Briscoe finishes ninth during Friday practice at Sonoma Raceway

SONOMA, Calif. – National Guard Panther Racing driver Ryan Briscoe posted the ninth-fastest lap time Friday during practice for this weekend’s GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma.

Briscoe is returning to the cockpit of the team’s No. 4 National Guard Chevrolet for the first time since a street race in Toronto last month.

Ryan Briscoe, Panther Racing Chevrolet4

Photo by: Rebecca McKay

The former Team Penske driver is the defending race winner at Sonoma Raceway and has collected five-straight Top Five finishes at the challenging 11-turn, 2.385-mile permanent road course.

Briscoe turned a total of 24 laps during the day’s two practice sessions with a top lap time of 1:19.0182 seconds, for a full lap average speed of 108.659 mph. Scott Dixon paced the field with the top time on the day, and was followed on the speed chart by Team Penske driver Helio Castroneves.

Ryan Briscoe, No. 4 National Guard Chevrolet: “I’m really excited to be back here and have to thank everybody at National Guard Panther Racing for bringing me back for one more run this year. Certainly this has been a track I’ve done well at the last couple years and I’d like to go out this season on a high.

We’ve been able to get plenty of miles around the track and we’ve been able to try a lot of different things on the car. But it’s tricky here; the wind seems to be a bigger factor here than the Indianapolis MotorSpeedway. My wrist is probably 90 percent, so I don’t think it’s slowing me down at all. We know it’s going to be a tough weekend, but I really went to do well for the team and the National Guard.”

Panther Racing