURN 7, YOU’LL BE COMING TO THE GREEN
WAVE-AROUND CARS RELEASED AT TURN 7 (PASS THE CAUTION CAR TO THE LEFT)

Posted on by Nascar

New rule starts at Sonoma, will apply to all three national series

RELATED: Confusion about pit-road opening at Chicagoland

SONOMA, Calif. – NASCAR officials in race control will now be in control of the indicator light at the entrance to pit road beginning with today’s Toyota/SaveMart 350 at Sonoma Raceway.


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The light and flags, previously both controlled by a NASCAR official at the opening of pit road, indicate whether pit road is open or closed at various points during a race.

An issue with that system last weekend at Chicago during an NASCAR XFINITY Series event resulted in 19 drivers pitting under caution before pit road was officially open – because most had heard on the radio officials in the tower announce pit road was open.

Teams often make the decision to pit based on information coming from officials in the scoring tower, and the message from the tower was that pit road was open. The official stationed at the pit road opening was displaying a red flag, and the indicator light at the entrance was still red, however, both signifying that pit road was still officially closed.

The penalty for pitting too soon under caution is restarting the race at the tail end of the field. Under green-flag conditions, drivers would have to serve a pass-through penalty by returning to pit road a second time.

"When you looked at it, the tower did come over the radio and say pit road was open," Steve O’Donnell, Vice President of Competition and Racing Development for NASCAR, told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on Monday. "But if you go back to the driver’s meeting, what we say in every driver’s meeting is that the light and the flag are what dictates whether its open or not.

"The person at the opening did not hear the radio communication so the red flag and the light were still on. And in that case if anyone comes down pit road, when it’s technically closed via the light or the flag, they’ll receive a penalty for pitting too soon."

According to one NASCAR official, if for some reason the light and the flag displayed by the official don’t match, the flag displayed by the official will indicate the official status of pit road at that time.

The change takes effect today and will be in place for all three national series – Sprint Cup, XFINITY and Camping World Truck Series.

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NASCAR Chairman & CEO issues statement on Confederate Flag

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (June 27, 2015) – "NASCAR will maintain its long-standing policy preventing the use of the Confederate Flag in any official position at our events. In all areas that NASCAR controls on a given race weekend, the flag has no presence.

"We have been clear in support of this position throughout our industry and to those across the country who have called for the eradication of the Confederate Flag. We will be as aggressive as possible to disassociate NASCAR events from an offensive and divisive symbol. We are working with the industry right now to achieve that goal."

 

 

 

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Kurt Busch, Kenseth, Larson, Gordon round out top five on starting grid

RELATED: Full starting lineup | See all 43 cars for Sonoma

SONOMA, Calif. — In Saturday’s time trials at Sonoma Raceway, AJ Allmendinger took his first small step toward the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

But the giant leap toward that goal will have to wait until Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 at the 1.99-mile track (3 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1, PRN, SiriusXM), where Allmendinger will try to win his second straight road course race in NASCAR’s top series and stake his claim to a position in the Chase.

One of the pre-race favorites — if not THE pre-race favorite — Allmendinger toured the track in 1 minute, 14.385 seconds (96.310 mph), .166 seconds faster than Kurt Busch (96.095 mph), whose money lap was aborted when his brother, Kyle Busch, spun in Turn 10 to bring out a red flag with 7:03 left in the final 10-minute session.

Matt Kenseth (96.001 mph) qualified third, followed by Kyle Larson (95.932 mph), who set a track record at 96.568 mph in the first round of knockout qualifying, a 25-minute session that narrowed the field from 44 drivers to the fastest 12. 

Larson’s run eclipsed the mark of 96.350 mph established by Jamie McMurray last year, but, like Kurt Busch, Larson saw his first run in the final round interrupted by the caution. 

Jeff Gordon (95.905 mph) will start fifth in his final race at Sonoma as a full-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver.

"It’s a solid start, but the prize is tomorrow," said Allmendinger, who earned the third Coors Light Pole Award of his career and his first on a road course. The pole was Allmendinger’s first since he started from the top spot in the No. 22 Team Penske Ford at Kansas in April 2012.

"We knew that, if we go do our job, and if I do my job tomorrow, and we have solid pit stops, and we just take care of business, at the end we should give ourselves a chance," Allmendinger added. "And that’s all we can ask for." 

Kurt Busch thought his interrupted lap in the final round would have been a pole winner, but he was happy to be starting up front, albeit from the second spot.

"It’s a nice package that (crew chief) Tony Gibson gave me, and all the guys back at the shop," Busch said. "Thanks to them for building this special car for a road course race. There was a little apprehension coming in, because we didn’t have testing sessions or any kind of shakedown sessions.

"And so, to be outside pole with the Haas Automation Chevy, that’s awesome. That’s what we wanted. And now we’ve got all kinds of strategy plays to figure out to get into race mode. So, we did our job. We’re on the front row."

Reigning series champion Kevin Harvick was fast in Friday’s practice, but he turned in a lackluster qualifying performance. 

