| Venue | Infineon Raceway |
|---|---|
| Sponsor | Toyota and Save Mart |
| First race | 1989 |
| Distance | 218.9 miles (352.3 km) |
| Laps | 110 |
| Previous names | Banquet Frozen Foods 300 (1989–1991)
Save Mart 300K (1992) Save Mart Supermarkets 300K (1993) Save Mart Supermarkets 300 (1994–1997) Save Mart/Kragen 350 (1998–2000) Dodge/Save Mart 350(2001–2006) |
The Toyota/Save Mart 350 is a 350 kilometres (220 mi) NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event held annually at Infineon Raceway at Sears Point in Sonoma, California. This race is one of only two Sprint Cup races annually run on a road circuit (the other being Watkins Glen).
The race joined the NASCAR circuit in 1989. It was added as a replacement for the Budweiser 400 at Riverside, which closed in 1988. The race has undergone several name and length changes since its inception. The NASCAR "West Series" held a combination race from 1989 to 1997 and has held a standalone race since 2006.
Due to the track's unique layout, the race generates annual discussion, with media, fans, and participants both in favor and against racing this event. Due to its unique layout, "road course ringers" are common, a NASCAR term standing for drivers that appear on the NASCAR circuit only for the road course races.
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From 1989-1997, NASCAR utilized the full 2.52 miles (4.06 km) road course, best known for sports car racing. Subtle changes to some of the turns accommodated the stock cars, and increased passing widths.
In the 1991 race, the first car to cross the finish line, Ricky Rudd, was black flagged and penalized five seconds for running into the back of, and spinning out Davey Allison with a little over one lap to go. The controversial penalty relegated him to second place, and gave Allison the victory.
In 1998, the circuit for the NASCAR event was shorted from the full road course to a 1.99 miles (3.20 km) modified road course with the addition of the Chute from turn 4 to turn 7, bypassing turns 5 and 6.
In 2001 the Chute was modified to such that the NASCAR circuit measured 2 miles (3.2 km) long.
From 1989 to 2001, the pit road could only accommodate 34 pit stalls. In the early years, some teams were required to share pit stalls while other teams were forced to pit inside the garage area. When cars dropped out of the race, their pit stalls were reassigned to cars who were sharing.
After a few years, a makeshift pit road was constructed inside the hairpin (turn 11) nicknamed Gilligan's Island. Cars that had qualified 35th–43rd were assigned these pit stalls. Since the length of the auxiliary pit road was significantly shorter than the main pit road, the cars that pitted there were held from 15–20 seconds to make up for the time that would had been spent if the cars had traveled the entire main pit road.[1]
Pitting on Gilligan's Island had several other inconveniences. The location (the staging area for drag races) was landlocked by the race course, and crew members were unable to leave once the race began. Teams sent only the primary pit crew to Gilligan's Island, and once they were there, they could not access the garage area or their transporters to collect spare parts/tools. The only repairs that could be made were routine tire changes and refueling, as well as only minor repairs. Other auxiliary pit crew members, who were not part of the main crew, waited in the garage area, and would have to service the car if it required major repairs.
If a team pitting on Gilligan's Island dropped out of the race, the crew was unable to pack up their supplies and prepare to leave (a common practice at other tracks) until the race was over. Changes to the track in 2002 that included separation of the drag strip from the frontstretch, removal of the main drag strip grandstand, and the new control tower for road racing led to the pit road being expanded by extending pit road into the main straight and moving the pit exit up the hill past Turn 1, thereby expanding it to 43 cars, and Gilligan's Island was abandoned.
