SONOMA, Calif. — When you reflect on NASCAR’s roots, a lot of the sanctioning body and its history skews toward the sport’s Southern background.
In this day and age of racing, the spheres of influence have increased far beyond the moonshine runners looking to avoid trouble to a scope of drivers not only nationally, but also from across the world as well.
The current crop of NASCAR drivers has a staunch stronghold across many regions, including one where many of fans’ favorite drivers hail from that is not necessarily one where you might expect.
Northern California has developed drivers and owners that have not only helped shaped the sport to what it is today, but have also served as an exerting influence on those behind the wheel today.
Jeff Gordon grew up and competed in the early parts of his racing career out of his hometown of Vallejo, an hour northeast of San Francisco, before making the jump to USAC in Indiana. Mike Skinner made a name for himself in Susanville, north of Lake Tahoe. Trackhouse Racing owner Justin Marks moved to the Bay Area when he was young and grew up racing cars in the Northern California region after catching the bug by watching races when they came to the area.
Frontstretch caught up with several others making a return home in the leadup and during this weekend’s Toyota Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway to discuss the region’s impact, not only on them but the sport as a whole.
Kyle Larson – Elk Grove, Calif.
From making the move to the NASCAR Cup Series in the early 2010s to notching two championships, Elk Grove and Northern California as a whole set the foundation for one of the most prolific drivers in the sport: Kyle Larson.
From getting ushered into early karting days to what almost seemed like weekly visits to the dirt track, Larson has always had a piece of home with him as he maneuvers all the different racing environments. Tracks like Placerville Speedway and Silver Dollar Speedway presented necessary challenges as he navigated the sprint car scene.
“There’s a lot of racing you can do,” Larson told Frontstretch. “I was lucky growing up racing sprint cars at tracks that were really difficult to handle. Really sticky, rough racetracks that you have to run really hard at.”
Those mediums Larson noted, gave him the foundation to be a driver who can read and react to a multitude of scenarios. Moreover, the local scene as a whole, where drivers specialize in their crafts, made him better from the jump.
“[Its really] the versatility in the racing that you can do here in Northern California,” Larson said. “The seasons are longer, you can race longer throughout the year, which helps too.”
Tyler Reddick – Corning, Calif.
Tyler Reddick, embroiled with a regular season title fight with his car owner Denny Hamlin, considers his dirt background as part of the foundation that has set him up for success.
He referenced preliminary events as among the roughest and toughest that he’s experienced, noting that drivers don’t leave them without some sort of adversity.
“The level of competition at the time I did it was truly insane,” Reddick said. “B mains and C mains, there were a lot of good drivers.”
Reddick, known for running the fence, referenced that as a continued influence into how he operates in the Cup Series.
“There’s just a number of really good racetracks that were quite a bit different from one another,” Reddick said. “They really helped me hone my dirt racing skills in the area.”
AJ Allmendinger – Los Gatos, Calif.
AJ Allmendinger enters his home race reaching the milestone of becoming the 48th driver to achieve 500 career Cup Series starts. When asked whether he thought he would get there, he succinctly declared at Sonoma, “Not a chance in hell.”
Upon reflection, Allmendinger relished the grind of having to fight his way to the top.
“They’ve had a lot of badass racecar drivers come out of this area,” Allmendinger said. “I think a lot of it is on the dirt track side of it. My dad and I raced local dirt tracks, and if we weren’t at one of his races, we were at Baylands, Ascot, San Jose. There’s a lot of places to develop talent out here.”
The South Bay native mentioned that the karting scene gave him a leg up in what became ruthless battles not only for position but also for what could amount to future opportunities.
Despite it not being easy, he wouldn’t necessarily have it any other way when it comes to his journey. Without it, the No. 16 Kaulig Racing driver perhaps wouldn’t be in the battle to make The Chase this year, much less make it to the Cup Series.
“Racing has always been strong out here,” Allmendinger said. “Whether its sprint car racing or karting or late models, its nice to be a part of that group and that I’ve gotten to share in that.”
Jesse Love – Menlo Park, Calif.
As Jesse Love navigated his upbringing, he was able to grow amidst the presence of a legendary local turned national hero.
Gordon and the Bickford family became major mentors for Love through a relationship with his dad Duke, with the elder Love racing against Gordon as they grew up.
From celebrating a Tony Stewart swansong win in the esses of Sonoma to even wheeling a feisty legends car in wine country, Love’s Bay Area roots nestled him with not only the opportunities but the resources to learn poise.
“The quarter midget scene [in Northern California] teaches you some good things with race craft,” Love said. “How to make speed being wide open is an interesting technique, there are things there you just can’t learn anywhere else.”
The 2025 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series champion also referenced the Outlaw Karting and dirt track scene as a whole as factors that drive development for those looking to become well-rounded racers.
“California sprint car guys, especially ones who venture out East and to the Midwest, I feel like they’re the best sprint car guys,” Love said. “I got to run a bunch of different types of racecars while I was out here and do it in a low pressure environment. Its a plethora of a lot of things.”
And More!
There are others who are also fighting or have had varying impacts across the sport as well. Matt DiBenedetto, who hails from north of Sacramento, put together his best road course finish with a fourth in Sonoma’s 2019 race. Toni Breidinger, who grew up 25 minutes south of San Francisco, is balancing her driving career with tons of off-the-track sponsorship opportunities.
So when you think of NASCAR in this era, give a nod out west to places where you may not have assumed have had such a great impact.
Thomas is in his second year covering NASCAR at Frontstretch. A Bay Area NASCAR fan for over 15+ years, he found his love for the sport through Jeff Gordon. He helps manage the 2-Headed Monster Column.
Thomas has enjoyed several trips to Sonoma Raceway in his time and currently covers college athletics in the Bay Area, writing about the California Golden Bears and doing play by play broadcasting.
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