If They weren’t so hell-bent on getting the freshest, newest and most relevant driver in the booth, I think Jamie Mac would have a new full-time role next year. Harvick is the man but McMurray had so much positive feedback this year.
Absolutely nobody woulda said that Carl would have retired after the season in which he retired in also.......but we all know exactly what happened now don't we........
Only negative was the car, like a few drivers said after that it’s so close. Really after Truex and maybe Busch, there was no differentiation between 3rd and about 12th. But the race itself was fine. Natural flow and the best car won.
Today's race was a million times better than COTA or Indy RC races. It wasn't embarrassing for once. Truex was just in a league of his own and it left a sour taste in people's mouths. COTA made me feel like maybe NASCAR doesn't belong on road courses. Today's race was refreshing. And omg the lack of stage cautions! Amazing!
I gotta disagree with your opinion about road courses. I think it’s awesome when it’s hard racing and few mistakes. Makes for less cautions. I love a race with few cautions and wrecks. There were a lot of passing and swapping of spots. This race looked nothing like F1. But to each their own. Keep it up Eric!
I 100% agree with your takes. If I wanted to watch cars built for road courses go road racing I’d watch IMSA, but I don’t. I enjoyed the Gen 6 car looking clunky out there, bouncing off the curbs. The Xfinity cars are overall just a better car. With that being said, I did like how it didn’t turn into a clown show with lose late cautions and restarts
I remember playing NASCAR video games when I was a kid, and the “two road courses”, were throw away races for me and I wanted to focus on the traditional oval track racing. Lol
I always loved, and still love Watkins Glen. I tried really hard at those tracks and once I figured it out, I was racing in Forza and Formula 1 games much better. If you can wheel a stock car around turns, you can kill it in a car designed for it.
@@lunamelody2025 as much as I am a McDowell fan, that’s definitely a stretch. If he ever leaves Front Row for someone like Hendrick (extremely unlikely I’m just saying hypothetically) then I suppose it’s possible, but if he stays in the 34 maybe he can get another win or 2 before he eventually retires someday. But I would love to see McDowell make a playoff run and somehow make it out of the round of 16, that’d be incredible!
@@lunamelody2025 I mean his rookie year was 2008, he really doesn’t have a whole lot of time left to make that kind of run. For him it’s getting really close to be a case of now or never for him. I hope he can one day have a late career bloom/boost in performance. He’s 38 now, so he maybe has 5-6 more competitive years based on how others have aged as drivers. Not even trying to argue with you just trying to keep it realistic
I honestly think fox would bring JamieMac in full-time if they didn’t lock up harvick. Everybody loves Harvick but McMurray has received so much positive feedback.
I think fox needs to take nascar and fans more seriously. After watching the Indy 500, the broadcast had energy but also took the racing very serious. I think bowyer and the superhero graphics aren’t helping but they need something like MRN has where it’s serious while exciting
i thought it was a pretty good nostalgic road course race without stage cautions, the strategy was interesting, there was comers and goers mid pack with tire stategy and the cautions shook things up unexpectedly
I’m offended you didn’t mention Mark Martin on the road courses. He’s the first one that when I started watching Nascar, everyone had to beat on a road course.
Congrats MTJ...I am so glad that Fox is through with NASCAR Racing this year...I have never view so many commercials in a race and also during the racing. BTW there are more than just 5 to 7 people racing. I do miss ABC Wide World of Sport..Eric: Nobody has enough power to come off the corners strong..Dull racing.
Second year of attending the Sonoma race in person . . . my home track, the only track I can go to - I'll always love it. Massive props to Truex, he absolutely deserved this. I wish Suarez had been better, but he still has some more road courses to try his hand at. Great day!
During the first three commercial breaks in the first part of the race they showed 10 commercials in a row then the next three they showed seven then they just bombarded the whole thing with commercials very few racing in the little tiny box I hope NBC can do a better job with the commercials cuz fox really made up for the b******* commercials this year on this race I think they did it intentionally
Toyota really went from 20th place speed at the max last year to winning every road course so far. Toyota is finally getting the most of their phenomenal road course talents.
I'm happy again with the speed Stenhouse has had. We were very solid again today. I see your point about road courses, but I love having 6 unique courses now and seeing the better talent of the drivers and cars.