"What section (of the course) didn’t I screw-up?" Harvick, who will start 17th, asked rhetorically. "This has just been something I’ve never been very good at, as far as the qualifying thing here at Sonoma. Our Budweiser/Outback/Folds of Honor Chevy is handling good and doing all the good things that you want it to … I was just too easy in (Turns) 2, 3, and 4 and okay down the hill and then got up the race track both laps in (Turn) 11.

 "So that cost us three or four tenths both times. We have a good car. I’ve got some cars to pass. We passed a lot of cars last year, but I’m just not very good at the qualifying thing here, for whatever reason."

Posted on by Staff Report

See where your favorite driver will pit on Sunday (3 p.m. ET, FS1)

RELATED: Full starting lineup

AJ Allmendinger scored his third career Coors Light Qualifying Pole Award and his first at Sonoma Raceway, which gave him the first selection for a pit stall assignment in Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 (3 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1, PRN, SiriusXM).

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Allmendinger chose the last pit stall, which is closest to Turn 1, which interesting enough was the same stall he had last year when he started the race second.

Kurt Busch (starting second) just the pit stall alongside the start/finish line. It is also a pit stall that has an opening in front of it (making it easy for Busch to pull off pit road.

Clint Bowyer (starting sixth) also has an opening in front of him on pit road.

Defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick (starting 17th) chose the first pit stall on pit road.

Posted on by Zack Albert

California native eyes first win at 1.99-mile track

RELATED: Allmendinger on the pole for Sunday | Complete starting lineup

SONOMA, Calif. — AJ Allmendinger‘s extensive road-racing background and aggressive driving style make him one of the favorites Sunday on the twisty turns of Sonoma Raceway.
 
The spoils of winning here aren’t limited to the checkered flag, the Victory Lane glass of wine and post-race burnouts. For drivers such as Allmendinger who have yet to scratch the win column this year, a Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoff berth is among the rewards. But even with the more favorable odds, the JTG Daugherty Racing driver isn’t obsessing about the first of two road courses on the series schedule.

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"At the end of the day, I know what the prize is," said Allmendinger, in his second full season driving the No. 47 Chevrolet. "I know if you win, you make the Chase; and that’s so important. But I try not to focus on putting the pressure on that this race is do or die, or Watkins Glen is do or die; and if we don’t, it doesn’t happen. We’ve just got to get better every weekend. I know that’s kind of cliché, but right now that’s really our goal. If we go out here and have a great run and build some momentum, that’s all we can do.
 
"Like I said, for me, I just try to drive my butt off. And if it’s good enough, it’s good enough. If it’s not, it’s not."
 
Allmendinger will have the added advantage of starting first in Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 (3 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1, PRN, SiriusXM) after securing his third career Coors Light Pole Award in Saturday’s qualifying. The 33-year-old driver landed his first victory and first Chase berth last August at Watkins Glen International by outdueling road racing ace Marcos Ambrose in a frantic finish. But despite his road racing portfolio, Allmendinger has had few bright spots over his career on Sonoma’s more technical 1.99-mile layout, where he’s yet to post a top-five finish in six tries.
 
While Allmendinger’s driving technique arguably more suited to Watkins Glen’s faster circuit, his peers still keep him in high regard for Sunday’s main event.
 
"AJ is extremely aggressive. Nobody drives in the corners deeper than AJ does," said Jeff Gordon, NASCAR’s all-time road course king with nine wins, five at Sonoma. "I think that at Watkins Glen that way of attacking the race track is very beneficial and definitely puts good lap times together and is tough to beat. Here I think there is a fine line and balance between that. I think AJ has the skills to be the fastest and the best here this weekend, certainly in qualifying. Then it’s going to come down to executing that in the race. I would say he is the guy to beat."
 
While Allmendinger’s skills match up well with the two road courses on the schedule, his focus remains finding improvement for the remaining 34 events. He began his season with two top-10 finishes in the first three races, lifting him to as high as fifth in the Sprint Cup standings. But Allmendinger hasn’t claimed a top-10 since, enduring three DNFs — including a crash at Bristol that ruined a possible top-10 — and dropping to 22nd in driver points.
 
"And from there, I wouldn’t say panic set in, but we started trying different things," Allmendinger said. "OK, where have we lost it? In a way, maybe we hadn’t lost it. We just had bad results. And then we kind of got off track and we came full circle. So, in the end, we know where we have to improve. We have the steps in place and the ideas in place, but it’s not an overnight process, either. So, I think that’s just the biggest thing is that it’s not that we show up at say, Kentucky, really because that’s the next oval track, 1.5-mile typical race, and we’ll have better cars once we get there, but it’s a process.
 
"So, we have improved a lot, but the way this sport is, everybody else has as well. So, we’ve got to kind of keep stepping up our game. But in the end, what makes a race team is not all the positives. It’s the negatives and how you deal with them. And I think over the last couple of weeks that, to me, is what’s the most positive."