Ford Performance: NASCAR Sonoma Notes

FORD PERFORMANCE: NASCAR SONOMA NOTES

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series hits the road this weekend for the first of two road course races this season. Sonoma Raceway plays host to Sunday’s Toyota SaveMart 350 in which Ford is the defending winner. Here is a look closer look at Ford’s history on the 12-turn track.

THE FIRST TIME…Ford took the checkered flag at Sonoma Raceway it came in controversial fashion in 1991. That’s because Davey Allison, the man credited with winning the Banquet Frozen Foods 300, was sent spinning by Ricky Rudd as they were approaching the white flag. Even though Rudd ended up crossing the finish line first, he received the black flag from NASCAR for rough driving and awarded Allison with the trophy. The win was his first and only one on a road course and snapped an eight-race streak that had seen either Rudd or Rusty Wallace end up in victory lane at Watkins Glen International or Sonoma Raceway.

THE LAST TIME…Ford won a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series was last season Carl Edwards snapped an 11-race winless streak for the manufacturer. Edwards held off Jeff Gordon on the final lap to post the first road win of his NSCS career. After qualifying fourth, Edwards and crew chief Jimmy Fennig opted to employ a two-stop race strategy and while it didn’t look like it would pay off early, it did in the end as a well-timed caution on lap 71 was the perfect remedy. Edwards had just pitted on lap 70 when NASCAR threw a caution for debris on lap 71. While most of the field decided to pit for new tires, Edwards and fellow Ford driver Marcos Ambrose stayed out and gained the necessary track position that put both in position to win.

Ambrose took the lead from Clint Bowyer on lap 81 and brought Edwards with him, but another restart with 25 to go saw Ambrose and Edwards sharing the front row. Edwards got the jump and took the lead, which he never surrendered, although a hard-charging Gordon made it interesting on the final lap.IN BETWEEN…Ford has a total of seven NASCAR Sprint Cup Series wins at Sonoma Raceway by seven different drivers, and even though Robert Yates Racing no longer exists, the organization remains tied for second in owner’s wins at Sonoma Raceway with three. RYR is tied with Joe Gibbs Racing after posting wins with Davey Allison (1991), Ernie Irvan (1994) and Ricky Rudd (2002).

A win this weekend would be the first on a road course for any of the current crop of Ford drivers on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series roster.

David Gilliland made his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series debut on June 25, 2006 at Sonoma Raceway and finished 32nd driving a Dodge for car owner Brian Mullett. That debut came one week after he won his first NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Kentucky Speedway and led to a full-time ride with Ford’s Robert Yates Racing two months later.

FORD SONOMA RACE WINNERS

1991 – Davey Allison

1993 – Geoffrey Bodine

1994 – Ernie Irvan

1996 – Rusty Wallace

1997 – Mark Martin

2002 – Ricky Rudd

2014 – Carl Edwards