Sonoma – Syndication Server

Rodgers takes XGT Mustang to Sonoma Trans Am pole

XGT’s Will Rodgers in the No. 12 Central Welding Supply Ford Mustang was quickest in qualifying, earning the Pole Award for the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli Western Championship at Sonoma Raceway with a time of 1m30.401s. Much like in practice Friday, the XGT class topped the speed charts, claiming the top four starting positions for Saturday’s race.

Thunderhill race one winner Tim Barber in the No. 33 DIG Motorsports Ford Mustang was fastest in the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series with a best time of 1m34.138s, while David Hampton in the No. 14 AR Motorsports Porsche Cayman GT4 CS MR was best in GT with a time of 1m39.559s.

“The weekend so far has been, honestly, pretty great,” said Rodgers. “Pretty flawless by this Chris Evans Race Cars/Jefferson Racing XGT program. These guys are the best in the business, so usually these weekends go pretty well. The car they provided me, as always, is lightning fast. These XGT cars are so much fun to drive. With the repave here at Sonoma, now that it’s super grippy, we’re going really fast. I had even more in me in qualifying, but I got stuck behind a lapped car coming to the line. I think we were definitely in the 1m29 bracket, which was my goal, but regardless, still on the pole. Happy about that. Again, I’m just excited to show the performance of these XGT cars, and why they belong as one of the top classes in the Trans Am Series. I’m honored to race these cars, and we’ll try to continue the winning streak later today.”

Race one of the Sonoma SpeedTour will be contested Saturday at 1:00 p.m. PT.

RESULTS

Pato O’Ward drives Hamilton’s 2008 MP4/23 at Sonoma

Pato O’Ward gets to pilot Lewis Hamilton’s 2008 Formula 1 world championship-winning McLaren MP4/23 and its screaming Mercedes 2.4L V8 at Sonoma Raceway during the 2023 edition of the Velocity Invitational vintage event and describes the experience …

Or click HERE to watch on YouTube.

Tony Kanaan drives Ayrton Senna’s 1991 MP4/6 title winner at Sonoma

Tony Kanaan got to drive his hero Ayrton Senna’s world championship-winning 1991 McLaren MP4/6 at Sonoma Raceway during the 2023 edition of the Velocity Invitational vintage event and shared his thoughts about the run with RACER’s Marshall Pruett …

Or click HERE to watch on YouTube.

Pato O’Ward drives Bruce McLaren’s M7C at Sonoma

Arrow McLaren IndyCar driver Pato O’Ward goes back in time and gets to drive Bruce McLaren’s 1969 McLaren M7C Formula 1 car at Sonoma Raceway during the 2023 edition of the Velocity Invitational vintage racing event. Or click HERE to watch on …

Or click HERE to watch on YouTube.

5 things to know about Sonoma, a Wine Country getaway with a side of golf

Of all of California’s wine regions, Sonoma may be the easiest with which to fall in love.

After all, this is the epicurean capital of the United States, and the restaurants, wineries and tasting rooms rival anything Europe has to offer.

With its Mediterranean-style climate, Sonoma County is the most diverse wine-growing region in the country as well as the largest producer of wine in Northern California with more than 40 grape varietals and 400 wineries.

Napa Valley is 20 minutes away, Russian River Valley is a half hour away, Dry Creek and Alexander Creek about 40 minutes away, and San Francisco 45 minutes.

Here are four more things to know about Sonoma and a Wine Country getaway with a side of golf.

Exclusive: Check out the new Golfweek Wine Club

Herrera secures first NHRA Western Swing sweep since 2009

Points leader Gaige Herrera became the first rider in Pro Stock Motorcycle history – and the first NHRA competitor since 2009 – to sweep the three-race NHRA Western Swing, racing to the victory on Sunday at Sonoma Raceway at the 35th annual Denso …

Justin Ashley (Top Fuel) and J.R. Todd (Funny Car) also won the 12th of 21 races during the 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season.

In the final round, Herrera put together a run of 6.775s at 198.12mph on his Vance & Hines/Mission Foods Suzuki to defeat defending world champion Matt Smith, who broke on the starting line. Herrera, who was also the No. 1 qualifier, collected his sixth win in what has been a dominant 2023 campaign, rolling to consecutive wins in Denver, Seattle and then Sonoma on Sunday.

