Who's The Boss at Sonoma...

We have a change of pace this weekend with the upcoming road course race at Sonoma. We get to see intentional right turns and watch what city traffic looks like around rush hour in downtown New York City. Hmmm, that makes for an interesting thought to see a road course race in New York City, do you think people would line the streets to see that? Probably not.

Anyhow back to the race this weekend. Here are some of my random views:

1. I have been reading numerous articles out there about this race and all you hear about are specific drivers, for instance Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon. Okay, we know these two drivers are very good on these tracks and history shows us that but if you remember last year, history was changed when Pablo Montoya took the checkered flag and he did not do it the easy way and did it starting from 32nd. I believe we are going to see history once again change. One driver that I would like to point out that has really been overlooked is Patrick Carpentier. Yes, yes, I know what all of you are saying but despite sitting 38th in points and having an average finish of 33rd, he is going to end up surprising quite a few people.

2. How about them, well what are they calling them these days? Ahh yes, the road course ringers or even a better name in my opinion, the "road course warriors". This is one of the two times of the year that we see drivers getting called in to take over the seats of some of the less experienced Cup drivers. Is that really fair to the driver? Giving the fact that some of the younger drivers do not have the experience, is it up to the owners to make the call and dial 1-800-GETMEADRVR. I will admit that it is pretty interesting when they have the in car cams during these types of races. We usually get to see the Master, Mr. Boris "Big Hair" Said working those pedals and gear shifter. It gives the viewers a better idea of just how much effort it takes to do these types of races. Perhaps this will be Said's race because if you look at how his season has been, it is nothing to shake a stick at or even a toothpick for that matter. I have personally met Boris and he is one of the most down to earth people you could ever meet. He has the happy go lucky attitude and doesn't have that ego unlike alot of the Cup drivers, not that I am pointing any fingers at a specific driver but I have heard he likes M&M's.

3. The Dark Horse riding into Sonoma besides Patrick Carpentier could be David Ragan. I have been really impressed with this kids performance so far this year. He had big shoes to fill in taking over the ride from Mark Martin but David is being his own driver and not trying to show he is another Mark Martin. The media really has not been following him lately with all the hype of Kyle "KY Jelly" Busch taking over the spotlight, David is flying well below the radar and if people are not careful, he is going to pass them all as a blur. Watch out for this kid!!

4. Sponsorship Problems. Another road course expert is Robby Gordon and unfortunately his car will be without a sponsor this week or will it? How about last year when Monster Energy Drink slapped their colors on his car at the last minute. Robby can drive and whether or not he has a sponsor on his car will not change the way he drives. He is not afraid to take chances and doesn't back down from anyone. I know alot of people do not care for Robby Gordon but give credit where credit is due.

5. Is it Strategy or Luck? To be perfectly honest, this race is almost a crap shoot on how to win this race. Will it be fuel mileage? Maybe pit strategy? These races are so unpredictable and it is hard to determine what will really work at this track. That is why you see some of the crew chiefs throwing out the dice or shaking up their chicken bones, just kidding people. We all have to make a few jokes here and there.

I am really not a big fan of the road course races. I just don't see the excitement and it tends to get a bit boring. Don't get me wrong, I know there are alot of people out there that enjoy these types of races because we get to see Right turns, but I will take a race at Bristol or Lowe's any day of the week. Good luck to all the drivers this week and we shall see who will be "The Boss at Sonoma."