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 The news that the International Speedway Corporation, which shares
the same ownership as NASCAR, will begin operating one of
California's premier road-course circuits has led to some
speculation about a Sprint Cup event being added to the schedule at
Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey.
This news comes just before NASCAR makes its appearance this weekend
farther north, at Sonoma Raceway.
Outside of San Francisco's Bay Area and upstate New York -- which
hosts a race on the Watkins Glen road circuit each August -- there
are NASCAR fans who would just as soon see zero road-racing circuits
on the schedule, much less a third one added.
On the other hand, when defending series champion Kevin Harvick was
asked earlier this year how NASCAR might spice things up for its
fans and pump up TV ratings, he suggested a road course be included
in the Sprint Cup Chase for the Championship.
If NASCAR added a 37th race to its schedule at Laguna Seca, why not
move the established road-course race at Sonoma Raceway into the
Chase schedule later in the year? The Sprint Cup could run a race at
Laguna Seca in June to fill Sonoma's summer date.
This may seem a little far-fetched, especially because NASCAR
already has stated it has no plans to run a Sprint Cup event at
Laguna Seca, saying the 11-turn circuit is not suited for Cup cars.
But, if the sanctioning body is looking at different rules packages
for different ovals, why not establish rules for road-course cars
that would make them work better under braking and turning right and
left?
The Sonoma circuit is rated as the most technically challenging of
all road circuits in America. So if the Cup cars can compete there,
why not Laguna Seca?
It would hardly dilute a schedule dominated by ovals to add another
road-racing event, and it might even bring in more fans. NASCAR is
concerned about gaining more followers in the younger demographic.
Some of the world's most popular video racing takes place on road
courses, not ovals. The Gran Turismo video-game series, for example,
has sold more than 70 million copies. So, road racing would seem to
be a good fit for the future.
The Sonoma circuit works well for NASCAR fans, in part, because it
has been adjusted to a modified oval, with two traditional turns
eliminated. Generally, fans want to see the cars come past often, as
they do on ovals. The shortening of the Sonoma course and the added
speed have cars passing each grandstand more often. Sonoma has the
added benefit of elevation changes and a bowl-like layout, enabling
fans to see multiple turns simultaneously -- a situation that also
exists at Laguna Seca.
Once called Sears Point after a geographic landmark, Sonoma presents
NASCAR and its sponsors an opportunity to appear in the Northern
California market, which has no suitable ovals. For fans in the San
Francisco Bay Area, it's the only opportunity to see California-born
star drivers such as Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Harvick.
Traditionally, NASCAR has raced wherever it could sell tickets and
get into markets that helped the sanctioning body solidify its
status as a national championship. In the 1950s, NASCAR's premier
series raced at Road America in Wisconsin and on the airport circuit
in Linden, N.J. -- where a Jaguar won the lone event in 1954. NASCAR
began racing in Riverside, Calif., in 1958 -- a run that continued
until 1988, shortly before the track turned into a housing
development.
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In addition to giving NASCAR a race near Los Angeles, the Riverside
track's high-speed bends and the gloriously challenging Turn 9, a
right-hand sweeper, produced some compelling racing. Team owner
Leonard Wood said he and his brother Glen liked to go out to Turn 9
during practice and stand just on the other side of the wall to
watch Dan Gurney power his way through the sweeper in one of their
Fords. Just for the thrill.
The racing at Sonoma has been anything but dull. In the third race
there in 1991, Richard Petty had one of the heaviest crashes of his
career, and Ricky Rudd spun Davey Allison's Ford coming out of the
final turn, then crossed the finish line first. Rudd was relegated
to the last driver on the lead lap after a time penalty for rough
driving administered by NASCAR. To this day, the restarts when the
entire field rushes up the steep hill to Turn 1 are nothing short of
breathtaking. There's as much action in Turn 11's braking zone as on
the high banks at Bristol.
At Watkins Glen, it's worth the price of admission just to watch
drivers race up the hill in the Esses or try to out-brake one
another at the bus stop chicane. Turn 1, a downhill right-hander, is
a showdown each time the green flag waves on restarts.
So what's not to like about road circuits? At Laguna Seca, the famed
corkscrew turn and the hairpin leading to the front straight would
invariably produce some fender-banging action, as would the downhill
left-hand loop at Turn 2.
Given the debate about how to improve overtaking on ovals that has
led to a complicated political hot potato of changing rules on a
race-by-race basis, road racing has built-in excitement. So, it's
hard to argue with Harvick's suggestion to schedule one during the
Chase. And Laguna Seca could well offer a method for doing that.
While Sonoma enjoys its status as being just a few hills away from
Napa Valley, Laguna Seca is just south of the densely populated
Silicon Valley. It's within relatively easy distance of longtime
racing hotbeds Modesto, Fresno and Bakersfield, hometown to Harvick.
Harvick, of course, would like to see a road circuit in the Chase
because he's relatively good on them -- and, in the case of Sonoma,
it's close to home. But he has yet to win at Sonoma or start on the
pole, and his average finish is not much better than the other
drivers headed for this year's Chase. So his suggestion that a road
circuit could generate more excitement during the Chase has merit --
even if NASCAR continues to view Laguna Seca as a non-starter.
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