He reached the finals with wins against Ryan Oehler, Marc Ingwersen and Karen Stoffer, putting together an incredible three-race stretch in the first season Pro Stock Motorcycle ran the full Western Swing. Herrera also notched a Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge win and a victory in the Pro Stock Motorcycle All-Star Callout over the past three weeks, becoming just the eighth different competitor in NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series history to sweep the Western Swing.

“I can’t even put this into words,” Herrera said. “To be able to do this and accomplish what we have over the past three weeks, it’s incredible. The Denver win got us the momentum and the drive to keep pushing forward to get the sweep, and to do it, I never thought I would add my name to that part of history.

“I try to focus on the big picture, but as soon as go on the starting line, I’m focused on what I need to do. The class is tough, but I’ve got one bad machine right now. The team has my back and I was able to do my job today. I’m not a big person to show emotion, but when that win light came on, I was screaming and yelling in my helmet, and all that. To do what all of this, I’m out of words. I don’t talk much as it is, but this is just an incredible feeling.”

Smith advanced to the finals for the second time this season and 73rd time in his career with victories against Lance Bonham, Steve Johnson and Eddie Krawiec.

In Top Fuel, Justin Ashley moved back into the points lead with his fifth victory of the season, slipping past Antron Brown in the finals with a run of 3.778s at 328.78mph in his Phillips Connect/Toyota dragster. It gives the young standout his first career victory at Sonoma Raceway and the 10th win in his career, ending the Western Swing on a positive note.

He reached the finals with round wins against Doug Kalitta, No. 1 qualifier Austin Prock and Josh Hart, defeating Brown by just 0.001s in the championship round in what was a thrilling side-by-side run. The victory gives Ashley a 32-point lead over Steve Torrence heading into the final three races of the regular season.

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“It was tough out there,” said Ashley, who also earned his 100th career round win in the semifinals. “The competition is so tough right now in Top Fuel and it feels like four final rounds every time you get up there. The margin of error is so small and it takes a real team effort to get a win like this. I was happy to win such a close race against Antron and that’s the way to close out a weekend like this at Sonoma Raceway.

“We just had a great car on race day. This team just doesn’t flinch and they’ve got such a good handle on the car. We’re just focused on what we need to do each and every time and that speaks volumes with the culture and leadership we have. We’ve got a lot of championship-winning people on this team and that makes a big difference.”

Brown reached the final round for the third time in 2023 and the 133rd time in his career, getting past Mike Salinas, defending world champ and defending event winner Brittany Force and Torrence.

Todd put together a weekend to remember in Funny Car, making a clean sweep at Sonoma Raceway with his victory over Chad Green in the final round. The former world champion also broke a 52-race winless streak on Sunday, knocking off Green with a run of 3.972s at 322.81mph in his DHL Toyota GR Supra. Todd, whose last win before Sunday came at the season-opener in Gainesville in 2021, won the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge on Saturday and then used that momentum a day later to collect his 20th overall win and his fourth at Sonoma Raceway.

The Kalitta Funny Car started the day with round wins against Blake Alexander, No. 1 qualifier Bob Tasca III and points leader Matt Hagan, finishing the day with a victory against Green. After coming close to a victory on the Western Swing, including a runner-up last weekend in Seattle, Todd was thrilled to close the deal in Sonoma and get Kalitta Motorsports back on the winning track.

“It’s been a long road to get here,” Todd said. “We’re getting a good handle on it and the consistency is coming around. When you’re going down the track like we are, it just gives everyone more confidence. I keep saying Funny Car is the toughest class in the sport and it’s definitely not easy. When you go two-plus years without winning, you don’t know if it’s going to happen again.

“This is my favorite track on the tour. I love coming here and anytime you can win here, it’s special. I caught myself going down the track; I don’t think I’ve had the gas pushed down that hard. I was trying to shove it through the floorboard. I was just wanting those win lights to come on and when that win light comes on in the final, it’s just instant relief. To come back and win a week after a runner-up (in Seattle), it’s just awesome.”

Green advanced to his first career final round on Sunday, knocking off Cruz Pedregon, Paul Lee and back-to-back world champ Ron Capps. Hagan leaves the Western Swing with a 19-point lead over Capps.

The NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series returns to action on Aug. 11-13 with the 34th annual Menards NHRA Nationals presented by PetArmor at Heartland Motorsports Park in Topeka, Kan.

