By Micah Roberts
Posted 06/23/2012 at 03:32 PM

When looking at all three practice session times from Sonoma this weekend, it’s like getting a blast from the past to 2000, when Jeff Gordon was in the middle of his five career wins at the road course nestled in northern California’s wine country. ---------------- Gordon hasn’t won at Sonoma since 2006, but being faster than everyone in all three practices is pretty impressive and shows that his sixth win is on the horizon. ---------- Gordon had the top speed in Friday’s first practice session that included mock qualifying runs, and was fastest in the final two practices Saturday. ------------------ Gordon was above everyone else in same fashion during his elite years and was always to a 2-to-1 favorite at Las Vegas sports books. Because of somewhat of a Sonoma drought, Gordon is 6-to-1 this week. The drought is in reference to Gordon not winning, but he has still performed well at a high level with five straight top-10 finishes that includes being runner-up in last seasons race. -------------- In those five races since his last win, he never had a car to show off like one on display during practices this weekend. ----------------- As spectacular as Gordon looks, the dark cloud hanging over the team this season still looms large. This may be the first time Gordon has dominated all three practices, but he’s also had a few cars this year that could have won but managed to find trouble. The list of failures out of the No. 24 team is a long one. They’ve produced only one top-5 finish this season. -------------- If there might be a track to get Gordon out of his slump, it might be a road course where he’s won nine times over his career between Watkins Glen and Sonoma. ----------------- Only three drivers were able to top 93 mph in the final 76-minute session. Greg Biffle had the fastest lap (93.202) for the first 25 minutes and then Gordon laid one down at 93.225 mph which stood as the top speed for the remainder of practice. Juan Pablo Montoya put down the third th fastest lap (93.075) with five minutes remaining. ----------------- 2010 Sonoma winner Jimmie Johnson had the fourth fastest lap (92.995), followed by former Champ Car ace A.J. Allemndinger (92.992). Allmendinger was been strong in both Saturday practice sessions and should able to contend for the win Sunday. ------------------- Not only does Allmendinger have five Champ Car road/street wins, but he also is driving for the team that won at Sonoma last year. There’s a lot of grumbling about Allmendinger not seizing moments this season like Kurt Busch had done in the past. This is a golden opportunity for him to get at least a top-5 finish or maybe even his first career Cup win. -------------- Race favorite Marcos Ambrose had the 11th fastest lap in final practice, but came in with the top average speeds. Ambrose ran 16 laps for a 92.223 mph average. Clint Bowyer was the only other driver to average over 92 mph as he ran 17 laps. -------------- This race should come down to a Gordon-Ambrose battle down the stretch. Allmendinger and Montoya are live as well. Crazy things happen on the road courses with pit strategies and several teams being out of sequence with their fuel, but it’s rare that one of the fastest cars during practice doesn’t win on race day......