Televised rights were first handled by ESPN from the race outset in 1989 through 2000. The 1998 race started on ESPN2 because a golf tournament, which aired before the race, was in a playoff. Fox held broadcast rights between 2001–2006. Starting in 2007, TNT took over the telecast and will continue until the current rights deal expires in 2014. Maxim magazine ranked this race as one of their top ten annual NASCAR Sprint Cup races.[2]
| Year | Date | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Race Distance | Race Time | Average Speed (mph) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laps | Miles (km) | |||||||
| 1989 | June 11 | Ricky Rudd | King Racing | Buick | 74 | 186.48 (300.11) | 2:27:03 | 76.088 |
| 1990 | June 10 | Rusty Wallace | Blue Max Racing | Pontiac | 74 | 186.48 (300.11) | 2:41:35 | 69.245 |
| 1991 | June 9 | Davey Allison | Robert Yates Racing | Ford | 74 | 186.48 (300.11) | 2:33:20 | 72.97 |
| 1992 | June 7 | Ernie Irvan | Morgan-McClure Motorsports | Chevrolet | 74 | 186.48 (300.11) | 2:17:26 | 81.413 |
| 1993 | May 16 | Geoffrey Bodine | Bud Moore | Ford | 74 | 186.48 (300.11) | 2:25:17 | 77.013 |
| 1994 | May 15 | Ernie Irvan | Robert Yates Racing | Ford | 74 | 186.48 (300.11) | 2:24:27 | 77.458 |
| 1995 | May 7 | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 74 | 186.48 (300.11) | 2:38:18 | 70.681 |
| 1996 | May 5 | Rusty Wallace | Penske Racing | Ford | 74 | 186.48 (300.11) | 2:24:03 | 77.673 |
| 1997 | May 5 | Mark Martin | Roush Racing | Ford | 74 | 186.48 (300.11) | 2:27:38 | 75.788 |
| 1998 | June 28 | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 112 | 218.288 (351.3) | 3:00:56 | 72.387 |
| 1999 | June 27 | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 112 | 218.288 (351.3) | 3:06:06 | 70.378 |
| 2000 | June 25 | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 112 | 222.88 (358.69) | 2:46:14 | 78.789 |
| 2001 | June 24 | Tony Stewart | Joe Gibbs Racing | Pontiac | 112 | 224 (360.493) | 2:57:06 | 75.889 |
| 2002 | June 23 | Ricky Rudd | Robert Yates Racing | Ford | 110 | 218.9 (352.285) | 2:42:08 | 81.007 |
| 2003 | June 22 | Robby Gordon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 110 | 218.9 (352.285) | 2:57:55 | 73.821 |
| 2004 | June 27 | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 110 | 218.9 (352.285) | 2:49:34 | 77.456 |
| 2005 | June 26 | Tony Stewart | Joe Gibbs Racing | Chevrolet | 110 | 218.9 (352.285) | 3:00:18 | 72.845 |
| 2006 | June 25 | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 110 | 218.9 (352.285) | 2:57:36 | 73.953 |
| 2007 | June 24 | Juan Pablo Montoya | Chip Ganassi Racing | Dodge | 110 | 218.9 (352.285) | 2:56:11 | 74.547 |
| 2008 | June 22 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 112* | 222.88 (358.69) | 2:54:56 | 76.445 |
| 2009 | June 21 | Kasey Kahne | Richard Petty Motorsports | Dodge | 113* | 224.87 (361.893) | 3:10:00 | 71.012 |
| 2010 | June 20 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 110 | 218.9 (352.285) | 2:56:38 | 74.357 |
| 2011 | June 26 | Kurt Busch | Penske Racing | Dodge | 110 | 218.9 (352.285) | 2:54:10 | 75.411 |
Race length notes
| 2006 | June 24 | Brian Vickers |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | June 23 | David Gilliland |
| 2008 | June 21 | Jason Bowles |
| 2009 | June 20 | Jason Bowles |
| Rank | Manufacturer | Wins |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevrolet | 10 |
| 2 | Ford | 6 |
| 3 | Dodge | 3 |
| 4 | Pontiac | 2 |
| 5 | Buick | 1 |
| 5 | Toyota | 1 |
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