Herrera does a Saturday double at NHRA Sonoma Nationals

Pro Stock Motorcycle points leader Gaige Herrera continued his dominant season on Saturday at Sonoma Raceway, winning the first-ever NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle All-Star Callout as part of this weekend’s 35th annual Denso NHRA Sonoma Nationals. In the …

In the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge, Steve Torrence (Top Fuel) and J.R. Todd (Funny Car) both won the bonus event in Sonoma. Austin Prock (Top Fuel) and Bob Tasca III (Funny Car) each qualified No. 1 at the 12th of 21 races during the 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season.

In the final round of the Pro Stock Motorcycle All-Star Callout, Herrera went 6.756s at 196.42mph on his Vance & Hines/Mission Foods Suzuki to defeat Angie Smith and collect yet another win in a bonus event in 2023. Adding in his three wins in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge, that gives the points leader four specialty race wins. Herrera’s Friday pass of 6.728s at 199.94mph held up to hand him a seventh No. 1 qualifier this season. On Sunday, he’ll also look to become the first rider in Pro Stock Motorcycle history to sweep the three-race NHRA Western Swing.

“It’s been amazing,” Herrera said. “I was out of breath after that. It was a big one and I wanted it really bad. There’s nothing like winning a Wally, but to win this first Callout for the class is pretty cool. It’s awesome for the whole team and I’m so happy right now. The amount of effort this team puts into these bikes is really amazing and it’s all paid off.

“This is special because a win like this takes a lot as a team. You get bragging rights and something like this is good for the sport and the class. We’re in a great position (to sweep the Western Swing). I’ve got all the confidence in the world in my team. I’m very excited and we’ll see what happens.”

Matt Smith qualified second thanks to his 6.729s at 200.23mph from Friday, while Eddie Krawiec’s 6.771s at 199.1mph put him third.

In Top Fuel, Torrence won his second straight Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge, following up his impressive Seattle weekend by beating Clay Millican on a holeshot in the finals of the bonus race in his Capco Contractors/Toyota dragster. Torrence went 3.7888s at 326.08mph, using a 0.067s reaction time to best Millican’s run of 3.781mph. Torrence moved back into the points lead with his Seattle sweep and will look to continue that momentum with another double-up event on Sunday in Sonoma.

“Everything is going really well for us right now,” Torrence said. “The car has showed glimmers of hope throughout last year, mainly at the end of the year and now this year. The consistency is finally coming there. To win on a holeshot, that always makes you feel good as a driver. That was the best light I’ve had all weekend. I’ve been pretty late on the tree and I was just amped up.

“When you go up there, it’s not just another round of qualifying, it’s a race win. We’re going to try to finish this Western Swing with a win and keep this momentum going.”

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Prock hung onto his first No. 1 qualifier this year in his Montana Brands/Rocky Mountain Twist Chevrolet dragster thanks to his 3.704s at 331.36mph from Friday. He also put together a strong final run to close out qualifying on Saturday as he looks for his second win this season. Torrence finished second in qualifying with a 3.706s at 329.67mph and Antron Brown’s 3.721s at 329.75mph has him third.

“The No. 1s are very cool,” Prock said. “This is only my second in my career and this is my third season. They’re very hard to come by. When you qualify No. 1, it all goes to the race team. It shows that your crew chiefs and crew out did everybody out there and that’s very special. This was the first No. 1 qualifier for Chris Cunningham and Joe Barlam as a tandem so that was really special. Everybody is really proud of how this team is working and hopefully we can turn this into four round wins tomorrow.”

Todd enjoyed his biggest moment of the 2023 Funny Car season on Saturday, picking up his first win in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge with a run of 3.977s at 322.81mph in his DHL Toyota GR Supra. Blake Alexander broke on the starting line, but Todd made a solid pass to claim the victory in the bonus race – his first win of any kind since winning the season-opener at Gainesville in 2021. After racing well thus far on the Western Swing, including a runner-up in Seattle, Todd broke through in a major way on Saturday, also defeating Chad Green in the bonus race. He’ll look for a double-up weekend, which would further the team’s momentum this year.

“Any win is a good win,” Todd said. “I feel let the last two slip away from us in Denver and the final round in Seattle. It’s been a while since we’ve won anything so this is good momentum headed into race day and hopefully we can finish it off tomorrow. I feel like we’ve been building momentum since [Norwalk] with our DHL Toyota GR Supra.

