Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott recently gave his views on what Sonoma Raceway has in store for fans after Friday’s practice session at the 2.5-mile-long facility. The seven-time road course winner has never visited victory lane in wine country and will be looking to add Sonoma to his wins tally this weekend.
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The #9 driver spoke about his worries surrounding the quality of the recent repave at Sonoma and how the same has been nullified. “I had a lot of concerns coming here. I had some friends that do some other road racing stuff and they said how bad it was coming apart. That was concerning because our cars are way heavier.”
“This does not look that much different to me”
Chase Elliott gives his thoughts on the repave of Sonoma Raceway.
Elliott also gives his thoughts on next week’s race in Iowa.
📷 @stephen_stumpf pic.twitter.com/S7kFBzVTKg
— Frontstretch (@Frontstretch) June 7, 2024
He added to how initial impressions seemed fine of the quality of the tarmac laid down and said, “I didn’t see anything visually on the track and I’m sure they’ll inspect it later. I didn’t feel anything at all. After today I feel a lot better about it.”
It remains to be seen how the new tarmac at the track reacts to a full field of Next Gen Cup cars running on the repaved surface for 110 laps on end.
Chase Elliott elaborates on the implications of Sonoma repave on lap time & tire falloff
One of the biggest talking points in NASCAR has been tire falloff and how it is essential to create a good racing product. Elliott elaborated on how a repave usually stalls tire falloff on the track and what he felt during Friday’s practice session.
“There actually is but it’s heat related, it’s obviously not wear related. This is the way it feels inside the car, so I definitely think you’re going to be able to hurt it with heat.”
Time for Cam’s first laps in the @NASCAR Cup Series.
📍Sonoma Raceway pic.twitter.com/ZQlYQyGdeI
— Stage 60 (@RFKStage60) June 7, 2024
The 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion also opined on how turn 11 has seen a major change with the inside tire wall being replaced by a solid wall to better enforce track limits at the track. He touched on the same and said, “It’s fine. I don’t really have any issues with it. You don’t want to hit the tire barriers, you also don’t want to hit the wall.”
It remains to be seen whether Chase Elliott can add Sonoma Raceway to his roster of wins at every road course venue that NASCAR visits, including races at tracks such as Road America which no longer feature on the calendar.