Leave it to Nascar on Fox to end their final broadcast of the season by being blatantly wrong when talking about the 2016 Sonoma race. Apparently, according to the broadcast, it was Truex (Not Denny Hamlin, somehow) that was passed in the final corner for the win by Tony Stewart. I thought I'd seen every flub possible by the Fox crew this season, but that one might be the dumbest.
I used to love the 2 road races back in the 2000s. Those Gen 4 cars looked awesome going thru the esses at Sonoma and turn 11 was always entertaining. Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, & Robby Gordon were so fun to watch. I also miss when they would show the foot cam with drivers like Boris Said “heeling & toeing” it
All the drivers 2 foot gas/brake....... But it was Kool to see the cam they would put on to show some of the more elite road course drivers and how they did it I do agree
The Pinty’s series is proof that you don’t need lots of technology to have great racing. Their road course and short track racing is miles better than the cup series.
Even with the increased amount of technology in the Cup series, they still have less than half the technology of any other major racing series in the country/world.
Loved not having the stage breaks and how that opened up things for teams to adjust their pit strategy as well as shortening the time for the race to complete. One of the best races of the season. Biggest negative was the huge number of full screen commercials, especially with the race going so fast.
I don't think it's fair to say that because IMSA's TV ratings aren't as high that it means fans don't enjoy that type of racing. This race was definitely more along the lines of a sportscar race, no doubt about it. Fans tuning in and expecting to see a Nascar type road race but are presented with a sportscar race would likely be a bit disappointed.
There were a lot of boring uneventful road couse races back in the day that were dominated by one or two drivers. Thrilling road course races are the exception rather than the rule in these types of races throughout history.
Fox coverage was terrible. Glad to see them go. The race lacked flow(commercials), not much happened, the new car still sucks outside 1.5 tracks, quite a snoozer. Just because there wasnt any chaos doesnt mean it was an exciting race to watch.
I’m a blaney fan, I was in Sonoma yesterday. Watched blaney make his way up to 6th. I was SO hyped. Then he got spun and went to 31 in the span of 15 sec…
The resurgence if you want to call it of my favorite driver, MTJ, that we're seeing is making me so damn happy. He ain't retiring after this year, that is the most definite obvious thing. And watching my guy dominate week in and week out like he used to, and taking his fourth Sonoma 🏁 today and rise to 1st in the standings once again makes me so happy! He deserves it. Hell yeahhh!!! 👍
Cup Cars need more horsepower. Current combination of grip and power pretty much has the throttle like an on/off switch. Driver's should have to pedal the car coming out of the turns, have a real risk of spinning out if you get back on the throttle to hard/fast. It's also boring when there is almost a 0 chance of an engine blowing up, the randomness of blow ups and how it could change a race is something I miss.
They have plenty of power and we’re sliding around plenty. The only problem is that there’s two passing zones. Also been several blown engines with this car. Not every week but enough to be interesting. Guys spin out on their own a ton with this car. Not on the road courses as much but people never spin out on road courses because of too much power, it’s always cause of wheel hopping on the brakesZ
I watched Across the Spider Verse today. That was fun! Then I got home and watched stage 3 of this race. That was a thing that happened. Congrats to MTJ tho.
The FOX presentation has been goofy for a long time. It feels like watching a rerun of a sitcom. NBC reminds me of traditional coverage. They take it more seriously.
Was at Sonoma this weekend. Race was boring and the crowd was the smallest we have seen. The camp ground was about half full and the seating was about 40%. It may be time to replace it on the schedule. Poor racing and attendance.
Back in the day the cars were built for road course racing but the drivers weren't. It was Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart were always fighting for the win at those 2 tracks. I use to live these road course ringers who use to come in and try to win. What's gone are those road course ringers. With charters that's gone and I miss it.
Funny how you mentioned that better cars = boring racing. Remember that stock car racing - LITERAL STOCKS - outsold the NASCAR modifieds in the 50s. This trend has potentially been around since NASCAR’s genesis.
This race was so exciting today that I spent a lot of time watching popcorn pop, watching grass grow,then watched paint dry. Those were all more exciting than the race today.
I wasn't bored either. It was good with undercut strategies and drivers following close behind others, fighting for position. 3rd place was getting chased all day
One of the reasons I think NBC is so much better is letarte. Having the crew chief there to explain the strategy side is so important for the casual fan especially and it's nice for long time fans to think alongside.
