Infineon Raceway

Information Location: Sonoma, California Country: United States Opened: 1968 Owner: Speedway Motorsports Architect: Website: www.infineonraceway.com

Track Specifics Type: Road Course Surface: Asphalt Length: 2.52 mi / 4.05 km (primary) 1.99 mi / 3.2 km (NASCAR) 2.22 mi / 3.57 km (IndyCar) Capacity:102,000

Races Current Series: IndyCar Series Indy Lights NASCAR Sprint Cup Grand-Am NHRA AMA Superbike Former Series: ALMS

circuit rating 3.00 (2 votes)

NASCAR Layout This track has been used with the permission of www.etracksonline.co.uk

Infineon Raceway, formerly Sears Point Raceway, is a road course and drag strip in the hills of northern California, near Sonoma, north of San Francisco. The course is a complex series of twists and turns that go up and down the hills. It is host to one of the only two NASCAR races each year that are run on road courses. It is also host to several other auto races and motorcycle races such as the American Federation of Motorcyclists series.

With the closure of Riverside International Raceway in Riverside, California after the 1988 season, NASCAR, wanting a west coast road course event to replace it, chose the Sears Point facility. Riverside International was razed for a shopping center development.

In 2002, Sears Point Raceway was renamed after a corporation, Infineon. However, as with many renamings of sports complexes, many people still call it by its original name. Despite its name, it was in no ways affiliated with Sears.

The standard road course at Infineon Raceway is a 2.52 mile (4.05 km), 12 turn course, however the track was modified in 1998, adding the Chute, which bypasses turns 5 and 6, shortening course to 1.95 miles (3.14 km). The Chute is only used for NASCAR events such as the Dodge/Save Mart 350, and is criticised by many drivers, who prefer the full layout; most races, including the Grand American Road Racing Association's Grand Prix of Sonoma, use the full course, while American Motorcyclist Association and Indy Racing League events use a modified 2.22 mile (3.57 km), 12 turn course. This layout, opened in 2003, skips much of the Esses and run from Turn 10 to Turn 11 (the hairpin) for additional safety for motorcyclists, including runoff available in the motorcycle Turn 11 (the main Turn 11 has no runoff, and is a very slow turn, similar to the Mirabeau hairpin at Monaco). The raceway also has a quarter mile (400 m) drag strip used for NHRA drag racing events.

IndyCar Layout This track has been used with the permission of www.etracksonline.co.uk

[edit] Records

Series		Driver	Speed (MPH)	Vehicle	Date
NASCAR	Qualifying	Ricky Rudd	99.743	Chevrolet	6/10/1990
	Race	Ernie Irvan	81.413	Chevrolet	6/7/1992
IndyCar	Qualifying	Ryan Briscoe	108.233	Panoz/Toyota	8/27/2005
	Race	Helio Castroneves	100.245	Dallara/Honda	8/24/2008

[edit] Winners

[edit] NASCAR

[edit] IndyCar

Season	Date	Driver	Manufacturer	Speed (MPH)
2005	August 28	Tony Kanaan	Dallara/Honda	91.028
2006	August 27	Marco Andretti	Dallara/Honda	93.486
2007	August 26	Scott Dixon	Dallara/Honda	98.593
2008	August 24	Helio Castroneves	Dallara/Honda	100.254

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