Last weekend’s race at Sonoma Raceway delivered everything it promised and perhaps more. From a near-record (8) caution flag runs in the early exchanges of the race, to a clean battle for the win in the final segment between Kyle Larson and Martin Truex Jr, it’s not surprising to see drivers now focusing on getting better at road racing, as it’s no longer a novelty event.

Over the years, there have been the likes of Jeff Gordon, Ricky Rudd, and even Marcus Ambrose who set the tone for dominance on the road course races. But, with the Next Gen era now taking over, Kevin Harvick feels the likes of Chase Elliott, Shane van Gisbergen, and Michael McDowell are setting up the blueprint for other racers to follow.

Road-course racing is not a challenge anymore for modern-day NASCAR driver

While the Oval certainly dominated the sport’s earliest schedules, stock car racing has expanded its frontier well beyond traditional racing. Apart from adding more road course races to the schedule, the Next Gen race car has truly paved the way for drivers from different disciplines to try their hands at NASCAR racing.

While the old-timers like Harvick struggled to adapt to the changes in the different styles of racing, the likes of Chase Elliott, Shane van Gisbergen, and Michael McDowell certainly are acing the game. “It’s just the different era of road racing with this car because it’s very much more along the lines of a sports car, and that’s the reason you can see SVG, McDowell, and some of those guys that are coming from different forms of racing to step in and be competitive and the way you have to drive the car. That’s the struggle from guys like myself that come from a heavy background of the old car, Chase Elliott, and some of these different guys.” Harvick said this via the Happy Hour podcast.

The former SHR driver also explained in-depth the intricacies of the technical aspect of driving on the road courses in the Next Gen car. “You have to drive the car hard into the corner the way that you downshifted as much different with the sequential shifter and upshift, and all the things about this car is different … And you’ve got to get the braking; that’s really where most everything happens to make a lot of speed. You have to be good in the brake zones.”

Chase Elliott is leading the charge for the most number of road course wins (7) to his name among the active drivers. However, since 2022, the HMS star driver is still looking for his first road course win; he finished the Sonoma race in 4th place. Meanwhile, SVG went for back-to-back wins in his rookie Xfinity Series season at Portland and Sonoma.

Elliott is quietly mounting his championship charge with yet another consistent finish

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Chase Elliott is back on his A-game after a disappointing 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season, where he failed to make the playoffs for the first time in his career. With 16 races in 2024, the HMS star has already secured his ticket to knock-out stages and is now playing his cards right, under the radar. Moreover, he has also carved a unique streak as only the seventh driver to register 16 straight top-20 finishes since the start of the season.

While it’s not an impressive stat, it speaks volumes about how progressive the No. 9 HMS team has been this year. Elliott is second in the point standings, behind his teammate Kyle Larson, despite having two fewer wins in 2024. Despite a fourth-place finish, he was content with the performance and result at Sonoma. “I’m not sure I had the pace Kyle had, but I thought we were a solid top-three or five car, and that’s where we finished. We’ll try again next week.” Elliott was quoted saying this on SpeedSport.

The Cup Series heads to a new venue at Iowa Speedway this week, a place where Elliott has a good track record from his Xfinity Series days. He has two top 5 finishes in the last four starts, including a runner-up result. So keep an eye out for him, as he could emerge as a sneaky contender for victory on the newly paved race track.