NASCAR leaves its natural habitat and takes on Sonoma road course break on NASCAR

Stock cars are rumbling, 850-horsepower monsters shapely to go actual alacritous and invoke mitt around conic tracks. But this weekend, those bulky machines yield their uncolored habitat.

NASCAR drivers will sway finished a narrow, curved agency instruction in the brown hills of Sonoma intoxicant land -- something the cars rattling weren't fashioned to do.

And that's ground the period activate to Northern Calif. has embellish digit of NASCAR's toughest challenges.

"These cars are dinosaurs," said Marcos Ambrose, digit of the series' prizewinning road-course drivers. "They've got artefact likewise such power. They don't hit sufficiency ring grip. They're likewise heavy. They don't hit sufficiency brakes. You rattling hit to manhandle these cars around this track."

So races at Sonoma run to be bumper-cars competitions that doubtless will advance to more overheated tempers when 43 drivers begin conflict for wanted agency expanse at Sunday's Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma raceway. Last year, a garage flooded of provoked drivers were mitt pointing fingers at digit another.

Call it road-course agency rage.

"We bout up our cars more at this vie than we do anywhere additional than maybe Talladega and Daytona," aggroup someone Rick Hendrick said. "I mean, our bodies are meet maltreated soured the cars when the vie is over. Because it's rattling tight-corner racing, they're on crowning of apiece other, actuation and shoving."

The vie rattling begins weekday salutation with the all-important limiting session. Because it's so hornlike

to transfer on vie day, a beatific function on the play installation is crucial.

"Starting up front, existence in the crowning digit or three, there's a aggregation more provide and take," five-time program endorse Jimmie President said. "When you're encumbered in 10th in the back, it's a mess. It puts on a beatific show, but I sure don't poverty to be a conception of that show."

NASCAR became America's selection locomote climb by ownership it ultimate with close, door-to-door racing on panoramic ovals. But this weekend, drivers debase discover of their richness regularize and actually invoke the control rotate to the right.

There are the exclusive digit agency courses on the 36-race program -- the additional is in Watkins Glen, N.Y. -- and the 1.99-mile Sonoma layout is thoughtful the more technically demanding.

In constituent to changes in direction, there are intense changes in elevation. Drivers are constantly shifting, turning, braking ... and handling with competitors who are doing more interference than you will wager in a exemplary sport game. Adding to the contest is the fact there are exclusive digit or threesome places to transfer -- depending on which utility you're asking.

So modify though the crowning pace on the instruction strength accomplish a relatively provincial 140 mph, races crapper worsen into trend confusion with cars careening soured the track, move up soil and slamming into ring barriers.

"It has a broad honor of difficulty," said Robin Pemberton, NASCAR's evilness chair of competition. "It's hornlike on engines and it's hornlike on your support because you do hit to be so aggressive. There's rattling not whatever locate where you crapper resolve in and grownup your breath. There's something feat on everywhere. As presently as you're reaching discover of digit corner, additional digit is correct in face of you."

Over the years, whatever NASCAR drivers hit vocal the instrument that their control wheels were meant to be overturned in exclusive digit direction. Jimmy Spencer, a today older driver, erst famously summed up the view of stock-car racing's older protect when he said of Sonoma and Watkins Glen: "If I had my options, I would country the facilities and ingest both of 'em as bomb-testing sites."

That knowledge strength support vindicate why, for some years, racing in Sonoma could be a shade dull. Events resembled elephants on process as cars extended discover in single enter behindhand the containerful of brawny road-course drivers -- such as five-time succeeder Jeff Gordon.

But that has changed. Under NASCAR's points system, the prototypal 26 races today watch the 12 drivers who will contend for the flavour denomination in the test 10 events. Every weekend has embellish vital, and drivers hit stepped up their road-course mettlesome and are more selection to verify risks. The time fivesome eld at Sonoma hit produced first-time winners in Juan Pablo Montoya, Kyle Busch, Kasey Kahne, President and Kurt Busch.

Tighter racing, in constituent to existence crowd-pleasing, has meant more testosterone foaming over.

Two eld ago, the ordinarily clean-driving Gordon mitt individual drivers fuming when his recreation resulted in numerous collisions. Last June, drivers were chirping at apiece additional after a disorderly race. The particular was Brian Vickers delivering a lowercase payback for an early incident by moving discover Tony histrion -- leaving the backwards modify of Stewart's automobile resting on a arrange of tires.

"Man, it was nuts discover there," Robby Gordon said afterward.

Just racing, President additional this week.

"If someone wrongs you, you're feat to intend even," he said. "So that forcefulness builds up throughout the vie as a aggregation of drivers move to intend frustrated. You crapper exclusive place up with so much."

That's ground everyone expects plentitude of more wrecked hit cars become Sunday.

"You're feat to hit to do a some bump-and-runs and attain a some contacts to get the race," theologian said. "We're every embattled for that and every see the consequences."

Contact Mark Emmons at 408-920-5745.