The changing of the guard. NASCAR fans are getting used to that. Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, and soon Dale Earnhardt Jr. Summer returns, which means FOX leaves to be replaced by NBC.
NASCAR is and has always been a southern sport. Even with the massive boom in popularity we saw from the early 90s till the late 2000s, NASCAR's primary fan base and roots were always in the short tracks of the Deep South. Bumping, banging, and hard-nosed racing is where rivalries and champions were born. It's what led blue-collar workers to become racers and race fans.
Kevin Harvick played the pit strategy game correctly and made a pass for the lead in the closing laps to win for the first time in the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.
Despite a botched entry into the final turn, Kyle Larson won the pole for the Toyota/Save Mart 350 after posting the fastest time in the final round of Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series qualifying at Sonoma Raceway.
With the 2017 season nearing the halfway mark and Dale Earnhardt Jr. retiring at the end of it, the retirement gifts for NASCAR's favorite driver will come in greater frequency if past history is any indicator.
Jeff Gordon leads the series with five victories at the road course, including three consecutively, from 1998 – 2000. Tony Stewart has three trophies but did you know he captured the final win of his Cup career last year at Sonoma, ending an 84-race winless drought?
The NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series travels to Sonoma Raceway this weekend while the XFINITY Series and the Camping World Truck Series head to Iowa Speedway.
