The Road-Course to Redemption

With only 11 races left until the cutoff for the Chase, time is running out for a number of teams outside the top 10 in points.

The competition is so tough this season that there doesn’t appear to be a driver that can go on a hot streak similar to Brad Keselowski’s remarkable run to make the Chase in 2011.

For a few drivers outside the top 10 looking in, the schedule could not have come to a better place than Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California, a road course that has been dubbed by Kevin Harvick as NASCAR’s most difficult track.

Unlike the 34 other weekends on NASCAR’s Sprint Cup schedule, the two road course races bring out the best in some drivers.

For others like Harvick, they can’t wait to get it over with and back to tracks with strictly left turns.

Unfortunately for Harvick, Sonoma presents both left and right turns. However, there’s a select group of drivers outside the top 10 that love the challenge and hope that turning “right” will steer their season in the “right” direction.

Any driver is capable of doing what Keselowski did last year, but the race to the cutoff after race 26 is dwindling down. In order to make the Chase of 2012 teams have to capitalize on tracks where they know they should be successful.

Road course races are often taken for grant it, but this year the road courses can help drivers make the Chase. After all, all drivers fighting for the wildcard only has one win.

Winning on the road course race can catapult road experts like Ambrose, Gordon, and Montoya into the contention for one of those merited spots.

For these 3 teams, crunch time begins with the complexity of Sonoma, much to their delight.

DRIVERS ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN

Jeff Gordon:  Undoubtedly NASCAR’s king of the road, Gordon practically holds every major record at Sonoma (wins, top5’s, top10’s). An up and down season has plagued Gordon, but coming to a track where Gordon has 5 wins has to have team 24 ready to pounce this weekend.

Gordon hasn’t won here since 2006, but he has an average finish of 5.2 since that win, including a 2^nd last year. Expect Gordon to be a contender before all is said and done, taking all chances to get see victory lane.

Marcos Ambrose: Last week’s pole at Michigan was huge for Ambrose and team. Backing it up with a solid 9^th place finish was evidence that Richard Petty Motorsports has made tremendous gains with catching the competition. Ambrose currently sits 17^th in the points and isn’t likely to race his way into the 10. Though he badly wants to win on an oval, it’s the road courses that Ambrose needs to win if he wants to make the Chase.  Given his record and abilities, I’d say he has a really good shot.

He broke through and won Watkins Glen last year, but at Sonoma he isn’t too shabby. After making an ill advised mistake and stalling the car while saving fuel late in the race, Ambrose lost a Sonoma race in 2010 after dominating all day. Sonoma has been good for Ambrose. Can he break through this weekend?

There are about 42 other drivers that know he will be a threat for the win. Ambrose starts on the pole. So far so good.

Juan Pablo Montoya:  If someone had told Juan that hitting the jet dryer at Daytona would cause his season to go up in smoke, he probably wouldn’t believe it. If you told him that he still has a chance to make the Chase, he would say, “tienes toda la razon,” you’re damn right. Montoya’s season has been a complete disappointment so far. For a driver that has raced on road courses throughout his illustrious career, a stop in wine country California can turn a bad season around in a heartbeat.

Montoya has won at both Sonoma (2007) and Watkins Glen (2010) and normally runs in the top 10 at these tracks. Sonoma requires aggression and there’s not a more forceful driver than Montoya. If he’s in contention late in the race, expect the Target car to have one aim, seeing the smoke. Rather than jet fuel, burning rubber from the tires will be the only smoke Montoya wants to see. Like Ambrose, Montoya needs to win both to make the Chase.

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