SONOMA, Calif. – As a born-and-bred Northern Californian, NASCAR driver Kyle Larson is quite familiar with the numerous twists and 11 turns on the vaunted Sonoma Raceway road course.
That doesn’t make him much better at navigating them in a stock car.
“Turn one up through the hill, all the way basically through turn four, I’m really good,” the 25-year-old Chip Ganassi Racing driver said. “Off of turn four, I struggle; seven, I struggle; 11, I struggle. Clint (Bowyer) is trying to teach me a little throttle control. That is where I lack. And then the (S-curves) I’m decent at. And then turn 11, I kind of (stink) again.
“Any corner where you have to slow down and speed back up, I tend to struggle at, so I’ve got to get better at that.”
Larson made those comments Friday, a day before he earned the pole position for Sunday’s race at his home track by turning a lap at 94.597 mph in his Chevrolet Camaro. It’s the sixth pole of his Cup Series career and the second straight year Larson, who grew up in the Sacramento suburbs, will start first at Sonoma.