Todd G outran his own car in rick ware equipment lol even before the tire issue. I like Zane Smith a lot he’s from my hometown but he is not cup ready. Needs some xfinity seasons
Daytona International Speedway will be the temporary home of The Jacksonville Jaguars in 2026 & 2027 while TIAA Bank Field going through a major renovations.
This was the first Sonoma race I have been able to watch ever and outside of last lap passes I've never enjoyed Sonoma races. I've listened races on the radio or watch highlights they seem stale. Truex was so good that I can honestly say I wasn't really paying attention to the TV most of the race I didn't even watch the last lap because by lap 45 I knew who's race to lose.
Sonoma was always my lesser of the 2 traditional road course races. It didn't just have the same excitement as Glen. Now with 6 it almost feels like too much like you said. I think they need to look at making sure each road course is special (Just like Atlanta should be 1 race). Indy RC needs to be removed and we will see how the street race goes. Okay, race overall at least but I honestly wouldn't mind Sonoma also being dropped or on a rotation with other road courses. Surprising how much Toyota improved on road courses this year and it looked like Chevy stood still in development. It will be interesting to see if Ford or Chevy can close the gap because they are close to Toyota.
You got it 100% right. A car that’s built to go left being forced to go left and right was the appeal of road course racing. This car is basically a v8 super car. It’s too good on road courses. Cars don’t slide.
The main thing with Clint Boyer that bothers me from a viewer standpoint is he cuts off the others a lot. I am excited for Harvick though. He’ll be great
If Amazon gets involved in NASCAR, they have to stream on Twitch, right? Whether that be a full race broadcast, an alternate broadcast, or even multiple in car cameras, I think it would add a lot to the viewing experience, assuming the site doesn't destroy itself by then like they seem to want to do recently.
6.1 out of 10. Toyota is back in the groove on road courses. A much better result than last year's terrible results. Truex winning his 2nd race this year. Not much to talk about.
The way u were describing this new car n how its racing on road courses with less mistakes by drivers. We want the looseness n cars all over the place, which makes for exciting racing Nascar really f'd up when making this car
I know you slightly touched on too many commercials, but this race was absolutely UNACCEPTABLE. The entirety of the first 2 stages had more commercial time than race time. We would see racing for 2-3 laps (no I'm not exaggerating my fiance and I were counting) and then get 5 minutes of full screen commercials. The only time we got more than 4 laps of race coverage was during the Toyota all out segment where you only look at the Toyota's for a few minutes. It was absolutely ridiculous and should be completely condemned. These races are not free to watch, you have to buy some form of tv subscription which is upwards of $70/month to watch these races and then over half of the race time is missed by commercials PLUS another half of the actual race coverage is bloated by in-race advertising like the "credit bank ones to watch" "Toyota all out" "Subway right combination" etc. There just simply is no excuse for this level of corporate garbage.
100% agree with you...NBC needs to take note..Also there is more than just 5 to 7 cars racing.There just simply is _NO_ excuse for this level of corporate garbage. Eric needs to take note also.
I don't think it was dry because of the drivers or cars, but perhaps the points system. By the last 5 laps the only people with a shot at winning had already won a race this season and MTJ had a comfy lead. The exciting stuff came when drivers who needed the win got towards the front and tried some unconventional things to get position. Like Chase trying to hold off the field on worn tires or Chastain with that wild hairpin outside pass on Loganano!
The race was slightly better than last year besides Suarez winning imo but I think the problem wasn’t with the Next Gen car. I think it was Sonoma’s design because you could only pass in turns 7 and 11. Meanwhile at COTA, there are plenty of places to pass which led to a better product (besides the wreckfest at the end). Some aspects of the car need to be improved at road courses but Sonoma has always been kind of a mid track. I think FOX did improve from last year but not where it counts. Btw, I don’t think FOX is going to get rid of the comic book design because FOX uses it with other sports like the NFL.
You said gordon as a old school road course master but no mark martin love... Martin finished in the top 3 in 16 road courses 4 of those were wins at Watkins Glen three years in a row and Sonoma once
Being a Blaney fan, I am sick and tired of Chase Briscoe bro, he did the exact same thing to him on the final Bristol dirt restart. Im frustrated that Blaney isn’t standing up for himself either.
