Familiar face at Sonoma
For the second year in a row, Tony Stewart was cherishing victory at Sonoma Raceway.
But this time he wasn’t in the driver’s seat.
Stewart was standing in the reflected glory of Kevin Harvick, winner of Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 and part of the Stewart-Haas Racing team that Stewart partially owns. The recently retired driver, who earned the last of his 49 career NASCAR victories at Sonoma in 2016, felt as satisfied as if had piloted Harvick’s car himself.
“I like to be here (at the victory circle); I don’t care in what capacity,” said Stewart, whose team took the seasonopening Daytona 500 with Kurt Busch at the wheel for its only other win this year. “Whether it’s as a driver or as an owner, it’s equally gratifying. It’s the best of both worlds.” Lives of others: Six U.S. Olympic athletes — skiers Resi Stiegler and Torin Yater-Wallace, snowboarders Hailey Langland and Alex Deibold, and speed skaters Mitch Whitmore and Joey Manta — were at Sonoma Raceway, getting a taste of NASCAR racing.
“It’s a thrill to be here,” said U.S Ski and Snowboard Association CEO Tiger Shaw, who also attended the race and last week hosted Toyota drivers Erik Jones, Daniel Suarez and Martin Truex Jr. ata winter sports training facility in Park City, Utah.
Jones, Suarez and Truex got a first-hand look at how the Olympians train in the offseason, taking their turns on trampolines, ski and skate simulators, and a trip down the bobsled run, among other activities. Sunday, the skiers and skaters got a tour of the garage and pit areas and a fast lap or two around the Sonoma Raceway road course.
“It was cool to see all the details” that go into preparing and maintaining a race car, Stiegler said. “We have technicians who work on our skis, boots and bindings, so we appreciate what they do. That was the part I really like — to see all the intricate details that go into the cars.”
“These sports are so different, but I found we have so much in common as athletes,” Whitmore said. Briefly: Dale Earnhardt Jr., making a last lap through the NASCAR circuit before retiring at the end of season, finished sixth Sunday. … Suarez, the first Mexican driver to compete on the NASCAR circuit, was the top-finishing rookie, with a 16th-place result. … Pole sitter Kyle Larson of Elk Grove (Sacramento County) was 26th in the 38-car field.