“We’ve definitely been knocking on the door of a win. It just goes to show how hard it is to win in Funny Car right now. Just when you think you’ve got it where you need it and it’s going to be your day, somebody like Tim Wilkerson (Seattle winner) jumps up and snatches it from you. So, hopefully we can ride this wave of momentum into the final again at one of my favorite tracks. It would be really special.”

Tasca drove to his fourth No. 1 qualifier this season during the final session thanks to run of 3.938s at 324.05mph in his Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang, making a huge move after struggling during the first three sessions. He wasn’t able to make a run under the lights on Friday, but more than made up for to close out qualifying as he looks to defend his Sonoma victory on Sunday. Alexis DeJoria finished second in qualifying with a 3.942s at 326.56mph and Ron Capps’ 3.942s has him third heading into eliminations.

“That was critical data for us,” Tasca said. “Now we know we can push when we need to and we can pull back if we have to. I’m so impressed with what we’ve done and I’m looking forward to tomorrow. I love racing here. It’s one of my top five tracks and I always seem to do well here. I’m ready for tomorrow and I know my guys are going to be ready. We can run on a hot and cool track and this team is just going to keep getting better and better.”

Eliminations for the Denso NHRA Sonoma Nationals begin at 10:30 a.m. PT on Sunday at Sonoma Raceway.

Sonoma the next stop for Ferrari Challenge

The Ferrari Challenge season continues its North American schedule with its fifth stop of 2023 at the Sonoma Raceway. The Sonoma circuit has been a mainstay of the calendar with the championship visiting for the third consecutive year. But this year offers a new wrinkle for the drivers as they will have to tackle different layout than what they’ve come to expect. In the 2023 edition, drivers will use the 7a option at the top of the circuit before following the original layout of the circuit and eschewing the chicane at Turn 9.

This new challenge will offer a new variable for drivers and their Ferrari 488 Challenge Evos as they work to further develop their championship ambitions across the four categories of the championship.

Trofeo Pirelli
Matt Kurzejuewski (Ferrari of Beverly Hills) has assumed control of the category, leading over Roberto Perrina (Ferrari of Seattle) by 22 points as the season rounds into the second half. The chaos of Montreal struck, as it always seems to do, but in this case it bit Kurzejewski’s nearest challenger the hardest as Jason McCarthy (Wide World Ferrari) could not manage to secure a podium in either of the two races, and thus saw his gap expand to now twenty-six points from what was previously only 15.

The big winner in Montreal was undoubtedly Roberto Perrina, however, who dodged trouble and stood on the second step of the podium in both races, leapfrogging himself into second in the standings. In the AM category, it was a bit more business as usual, as Justin Rothberg (Ferrari of Palm Beach) took the win in race 1, and Tony Davis (Continental Autosport) secured the win in race 2. Rothberg’s pole position and fastest lap served to increase the gap between them slightly, now at four points, but nevertheless the two are neck and neck. Marc Muzzo (Ferrari of Ontario) however, saw his challenge take a bit of a step back as two fourth-place finishes were the best he could muster on home-turf. He is now twenty-three points back and will need a strong weekend at Sonoma to re-enter the fray at the very top.

Coppa Shell
Cameron Root (Ron Tonkin Gran Turismo) continues his run at the top of the Coppa Shell standings, but saw his lead eroded by the strong performance of Sureel Choksi (Ferrari of Denver). While Root stood on the podium in Race 1, it was Choksi on the top step in race two while Root failed to score any points. Root’s lead is still comfortable at 14 points, but one more strong result from Choksi, or a missed opportunity from Root will make this a very compelling contest. And we cannot forget David Voronin (Foreign Cars Italia) who currently sits in third, three points behind Choksi.

Voronin’s Montreal adventure certainly fit the mold, with a win in race 1, but no points scored in race 2. In the Am category, Lisa Clark (Ferrari of Beverly Hills) found her mojo again as she stood on the top step of the podium in race 1 at Montreal and secured a fifth-place finish in race 2. That allowed her to grow her lead over Dan Cornish (Ferrari of Austin) who sits twelve points back, but also took his turn at the top of the podium in race 2. Lance Cawley (Ferrari of Atlanta) currently occupies the third spot, but will need to regain some of his early-season success to sustain that position as he only holds a twelve point advantage over the rest of the Coppa Shell AM field at the moment.