Agreed, the drivers are way to comfortable at road course. 3 road course max. However for all races no stage breaks, keep it green and award the points
![[LIVE] : ONE ลุมพินี 84 วันนี้!! คู่เอก "ก้องศึก vs เมืองไทย"](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/3kuzsAIDf1c/mqdefault.jpg)
Jamie McMurry was good in the booth today. They should have him more. 👍
Jamie Mac, Larry Mac, and Kurt Busch would make an awesome both I feel like. Kevin has just seemed annoyed to be there in the Xfinity booth this year.
If They weren’t so hell-bent on getting the freshest, newest and most relevant driver in the booth, I think Jamie Mac would have a new full-time role next year. Harvick is the man but McMurray had so much positive feedback this year.
I agree Jamie needs to be in the booth...didn't like harvick at all...
yes please.
mac and/or mc . with joy, and a new camera control producer guy....
What's good about Sonoma without stage break is the race was short, under 3 hours. Kept me refreshed even after the race.
It was nice to be able to make it home from the track before dinner time
I think they should run all races like this, you still get stage points and playoff points u just keep racing
Except for all the commercials…
@@williamjames648 They REALLY should
And what stinks about Sonoma is how boring the racing has been there lately. It's about the most boring road course we have now.
Glad to see Aric Almirola won the Xfinity race on Saturday. Congrats MTJ. Also congrats to garage 56 for doing well in Le Mans.
Truex definitely is not retiring this year
Imagine him winning the championship then still retiring.
@@smokieinthepot489 honestly
That would be a badass way to go out
Imagine him pulling a Nico Rosberg!! 😂
I mean we said the same thing about Carl Edwards, so who knows
Absolutely nobody woulda said that Carl would have retired after the season in which he retired in also.......but we all know exactly what happened now don't we........
Kyle's car was highly competitive in the 2nd half of the race
Only negative was the car, like a few drivers said after that it’s so close. Really after Truex and maybe Busch, there was no differentiation between 3rd and about 12th.
But the race itself was fine. Natural flow and the best car won.
The best car didn't win Hamlin had the best car
@@joshuamathews6861 lol how?
Today's race was a million times better than COTA or Indy RC races. It wasn't embarrassing for once. Truex was just in a league of his own and it left a sour taste in people's mouths. COTA made me feel like maybe NASCAR doesn't belong on road courses. Today's race was refreshing. And omg the lack of stage cautions! Amazing!
COTA and Indy had great racing too it was just some embarrassing endings.
@@danielchai6145 Yep, I was so glad this race played out naturally. Boring or not.
So true about the endings. I love COTA and NASCAR at road courses but wouldn’t mind seeing Andy truncated back to the oval. Congrats are MTJ.
Drivers trying not to spin in the last laps: challenge inpossible
Who spun on the last lap today??
@@diychad7268 I think Blaney did twice
@@diychad7268laney, Bilicki, and Almirola, not exactly last lap, but towards the end I think
@@pillsher609 more like blaney got spun out twice
@@timechanger9162 Yep poor guy, he always gets run over.
I gotta disagree with your opinion about road courses. I think it’s awesome when it’s hard racing and few mistakes. Makes for less cautions. I love a race with few cautions and wrecks. There were a lot of passing and swapping of spots. This race looked nothing like F1. But to each their own. Keep it up Eric!
I agree 100% 👍
I 100% agree with your takes. If I wanted to watch cars built for road courses go road racing I’d watch IMSA, but I don’t. I enjoyed the Gen 6 car looking clunky out there, bouncing off the curbs. The Xfinity cars are overall just a better car. With that being said, I did like how it didn’t turn into a clown show with lose late cautions and restarts
Mike Joy is a treasure, for a man that blackout drunk to perform so well every week is incredible.
Glad to see MTJ get another win.
This certainly feels like MTJ and KFB are on a 2023 redemption tour.
I remember playing NASCAR video games when I was a kid, and the “two road courses”, were throw away races for me and I wanted to focus on the traditional oval track racing. Lol
I feel ya on Sonoma. I never looked forward to that one. Watkins, however, was always fun across multiple games.
I always loved, and still love Watkins Glen. I tried really hard at those tracks and once I figured it out, I was racing in Forza and Formula 1 games much better. If you can wheel a stock car around turns, you can kill it in a car designed for it.
Sound like you don’t have very good skill
The field used to be full of road course ringers... And was exciting to watch other drivers from another series compete amongst each other!
