A full-track repave is not the only upgrade Sonoma Raceway got before this Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race. Turn 11 of the circuit has a new wall inside, which will make navigating the final turn of the venue trickier than before. Wrecks and pile-ups might be common as defending Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney believes that drivers will have to be much more careful in their approach.
Advertisement
“Yeah the thing is if someone wants to turn in on you, you’re gonna choose the car you’re outside of parked in the wall so. That’s just gonna be what it is , guys are just going to have to mindful that there’s….you can’t maybe throw these hellacious blocks like you normally see.”
“That would be the only thing, divebombs, guys blocking,” he said. Turn 11 used to have a tire barrier on the inside but the drivers over the years often pushed it backward and found grip in areas where the car shouldn’t even be on.
It mainly seems like a way that NASCAR ensures there are fewer track limit violations. But the new white wall also brings forth a change in the visual aspect that a lot of drivers might have trouble adapting to in the early going.
“We’ve done the best we could to figure out what happened and take measures to make sure it doesn’t happen again” @blaney on the fuel miscalculation at Gateway that saw him run out of fuel on the last lap.
Blaney also spoke about the Sonoma repave.
📹 @stephen_stumpf pic.twitter.com/aSs4i1OrcL
— Frontstretch (@Frontstretch) June 8, 2024
For Blaney, Sonoma is going to be a tough test as the defending champion is running out of time to secure his playoff qualification and not rely on points at the end of the regular season.
Ryan Blaney qualifies well at Sonoma after weeks of bad luck
The defending Cup Series champion has never won at the road course but he started the weekend well with an effort good enough to qualify P3.
In the last few weekends, Blaney has had miserable luck. He ran into the wall at the Charlotte Motor Speedway which ruined his chance of finishing high up the pack.
Ryan Blaney was fastest in practice. #NASCAR
23 cars practiced faster than the previous track record at Sonoma. 😳 pic.twitter.com/c80wVDsGFo
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) June 7, 2024
The #12 Ford Mustang driver’s outing at Gateway saw his car run out of fuel on the final lap of the event. Luck has not been kind to the Cup Series champion ever since the season got underway.
However, with some confidence after a brilliant qualifying effort, the Team Penske star will be looking to take full advantage of his high starting position on Sunday.