Schedule
Following testing sessions on Wednesday and Thursday, the championship will begin their official practice sessions on Friday at 8:00am (all times in Pacific Time). These sessions will trade time with sessions dedicated to the Club Challenge and Club Competizioni GT programs. Cars will be on track through 7:00pm. Qualifying and racing sessions will begin on Saturday with qualifying starting at 10:10am and races at 2:10pm. All qualifying and racing sessions will be streamed on live.ferrari.com. Sunday’s schedule will similarly begin at 10:10am with qualifying sessions while the races will begin at 1:40pm. All sessions on Sunday will also be streamed live on live.ferrari.com.

TV ratings: Sonoma, Le Mans

Back on FOX for last week’s road race at Sonoma, the NASCAR Cup Series averaged a 1.65 Nielsen rating and 2.912 million household viewers, per numbers from ShowBuzzDaily.com. Last year’s’s Sonoma race aired on FS1 and averaged 1.30/2.305m. The …

Back on FOX for last week’s road race at Sonoma, the NASCAR Cup Series averaged a 1.65 Nielsen rating and 2.912 million household viewers, per numbers from ShowBuzzDaily.com. Last year’s’s Sonoma race aired on FS1 and averaged 1.30/2.305m.

The Xfinity Series race from Sonoma Saturday on FS1 averaged 0.46/814,000 viewers. about the same as last year’s Truck Series support race at Sonoma (0.44/777,000, also on FS1.

The NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series averaged 0.15/248,000 viewers on FS1 for delayed coverage of the finals from Bristol last Sunday, although delayed coverage of qualifying earlier in the day actually had more viewers (0.17/262K). Meanwhile the Bristol-staged, rain-postponed finals for Epping on FS1 peaked with coverage of Round 1 on Friday night, averaging 0.11/187,000.

Coverage of the 24 Hours of Le Mans on MotorTrend averaged 219,000 household viewers for the opening 540-minute “episode” starting at 9am on Saturday, and 151,000 viewers for the final 300-minute portion that began at 6am ET. Both those are up from last year on MT’s cable network, where Le Mans averaged 122,000 viewers for the opening 8.5-hour segment while Sunday’s concluding 4.5 hours averaged 118,000.

NASCAR explains Reddick’s Sonoma penalty

NASCAR appreciated Tyler Reddick not shedding debris around Sonoma Raceway when he suffered a flat tire late in Sunday’s race, but it still had to enforce the rule book. The left-front tire on Reddick’s 23XI Racing Toyota went down coming off Turn …

NASCAR appreciated Tyler Reddick not shedding debris around Sonoma Raceway when he suffered a flat tire late in Sunday’s race, but it still had to enforce the rule book.

The left-front tire on Reddick’s 23XI Racing Toyota went down coming off Turn 11 with 14 laps to go. It was an inopportune time for the issue as Reddick has already passed pit road and would have had to limp his wounded car back around the 1.99-mile course.

Instead, Reddick hooked a right and drove across the ‘island’, which is the center section between the straightaway coming to Turn 11 and the frontstretch. NASCAR penalized Reddick for cutting the course and made him serve a pass-through penalty.

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“Obviously, it changes it time and distance of the race,” NASCAR Cup Series director Brad Moran told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on Tuesday. “So yes, he did go down pit road and got his tires changed, but came back well ahead of where he would have. We appreciate the fact he didn’t tear stuff up down the racetrack, but unfortunately, we have rules that you cannot shortcut the course, and that was a shortcut back to pit road. He saved about 90% of the racetrack.

“We reviewed it and made sure we were on the same page, but under different circumstances, that could have looked a lot worse. It was heads-up driving by Tyler to do what he did; he probably gained some time even in doing that with the stop and the drive-through. Unfortunately, that one’s in the rule (book), and we would have had to enforce that, and after reviewing that, we made that call.”

Reddick finished 33rd in the Toyota / Save Mart 350. He was one lap off the pace at the finish.

In explaining his move, Reddick told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio earlier in the week that NASCAR officials had told his team he was penalized for missing the commitment line to pit road. Either way, Reddick doesn’t regret the move.

“I thought morally it was the right thing to do,” Reddick said. “I didn’t know who was leading at the time, but I knew there was no way I would have made it around that racetrack had I gone the full course. By the time I got to pit road, I would have gotten in the way of the leaders, and it would have been a real mess.

“I’d do it again, even if I get penalized or penalized worse. I’m not going to ruin someone’s race; especially as it turned out being (Toyota teammate) Martin Truex’s day. I’m really glad we didn’t bring the caution out there by going around the racetrack and potentially changing the outcome for those guys.”