I always hated Sears Point in NASCAR 99 lol
Truex is on a role. But give BIG kudos for Chastain, Elliot, McDowell, Almendinger, and Buescher for making top 10.
McDowell was a top 5 contender all day, was super hyped to see that out of him and that team!
@@smunger69 Agreed. McDowell could possibly be a championship 4 contender in future seasons.
@@lunamelody2025 as much as I am a McDowell fan, that’s definitely a stretch. If he ever leaves Front Row for someone like Hendrick (extremely unlikely I’m just saying hypothetically) then I suppose it’s possible, but if he stays in the 34 maybe he can get another win or 2 before he eventually retires someday. But I would love to see McDowell make a playoff run and somehow make it out of the round of 16, that’d be incredible!
@@smunger69 I said future seasons for a reason. I don't think he has all the tools yet, but give it a couple years and we could see some potential.
@@lunamelody2025 I mean his rookie year was 2008, he really doesn’t have a whole lot of time left to make that kind of run. For him it’s getting really close to be a case of now or never for him. I hope he can one day have a late career bloom/boost in performance. He’s 38 now, so he maybe has 5-6 more competitive years based on how others have aged as drivers. Not even trying to argue with you just trying to keep it realistic
Buescher with another great run at. Sonoma he has always been good at the chute
I want more Jamie Mac in the fox booth
I honestly think fox would bring JamieMac in full-time if they didn’t lock up harvick. Everybody loves Harvick but McMurray has received so much positive feedback.
@@ianfisher2626I agree he talks about what the drivers are actually experiencing and gives wayyy more context.
Save the best for last
I think fox needs to take nascar and fans more seriously. After watching the Indy 500, the broadcast had energy but also took the racing very serious. I think bowyer and the superhero graphics aren’t helping but they need something like MRN has where it’s serious while exciting
Once a year energy for Indy 500 race.. I'm sure Nascar can do it
They need to improve the short track and road course package with this car. Goodbye FOX! Can't wait for NBC to bring back the sunshine in 2 weeks.
i thought it was a pretty good nostalgic road course race without stage cautions, the strategy was interesting, there was comers and goers mid pack with tire stategy and the cautions shook things up unexpectedly
Totally agree and no hokey green white finish!
100% agree very good old school racing not sure why Eric hating on the No stages at road courses.
I’m offended you didn’t mention Mark Martin on the road courses. He’s the first one that when I started watching Nascar, everyone had to beat on a road course.
Same!
Congrats MTJ...I am so glad that Fox is through with NASCAR Racing this year...I have never view so many commercials in a race and also during the racing. BTW there are more than just 5 to 7 people racing. I do miss ABC Wide World of Sport..Eric: Nobody has enough power to come off the corners strong..Dull racing.
Eric please give JJ Yeley a review next week when you’re ranking all the drivers! He’s been doing so well and id love to hear what you think.
I agree
agreed
Second year of attending the Sonoma race in person . . . my home track, the only track I can go to - I'll always love it. Massive props to Truex, he absolutely deserved this. I wish Suarez had been better, but he still has some more road courses to try his hand at. Great day!
I agree with Eric's groovy ranking of the race. I wish there were less full screen commercials during road course races though.
During the first three commercial breaks in the first part of the race they showed 10 commercials in a row then the next three they showed seven then they just bombarded the whole thing with commercials very few racing in the little tiny box I hope NBC can do a better job with the commercials cuz fox really made up for the b******* commercials this year on this race I think they did it intentionally
What I don't like about road racing is that it is harder to see more of the field (cars). I really enjoy being able to see the majority of the cars.
Truex could race at 50 in 2030 due to how dominate he was today
I’m here for it. Might need to bring back the number 6 Viagra car for 50 y/o MTJ.
@@ianfisher2626 .
Eric is the best NASCAR TH-camr out there.
Who’s with me
👇
NFJJ has very good content too
I don’t have an opinion on this, but please shut up
I have a big 3. SlapShoes, him, Brock beard
But when it comes to NASCAR news I am putting my hands up too
Toyota really went from 20th place speed at the max last year to winning every road course so far. Toyota is finally getting the most of their phenomenal road course talents.
Yeah, highest finishing Toyota last year was KFB at 18th nearly a full 37 seconds behind Suarez's Chevrolet
I'm happy again with the speed Stenhouse has had. We were very solid again today. I see your point about road courses, but I love having 6 unique courses now and seeing the better talent of the drivers and cars.
