NASCAR returns to repaved Sonoma road course, drivers unsure what to expect
SONOMA, Calif. — Welcome back to fast and slick Sonoma Raceway, where the first repave in over two decades has created impressive speeds and concerns about the durability of the new asphalt.
Ryan Blaney led Cup Series practice Friday with a lap that was 4.5 seconds faster than Denny Hamlin’s pole-winning run a year ago. But the repave hasn’t been perfect and patches of the track appeared to break apart during an April sports car test on the road course.
The breakage required immediate repairs and plenty of patches that had NASCAR drivers concerned about the track surface ahead of the race Sunday.
“I definitely had a lot of concerns coming in, I have some friends who do some of the road racing stuff and they come out here and run and just said how bad it was coming apart,” Chase Elliott said Friday after a 50-minute practice session.
“That was concerning, right, because our cars are way heavier than most of these other series. But I didn’t see anything visually on the track and I’m sure they will inspect it later. But I was super concerned coming here and honestly now feel a lot better.”
Defending race winner Martin Truex Jr. was against the repave.
“I wish they didn’t,” Truex said. “We had something really good here working, and certainly, last year, we did really well with it. There is more of a chance for an upset or for a guy surprising the field, I think, this time around. Before, if your car was really good, you could drive through the field, simple as that. You could pass cars, on old tires, and that is going to be a challenge this time around.”
Hamlin offered a surprising endorsement after an initial tense exchange with track owner Marcus Smith over the asphalt breaking up during the sports car test.
Hamlin and Smith engaged in a back-and-forth over social media regarding the repave that started when Hamlin posted on social media, “when paving on a budget goes wrong.”
Smith, chairman of the Speedway Motorsports conglomerate that owns 10
of the tracks on NASCAR’s Cup Series schedule, fired back with “this is a great post from somebody who doesn’t know all the information. Ignorance on display for the world to see.”
Smith later deleted the post but it escalated the debate to the point where Smith mocked the lack of a Cup championship on Hamlin’s record.