Sonoma Was the Intro, Now Andy Lally Can Compete

Getty Andy Lally (front) races at Sonoma on June 11.

Andy Lally made his second-ever Next Gen start at Sonoma Raceway on June 11. He used the trip to California as a learning experience so that he can now go out and better compete while putting his knowledge to use.

The veteran road racer met with media members ahead of the Sonoma race, and he detailed exactly how different the No. 15 Rick Ware Racing Ford Mustang is from previous Cup Series cars, as well as anything else that he has driven.

There are certain things that translate from the Aston Martin Vantage GT3 to the Ford Mustang; after all, they are both race cars. However, adjusting to the Gen 7’s weight balance, speed, and braking points takes time and effort.

“I’m comfortable with it,” Lally said about the Next Gen car after qualifying. “It’s definitely a different driving style from the GT3 stuff. So it’s like I need to unplug one brain and just plug a new hard drive in, and that’s better than the bad influence that I’m getting from the other cars.

“It’s still a race car. So the same exact physics in the universe still apply. I just need to apply them at different points in the corner, feeling the weight transfer, trying to get forward bite.

“This is a tricky track to start to come back at because it’s the oldest asphalt on the schedule and so it’s the most notorious for having to put power down. And this is quite a different platform for me to kind of have that seat of the pants feel.”

There Was an Early Adjustment Period for Lally

GettyAndy Lally (rear) finished 35th at Sonoma Raceway.

Along with getting the proper feel for the Next Gen car, Lally also had some other hurdles to overcome in his return to the NASCAR Cup Series. He had to take on a different configuration of the California road course while adjusting to the amount of information available to him.

“Coming to Sonoma — which I’ve haven’t run this config since 2011 my rookie year,” Lally said. “Go run through [Turn] 4, run through [Turn] 7 — this was the first time I had SMT data to look at pre-event — and I was so far off of what I… I watched this for a week, looked at this, and pulled out of the pit lane with every gear and brake marker in my head that we’re gonna go to that. And I went to that on my out lap, and it was way too early.

“The cars haven’t changed that much. I just didn’t read that data right. And I was positive I read that data right. This is practice, and so I drove for four laps like that like, ‘Man.’ And I inched up on the brake zone, and I’m like, ‘Man, I know I’m getting killed. I gotta be getting killed here.’ So I had to — after four laps — I just reset and kind of let myself relearn it.”

Lally Ultimately Finished 35th at Sonoma

Prior to the race weekend at Sonoma Raceway, Lally received an objective from Rick Ware Racing President Robby Benton — qualify top 30 and race top 25. He fell short of this goal while continuing to gain experience in the Next Gen Ford Mustang, but he achieved something equally important during the weekend in California.

Lally made it very clear during his media session that his goal was to avoid crumpling up the No. 15 Ford and having it end up on the back of a tow truck. He wanted to complete the laps and just learn what he could for future road course races.

This is something that he accomplished as he made it through 109 of the 110 laps. He was one of four drivers that ended the day one lap behind the leaders, but he had one of the cleanest cars.

“I respect what these guys are doing in the season-long thing,” Lally said. “And I know I’m probably not going to be respected out there, given much quarter to make mistakes. So I want to be able to get through this first race with these guys and roll this thing into the trailer without too many scratches on it.

“So that’s going to be a tough one. Riding around in 30th isn’t going to be too fun, but I want to log miles and learn what we can so I can get with [crew chief Jerry Kelley] after this race and we can make a good car for Chicago.”