Stenthouse seems to put in a great deal of effort to always improve. He’s irritating but would be fun to see him stack up some W’s.
Leave it to Nascar on Fox to end their final broadcast of the season by being blatantly wrong when talking about the 2016 Sonoma race. Apparently, according to the broadcast, it was Truex (Not Denny Hamlin, somehow) that was passed in the final corner for the win by Tony Stewart. I thought I'd seen every flub possible by the Fox crew this season, but that one might be the dumbest.
I noticed that too....had to rewind it to make sure I heard that right
Mike Joy did correct it later and admitted his memory isn't what it used to be. Probably has a couple more years before he retires
It happens the older we get, frustrating to the person doing it as much as it is to other people
That commercial event with breaks for racing was appauling. Hopefully NBC will show a race with commercial breaks.
I used to love the 2 road races back in the 2000s. Those Gen 4 cars looked awesome going thru the esses at Sonoma and turn 11 was always entertaining. Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, & Robby Gordon were so fun to watch. I also miss when they would show the foot cam with drivers like Boris Said “heeling & toeing” it
All the drivers 2 foot gas/brake....... But it was Kool to see the cam they would put on to show some of the more elite road course drivers and how they did it I do agree
Never even thought of what “esses” would look like written down, lol.
@@TheChad138 😂
The Pinty’s series is proof that you don’t need lots of technology to have great racing. Their road course and short track racing is miles better than the cup series.
Even with the increased amount of technology in the Cup series, they still have less than half the technology of any other major racing series in the country/world.
Loved not having the stage breaks and how that opened up things for teams to adjust their pit strategy as well as shortening the time for the race to complete. One of the best races of the season. Biggest negative was the huge number of full screen commercials, especially with the race going so fast.
I thoroughly enjoyed today's race.
I don't think it's fair to say that because IMSA's TV ratings aren't as high that it means fans don't enjoy that type of racing. This race was definitely more along the lines of a sportscar race, no doubt about it. Fans tuning in and expecting to see a Nascar type road race but are presented with a sportscar race would likely be a bit disappointed.
There were a lot of boring uneventful road couse races back in the day that were dominated by one or two drivers. Thrilling road course races are the exception rather than the rule in these types of races throughout history.
it’s been a while but cool to see MTJ put on a -a$$-whopin’- *_skull-f^cking_* performance on a road course
Truex: Ah F*ck it, skull f*ckings for everyone!
@@BDeLuca4444 ummm… if you say so. *unzip*
Eh, before the mess up in the pits Denny was right there with him.
@@ba97racing Truex went back and drove back up from 9th and Denny started 13th and only drove to 9th.
@@jtsole7565 yes....I said BEFORE the bad pit stop.
I’m all for a Mike Joy Podcast
Fox coverage was terrible. Glad to see them go.
The race lacked flow(commercials), not much happened, the new car still sucks outside 1.5 tracks, quite a snoozer.
Just because there wasnt any chaos doesnt mean it was an exciting race to watch.
I’m a blaney fan, I was in Sonoma yesterday. Watched blaney make his way up to 6th. I was SO hyped. Then he got spun and went to 31 in the span of 15 sec…
The resurgence if you want to call it of my favorite driver, MTJ, that we're seeing is making me so damn happy. He ain't retiring after this year, that is the most definite obvious thing. And watching my guy dominate week in and week out like he used to, and taking his fourth Sonoma 🏁 today and rise to 1st in the standings once again makes me so happy! He deserves it. Hell yeahhh!!! 👍
Cup Cars need more horsepower. Current combination of grip and power pretty much has the throttle like an on/off switch. Driver's should have to pedal the car coming out of the turns, have a real risk of spinning out if you get back on the throttle to hard/fast. It's also boring when there is almost a 0 chance of an engine blowing up, the randomness of blow ups and how it could change a race is something I miss.
They have plenty of power and we’re sliding around plenty. The only problem is that there’s two passing zones.
Also been several blown engines with this car. Not every week but enough to be interesting. Guys spin out on their own a ton with this car. Not on the road courses as much but people never spin out on road courses because of too much power, it’s always cause of wheel hopping on the brakesZ
I watched Across the Spider Verse today. That was fun! Then I got home and watched stage 3 of this race. That was a thing that happened. Congrats to MTJ tho.
