By Jared Turner After a rare off-weekend, the drivers of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series head to Sonoma Raceway in Northern California for the first of just two road-course races on the annual series schedule. Unlike the considerably faster and more forgiving Watkins Glen road course that the Sprint Cup Series will visit in August, the 11-turn Sonoma circuit is a twisty, relatively slow layout that pushes drivers’ patience to the absolute limit. Oftentimes at Sonoma, especially in recent years, the final laps of the race have bore a striking resemblance to a demolition derby, with cars bouncing off each other…

  By Jerry Bonkowski When it comes to the Chase for the Sprint Cup, it’s time for NASCAR to hit the road. As in add a third road course to the yearly schedule, with one specifically in the Chase. With Sonoma coming up this weekend and Watkins Glen in August, NASCAR officials have said for years that those two races are just enough of a variation on the oval theme. But as often as Brian France, Mike Helton or Steve O’Donnell say adding another road course – in or out of the Chase – is unlikely in the near future, it’s pretty clear…

By Jared Turner From the “Tricky Triangle” of Pocono Raceway it’s on to fast and furious Michigan International Speedway, where manufacturer bragging rights are the highest they will be all season and time is running out on drivers trying to win their way into the Chase for the Sprint Cup. A two-mile oval known for blazing speeds, multiple grooves and finishes dictated by fuel mileage, MIS is a driver’s track in every sense of the term. But with racing at Michigan comes the added pressure of competing just down the road from the headquarters for Chevrolet (Detroit) and Ford (Dearborn) – two…