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Sprint Cup
CUP: On The Road - And Looking - Again
Road course racing is a challenge to some NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers
Jeff Burton leads a pack of cars around the Infineon Raceway in last years NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
Several NASCAR drivers will get the opportunity of their lives Sunday in Sonoma, Calif.
Considering some of the drivers who have had remarkable success in Sprint Cup racing, it’s odd that there’s a significantly crowded list of top drivers who haven’t won a road-course race.
Listing some: Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin, Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch, Jeff Burton, Carl Edwards, Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Hamlin would like to win Sunday in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 to stretch his victory streak to three. Johnson would like to win to reassert the strength of the No. 48 team. Burton would like to win to end a 56-race winless streak.
Earnhardt Jr. would like to win – period.
Can any of them break through the “road” barrier this week?
“For us, in particular, we’ve run well on the road courses, but our finishes have been horrible,” Burton said. “We have to find a way to have much better finishes at Infineon, starting this weekend. That’s something that we’ve certainly been thinking about since last year. We feel really good going there and that we’ll have a good shot.”
One of the difficulties at Infineon Raceway, Burton said, is that the prime passing zones are crowded with activity.
“The thing you have to remember is that while you’re trying to pass the guy in front of you, the guy behind you is trying to pass you,” he said. “And, every place that you’re trying to make a pass on someone, it’s the same place that someone is trying to make a pass on you. That’s why there are a lot of wrecks there. There are specific points on the track that work the best, so everyone is aggressive during those points.”
Johnson, winless since March, said his team has put a lot of hours into preparing for this summer’s road-course runs at Sonoma and Watkins Glen, N.Y.
“Man, every year, since the start of the No. 48 team, we’ve tested more for road courses than any other specific race track,” he said. “I continue to run the Grand Am series when I can to help. I feel like last year, we were close. We tend to qualify well, but fade in the race some, and last year was kind of the reverse of that.
“We qualified decent and had some troubles early in the race but rebounded and came through and ended up fourth. I have a lot of confidence, but at the same time, after eight years of trying, I’m hopeful we have overturned a stone that we have missed in the past. I don’t think we have forgotten any area or missed something, but we’ll go out and give it a shot and see what we can. I think we found a couple of small things that will bring speed to the cars.”
Kenseth counts himself among that group of oval-track old-timers who find road courses foreign ground, but he says he’s gaining.
“For a long time, I really dreaded the road course races, but I’ve learned that the more you do it, the more comfortable you become with racing at tracks like Sonoma,” he said. “I think with the experience I’ve gotten over the years, I have a much better feel for that type of racing, so I’m looking forward to building on our road course experience this week.”
Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEEDtv.com and has been covering motorsports for 28 years. He has written several books on NASCAR, including "NASCAR: The Definitive History of America's Sport" and "Then Tony Said To Junior: The Best NASCAR Stories Ever Told". He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
Considering some of the drivers who have had remarkable success in Sprint Cup racing, it’s odd that there’s a significantly crowded list of top drivers who haven’t won a road-course race.
Listing some: Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin, Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch, Jeff Burton, Carl Edwards, Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Hamlin would like to win Sunday in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 to stretch his victory streak to three. Johnson would like to win to reassert the strength of the No. 48 team. Burton would like to win to end a 56-race winless streak.
Earnhardt Jr. would like to win – period.
Can any of them break through the “road” barrier this week?
“For us, in particular, we’ve run well on the road courses, but our finishes have been horrible,” Burton said. “We have to find a way to have much better finishes at Infineon, starting this weekend. That’s something that we’ve certainly been thinking about since last year. We feel really good going there and that we’ll have a good shot.”
One of the difficulties at Infineon Raceway, Burton said, is that the prime passing zones are crowded with activity.
“The thing you have to remember is that while you’re trying to pass the guy in front of you, the guy behind you is trying to pass you,” he said. “And, every place that you’re trying to make a pass on someone, it’s the same place that someone is trying to make a pass on you. That’s why there are a lot of wrecks there. There are specific points on the track that work the best, so everyone is aggressive during those points.”
Johnson, winless since March, said his team has put a lot of hours into preparing for this summer’s road-course runs at Sonoma and Watkins Glen, N.Y.
“Man, every year, since the start of the No. 48 team, we’ve tested more for road courses than any other specific race track,” he said. “I continue to run the Grand Am series when I can to help. I feel like last year, we were close. We tend to qualify well, but fade in the race some, and last year was kind of the reverse of that.
“We qualified decent and had some troubles early in the race but rebounded and came through and ended up fourth. I have a lot of confidence, but at the same time, after eight years of trying, I’m hopeful we have overturned a stone that we have missed in the past. I don’t think we have forgotten any area or missed something, but we’ll go out and give it a shot and see what we can. I think we found a couple of small things that will bring speed to the cars.”
Kenseth counts himself among that group of oval-track old-timers who find road courses foreign ground, but he says he’s gaining.
“For a long time, I really dreaded the road course races, but I’ve learned that the more you do it, the more comfortable you become with racing at tracks like Sonoma,” he said. “I think with the experience I’ve gotten over the years, I have a much better feel for that type of racing, so I’m looking forward to building on our road course experience this week.”
Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEEDtv.com and has been covering motorsports for 28 years. He has written several books on NASCAR, including "NASCAR: The Definitive History of America's Sport" and "Then Tony Said To Junior: The Best NASCAR Stories Ever Told". He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
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