You literally only had to see stage 3 to understand the race. Not the best race ever
I was at Sonoma in turn 2 Such a fresh breath air away from Fox racing was great in person
It really fun in person, crowd was having a blast
McMurray is better in the booth than Bowyer. Can we get McMurray next year instead of Bowyer?
The FOX presentation has been goofy for a long time. It feels like watching a rerun of a sitcom. NBC reminds me of traditional coverage. They take it more seriously.
Was at Sonoma this weekend. Race was boring and the crowd was the smallest we have seen. The camp ground was about half full and the seating was about 40%. It may be time to replace it on the schedule. Poor racing and attendance.
Todd gilliland finished 24th in the 51
Heads up Eric at 5:55 you said Truex won a stage. He didn’t win any stages. Denny won stage 1 and KFB won stage 2.
Technically he won stage 3 lol
I'm gonna be one sad guy when mike joy retires from the booth. But I see it looming.
Thanks Eric . You totally lap the field of of all nascar channels! Keep doing what you're doing. 👍🏻🏁
Back in the day the cars were built for road course racing but the drivers weren't. It was Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart were always fighting for the win at those 2 tracks. I use to live these road course ringers who use to come in and try to win. What's gone are those road course ringers. With charters that's gone and I miss it.
Why didn't you mention Tony Stewart ? He's second right now all the time in of course wins. 1 ahead of Chase £
Funny how you mentioned that better cars = boring racing. Remember that stock car racing - LITERAL STOCKS - outsold the NASCAR modifieds in the 50s. This trend has potentially been around since NASCAR’s genesis.
This race was so exciting today that I spent a lot of time watching popcorn pop, watching grass grow,then watched paint dry. Those were all more exciting than the race today.
Martin Truex Jr.
I wasn't bored either. It was good with undercut strategies and drivers following close behind others, fighting for position. 3rd place was getting chased all day
Shame that BS caution ruined whatever strategy play that was building up to.
One of the reasons I think NBC is so much better is letarte. Having the crew chief there to explain the strategy side is so important for the casual fan especially and it's nice for long time fans to think alongside.
Todd G outran his own car in rick ware equipment lol even before the tire issue. I like Zane Smith a lot he’s from my hometown but he is not cup ready. Needs some xfinity seasons
I don’t know the race some was watching but I thought it was a good race
Can’t wait to actually have a post race show. 👍🏼
Happy for MTJ! Great win. If the cars are set up right, the cream rises. Last year Toyotas struggled, MTJ said as much in his post race interview.
Jammie McMurray is so good in the booth he nails it
I'm NOT a Toyota fan, but this race was good. Lots of passing and real racing.
I miss them muscling the car around a road course
I want all the tracks to get rid of stage cautions
Daytona International Speedway will be the temporary home of The Jacksonville Jaguars in 2026 & 2027 while TIAA Bank Field going through a major renovations.
This was the first Sonoma race I have been able to watch ever and outside of last lap passes I've never enjoyed Sonoma races. I've listened races on the radio or watch highlights they seem stale. Truex was so good that I can honestly say I wasn't really paying attention to the TV most of the race I didn't even watch the last lap because by lap 45 I knew who's race to lose.
MTJ is and has been the best driver in cup for many years now. I sure hope he sticks around a few more years.
Truex is rewinning his first wins again in order, Dover, now Sonoma? Watch out at Pocono.
New Hampshire I think he finally gets it done too
I like Mike Joy in the booth but I do like Clint too. I HATE all the commercials that Fox has though
The 19,8,24 and probably the 5 are gonna be a fun pheonix race.
Kevin Harvick > Clint Bowyer
Jamie McMurray > Clint Bowyer
Rusty Wallace > Clint Bowyer
Barking dog > Clint Bowyer
Nails on a chalk board > Clint Bowyer
Joey Lagano > Kevin Harvick
Feel really bad for McDowell, he was gonna maybe battle for the win with Truex but he had an incident on pit road.
As an MTJ fan I couldn't be any happier
And speaking of MTJ: He won the first race and the last race of the FOX 2023 Broadcast
Truex Jr had the best car all day!!
