After 23 long years, the Sonoma Raceway was finally repaved and the initial reviews are encouraging. Regardless of the issues faced during the process, one can safely say that it has been successful and the response from drivers and fans has been positive. As far as lap times are concerned, they have gone down by seconds if a driver gets it right where the grip is on the track.
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NASCAR veteran Larry McReynolds analyzed the difference in speed during Friday’s practice session as he compared the lap times of Martin Truex Jr. in last season’s race and Kyle Larson in the recent practice session. While the 2017 Cup Series champion had recorded a lap time of 78.99, Larson did a 74.63 which is a huge difference of over four seconds.
“Where is the speed coming? Larson has over 13 seconds more wide-open throttle on than Truex did in that lap 2 of last year. So it’s all about grip and speed on that loud pedal,” McReynolds explained.
Early on in practice @KyleLarsonRacin is the fastest. pic.twitter.com/hPaqDULMNq
— Hendrick Motorsports (@TeamHendrick) June 7, 2024
Higher speed means that controlling the car will be that much more difficult, especially on a road course, but several drivers seemed to master the track quite well in the practice session on Friday.
Ryan Blaney clocks the fastest time in Sonoma practice
Ryan Blaney clocked the quickest speed of the session at 97.866 mph which would have been a track record had it happened in qualifying. The Team Penske star had a good performance in the last race and he will be looking to do the same in the Wine Country. Ty Gibbs was a close second with a speed of 97.829 mph and then came Australian Supercars racer Will Brown with 97.617 mph.
The high speeds of Sonoma will make Sunday’s race an intriguing affair. Many NASCAR drivers are not known for their road course racing skills so there can be a lot of cautions that have a big impact on the result.
