In the foothills of the peaks that surround the Napa Valley in Northern California lies a true work of art, Sonoma Raceway. Once identified by oldies such as myself as Sears Point Raceway, this track is a masterpiece that cascades across substantial elevation change as it flows through the two-mile NASCAR circuit format. This is America’s Oran Park, save that there’s no threat from developers.
As the venue for last weekend’s NASCAR Xfinity and Cup double-header, it’s arguably the most fan-friendly race track I’ve ever been to. The sides of the natural amphitheatre that the circuit sits within provide views of up to 80 percent of the track with thousands of seats dug into the hillside as well as a huge grandstand on the start/finish line. And for those who choose to bring their RV (motorhome to you and me) there’s acres of parking, much of it high above the spectator areas looking down over the whole site.
That fan-friendly approach exudes through the paddock and General Admission areas with a remarkably sensible approach to the interactions between fans and race cars and little sign of over keen officials. Oh, the pleasure of self responsibility!
But that didn’t extend to the media centre. An over officious NASCAR press officer took offence when I quietly acknowledged SVG’s pole lap with a “YES” and a little fist pump. This lady has clearly never been near an F1 or MotoGP media centre when, for instance, a Spanish driver/rider puts in a great lap! In fact, unlike everywhere else at Sonoma Raceway, the media centre was totally and utterly devoid of atmosphere. Unfortunately, the side of NASCAR that has welcomed the likes of SVG, Will Brown and Cam Waters into the fold, hasn’t told the PR people that they need to accommodate the inevitable nationalistic emotions that can, and should, follow participation by overseas nationals. A media centre should be humming, interactive and social as much as anything. The NASCAR one was anything but that, and extremely unwelcoming. Maybe, one day, they’ll grow up as they see the potential for overseas media rights value with foreign drivers.
There’s no way that issue was going to interfere with my enjoyment of the on-track action though. Saturday evening’s Xfinity 79-lapper was exactly what the doctor ordered with SVG stamping his authority on the race. As his crew chief told me afterwards, “we won Practice, we won Quali and we won the Race so what more was there to do?” Absolutely right. The move on the #21 car of Austin Hill was a lot nicer than the move Hill had made on SVG at COTA several months ago, and was always going to happen. The NASCAR policing system was alive and well.
Meanwhile, in Cup, Will was certainly attracting plenty of comment with his practice performance. In the only part of the weekend where the car was 100 percent throughout, he excelled. The electrical gremlins from qualifying were never properly resolved and hence ruined his race after a brilliant first 15 laps or so. I have to say that I didn’t understand why the team elected not to try to resolve the issue. As the cars are in Parc Ferme post qualifying, that would have meant starting from the back, but Will’s pace was such that he was a definite top 10 finisher even from there if he’d avoided trouble.
Cam didn’t have quite the same pace as Will, but was playing a long game in the superb looking AUKUS-backed Mustang. He was getting into his stride when the accident at the hairpin ruined his day through no fault of his own. The RFK cars hadn’t been very quick pre-race, but Cam was quicker than team boss Brad Keselowski in the lead-up. The #17 car of team-mate Chris Buescher showed in the race that they actually did have good pace on the day with a third place finish.
A case of ‘if only’ for both our Aussie stars, frankly. Hopefully they get opportunities again in the future.
Regardless, Sonoma Raceway should be on the bucket list of any self-respecting race fan from Down Under. It’s one flight away from New Zealand or the East Coast of Australia, and the track is an easy drive north of San Francisco with plenty of accommodation available. Plus, unlimited wine opportunities for those interested as the Napa Valley and the surrounding hills are covered in vineyards.
It’s the viewing and the welcome at Sonoma Raceway that are the real attractions though.
What was apparent for me across the weekend was that there are definitely some lessons for Supercars to take onboard from NASCAR. Before we get to that though, there’s one that NASCAR needs to learn from Supercars. Their cars are simply too noisy. The straight through pipes are deafening to the point of discomfort even when some distance away. They share this trait with MotoGP. Both disciplines would do well just to knock the edge off the decibels. The family sitting next to me in the grandstands, huge F1 and IndyCar fans, left their first NASCAR event half way through simply because they and their kid couldn’t handle the noise.
On the other side of the ledger, the massive takeout for me is the way that NASCAR and the teams are set up to come in, set up, race, and depart the venue as fast and as efficiently as possible. The Sonoma weekend was a long one by their standards with the longer practice sessions on the Friday, but even so, the Cup drivers and crews rolled in on Friday morning (they weren’t allowed to access the trucks until 11am), straight through scrutineering and onto the track for practice. Post qualifying, the cars are under covers and the crew out of the venue within 30 minutes. And then post race, the whole show is done and dusted an hour later with everyone bar the winner packed and ready to roll.
This all gives them the ability to do more races. And that’s the key lesson.
For NASCAR, real two-day race meetings are a reality. They have to be in order to allow everyone time to live. They could, and should, be a part of Supercars for at least half the events in a season. Moreover, initiatives like Parc Ferme, can, and would, save money if used sensibly.
NASCAR learned a lot from Covid in terms of the potential for streamlining their operations. So did Supercars. But, unlike NASCAR, Supercars have reversed every money-saving initiative in the years since.
The opportunity for Supercars itself, and the teams, to all make more money whilst reinvigorating the category is there for the taking. Have they got the nous to realise it?
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