Sonoma was always my lesser of the 2 traditional road course races. It didn't just have the same excitement as Glen. Now with 6 it almost feels like too much like you said. I think they need to look at making sure each road course is special (Just like Atlanta should be 1 race). Indy RC needs to be removed and we will see how the street race goes. Okay, race overall at least but I honestly wouldn't mind Sonoma also being dropped or on a rotation with other road courses. Surprising how much Toyota improved on road courses this year and it looked like Chevy stood still in development. It will be interesting to see if Ford or Chevy can close the gap because they are close to Toyota.
You got it 100% right. A car that’s built to go left being forced to go left and right was the appeal of road course racing. This car is basically a v8 super car. It’s too good on road courses. Cars don’t slide.
The main thing with Clint Boyer that bothers me from a viewer standpoint is he cuts off the others a lot.
I am excited for Harvick though. He’ll be great
Congrats to Truex for winning this race, but overall, today is a meh race.
If Amazon gets involved in NASCAR, they have to stream on Twitch, right? Whether that be a full race broadcast, an alternate broadcast, or even multiple in car cameras, I think it would add a lot to the viewing experience, assuming the site doesn't destroy itself by then like they seem to want to do recently.
6.1 out of 10. Toyota is back in the groove on road courses. A much better result than last year's terrible results. Truex winning his 2nd race this year. Not much to talk about.
Great show as normal. Got the Diecast out of the groove car. My grandsons name is on it. He loves it!! Thank you!!
I would love for NASCAR and Goodyear to have different compound tires for road courses, like Indycar. Add another aspect of strategy to these races.
Put on the reds
The way u were describing this new car n how its racing on road courses with less mistakes by drivers. We want the looseness n cars all over the place, which makes for exciting racing Nascar really f'd up when making this car
I know you slightly touched on too many commercials, but this race was absolutely UNACCEPTABLE. The entirety of the first 2 stages had more commercial time than race time. We would see racing for 2-3 laps (no I'm not exaggerating my fiance and I were counting) and then get 5 minutes of full screen commercials. The only time we got more than 4 laps of race coverage was during the Toyota all out segment where you only look at the Toyota's for a few minutes. It was absolutely ridiculous and should be completely condemned.
These races are not free to watch, you have to buy some form of tv subscription which is upwards of $70/month to watch these races and then over half of the race time is missed by commercials PLUS another half of the actual race coverage is bloated by in-race advertising like the "credit bank ones to watch" "Toyota all out" "Subway right combination" etc. There just simply is no excuse for this level of corporate garbage.
100% agree with you...NBC needs to take note..Also there is more than just 5 to 7 cars racing.There just simply is _NO_ excuse for this level of corporate garbage. Eric needs to take note also.
15:36 you mean when Clint told Kurt Busch to run and hide from Truex 😂
I don't think it was dry because of the drivers or cars, but perhaps the points system. By the last 5 laps the only people with a shot at winning had already won a race this season and MTJ had a comfy lead. The exciting stuff came when drivers who needed the win got towards the front and tried some unconventional things to get position. Like Chase trying to hold off the field on worn tires or Chastain with that wild hairpin outside pass on Loganano!
The race was slightly better than last year besides Suarez winning imo but I think the problem wasn’t with the Next Gen car. I think it was Sonoma’s design because you could only pass in turns 7 and 11. Meanwhile at COTA, there are plenty of places to pass which led to a better product (besides the wreckfest at the end). Some aspects of the car need to be improved at road courses but Sonoma has always been kind of a mid track. I think FOX did improve from last year but not where it counts. Btw, I don’t think FOX is going to get rid of the comic book design because FOX uses it with other sports like the NFL.
bro Shaq was DJing after the race
Very happy for Martin. That last 15 laps had me stressin anytime Chastain is that close to Larson I get worried
Let's go MM #34! Dudes really getting it in this year.
Harvick has been very consistent this year, just barely missed another top 10
You said gordon as a old school road course master but no mark martin love...
Martin finished in the top 3 in 16 road courses 4 of those were wins at Watkins Glen three years in a row and Sonoma once
I was waiting for Eric to say, "Better ingredients, better pizza, Papa John's"
Being a Blaney fan, I am sick and tired of Chase Briscoe bro, he did the exact same thing to him on the final Bristol dirt restart. Im frustrated that Blaney isn’t standing up for himself either.
No matter who you root for every week, all NASCAR fans can all celebrate today that FOX will no longer be covering this season 🔥
Agreed, the drivers are way to comfortable at road course. 3 road course max. However for all races no stage breaks, keep it green and award the points