By AMANDA VINCENT
NASCAR returns to a layout of old for the 2022 race weekend at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway that culminates in Sunday’s running of the Toyota/Save Mart 350 by the NASCAR Cup Series.
NASCAR returns to a shorter layout that includes a chute that connects turns four and seven and bypasses a portion of the track referred to as a carousel in turns five and six. The layout for this year’s race was used from 1998 through 2018. The carousel was included in the course for the last two races in 2019 and 2021. The 2020 race at Sonoma was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Several drivers said publicly that they preferred the chute layout.
Bypassing the carousel in favor of the chite cuts the track length from 2.52 miles to 1.99 miles.
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