Christopher Bell Unravels Excitement for Unfavorable Sonoma Days After Fresh Repave

It’s a new year, and a newly resurfaced Sonoma Raceway is on the NASCAR schedule, with drivers eagerly waiting to try out the new pavement on the 3.2-mile road course. It got a new layer of tarmac laid after nearly 23 years, with the final restoration happening back in 2001. With the repaved surface added to the Cup Series schedule, Joe Gibbs Racing sensation Christopher Bell shared his delight to race at the technical road course on the new surface.

The #20 Toyota driver, according to a statement from the raceway, shared his thoughts, relaying how excited he is to race and looking to make the best out of the freshly laid tarmac in June despite his unfavorable stats at the venue.

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Sonoma Raceway is one of those rare road courses that always finds its way into the NASCAR schedule. Ever since its last re-pavement back in 2001, the picturesque road course has consistently been on the Cup Series schedule, with JGR’s Martin Truex Jr picking off the win in June last year, while the great 4-time Cup Series champion, Jeff Gordon, holds the record for dominating the track five times.

Reacting to the news of the major overhaul, 2023 championship four driver and JGR ace Christopher Bell couldn’t contain his thrill despite having a not-so-great track record at the venue. While his best is a P9 finish in 2023, According to the Instagram post by the Sonoma Raceway, the driver said, “Sonoma has always been a very technical, flowing road course. Now, with a repave, it’s going to add a lot of speed. I’m excited to see how it races.” 

Following the last resurfacing, the track has seen gradual surface degradation, typical of any other racing circuit, prompting the speedway authorities to hand over the responsibility of restoration to Bay Cities Paving & Grading of Concord, California. The re-pavement project includes both layouts of the road course that NASCAR has utilized in its races at the venue as well as the drag strip located in the infield.

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“The King,” Richard Petty, also reacts to Sonoma’s overhaul

For a long time, fans and drivers have been asking for a new surface as the asphalt kept on degrading each day, with the track being used for like 300 days a year. The Speedway Motorsports CEO, after careful consideration and personal driving time, decided to heed the pleas, handing over the resurfacing responsibilities to Bay Cities Paving & Grading of Concord.

In another video shared by the raceway, NASCAR’s legendary 7-time Cup Series champion, Richard Petty, shared his thoughts about the overhaul. The veteran said, “When I was around out here, I wish we had it paved where I could stay on the racetrack. So, that’ll stick better. It should make the racing a little bit more interesting. Because really, there’s really no rough places; there are just some tricky places that they’re not gonna change the race track at all, but they’ll stay exactly the same.”

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