NASCAR heads into its third road course event in the last five races, with two more waiting in the wings before the season wraps. While the rising number of road courses on the calendar has already sparked debate, Sonoma Raceway brings its own bag of tricks that continues to test even the most seasoned drivers. Chris Buescher recently broke down the challenge drivers face at this historic track in California.
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Although the Xfinity showdown between Shane van Gisbergen and Connor Zilisch delivered fireworks, Buescher made it clear that the Next Gen car throws a different wrench into the works.
He said, “No amount of simulator time could prep you for Sonoma. To come off a course last week where I feel like we had about 8ft of elevation change throughout the entire thing, to a place that we have over 150 here, or something, 160. It’s huge, right?”
Buescher pointed out that simulators can’t replicate the gut feel required to navigate Sonoma’s blind corners and dramatic elevation swings.
He added, “You come in, you have to learn what that looks like and how it affects putting power down and plan on blind corners, not because it’s a street course and there’s a wall there.
“It’s ’cause it’s a rolling hill and you have no clue what’s on the other side. It’s a trust factor. It takes laps to know where you’re at and where you’re pointed. And yeah, it’s a challenging race.”
“That impact was massive” –@Chris_Buescher glad that Cody Ware is OK after the hard head-on crash in the tires at Chicago.
He also talks about the number of road courses on the schedule and his strengths at Sonoma. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/S9RcP9YL2n
— Frontstretch (@Frontstretch) July 12, 2025
Despite the uphill climb, Buescher embraces the challenge. He applauded the track’s unique character, noting that it’s not just a series of flat, cookie-cutter corners. It’s not a 90-degree corner followed by another 90-degree corner. Rather, according to him, Sonoma has a lot of really great rhythm sections.
Buescher added that the approach to taking curbs has also changed with the Next Gen car. According to him, drivers, including himself, are less aggressive on them now compared to how Cup drivers attacked curbs with the older cars. But they used to air them out pretty good, too, he noted.
While today’s drivers have dialed it back a bit, Sonoma’s layout still offers enough nuance and rhythm to keep things interesting and enjoyable behind the wheel.
