| Sears Point Raceway Sonoma |
|
|---|---|
| Location | 29355 Arnold Drive, Sonoma, California, 95476 |
| Time zone | GMT-8 |
| Capacity | 102,000 |
| Owner | Speedway Motorsports, Inc. |
| Operator | Speedway Motorsports, Inc. |
| Broke ground | 1967 |
| Opened | 1968 |
| Construction cost | $70 million USD |
| Former names | Sears Point Raceway |
| Major events |
AMA Superbike IRL IndyCar Series NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sonoma Historic Motorsports Festival NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series |
| Full Course | |
| Surface | Asphalt |
| Length | 2.52 mi (4.05 km) |
| Turns | 12 |
| Lap record | 1:21.688 (Marco Werner, Audi Sport North America, 2004, LMP1) |
| NASCAR Course | |
| Surface | Asphalt |
| Length | 1.990 mi (3.2 km) |
| Turns | 10 |
| Lap record | 1:15.950 (Jeff Gordon, Hendrick Motorsports, 2005, NASCAR Sprint Cup) |
| IndyCar/Motorcycle Course | |
| Surface | Asphalt |
| Length | 2.22 mi (3.57 km) |
| Turns | 11 |
| Lap record | 1:16.4913 (Ryan Briscoe, Chip Ganassi Racing, 2005) |
Infineon Raceway, formerly Sears Point Raceway, is a 2.52 miles (4.06 km) road course and drag strip located on the landform known as Sears Point in the southern Sonoma Mountains near Sonoma, California, USA. The course is a complex series of twists and turns that go up and down the hills. It is host to one of only five national NASCAR races each year that are run on road courses (including two races at Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, New York and the Nationwide Series-only races at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin). It is also host to the Indy Racing League and several other auto races and motorcycle races such as the American Federation of Motorcyclists series. Infineon Raceway continues to host amateur, or club racing events which may or may not be open to the general public. The largest such car club is the Sports Car Club of America.
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 corporate sponsor, Infineon. However, as with many renamings of sports complexes, many people still call it by its original name. (It was never affiliated with Sears, Roebuck and Company, having been named for the nearby Sears Point Ranch founded in the 1850s by settler Franklin Sears.)
Contents |
The 2.52-mile (4.06 km) road racing course was constructed on 720 acres (2.9 km2) by Marin County owners Robert Marshall Jr., an attorney from Point Reyes, and land developer Jim Coleman of Kentfield. The two conceived of the idea of a race track while on a hunting trip. Ground was broken in August 1968 and paving of the race surface was completed in November. The first official event at Sears Point was an SCCA Enduro, held on December 1, 1968.
In 1969 the track was sold to Filmways Corp., a Los Angeles-based entertainment company for $4.5 million. In May 1970 the track was closed and became a tax shelter for Filmways after losses of $300,000 were reported. Hugh Harn of Belvedere and Parker Archer of Napa arranged to lease the track from Filmways in 1973. Bob Bondurant, owner and operator of the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving, and partner Bill Benck took over management and control of the leased raceway from Parker Archer and Hugh Harn in 1974. A few years later a group calling itself Black Mountain Inc., which included Bob Bondurant, William J. Kolb of Del Mar and Howard Meister of Newport Beach, purchased the track from Filmways for a reported $1.5 million.
American Motorcycle Association national motocross races in the hills north of Turn 7 become popular with Bay Area fans, but were phased out by the end of the decade because of rising insurance costs.
In 1981 Filmways regained ownership of the track after a financial dispute with Black Mountain group. Jack Williams, the 1964 NHRA top-fuel drag racing champion, Rick Betts and John Andersen purchased the track from Filmways at an auction for $800,000. The track was renamed Sears Point International Raceway.
In 1985 the track was completely repaved, in part with funds donated from the "Pave the Point" fund raising campaign. The first shop spaces (Buildings A,B,C, and D in the main paddock area) were built.
In 1986 Harvey "Skip" Berg of Tiburon, took control of the track and became major stockholder in Brenda Raceway Corp., which controlled the track until 1996.
Additional buildings constructed on the property brought shop space to more than 700,000 square feet (65,000 m2) during 1987. In addition, A five-year contract was signed with the National Hot Rod Association for the California Nationals.
The NASCAR Winston Cup Series debuted at the raceway in 1989.
In 1994 more than $1 million was spent on a beautification project and construction of a 62-foot (19 m)-high, four-sided electronic lap leader board in the center of the road course. In the following years a major $3 million renovation plan included VIP suites and a two-story driver's lounge/emergency medical facility.
In 1995 Trans-Am and SportsCar races returned to Sears Point and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series was added to the major-events schedule. Owner "Skip" Berg sold the track to O. Bruton Smith, chairman of Speedway Motorsports, Inc. in November of 1996.
Major renovations began at Sears Point Raceway in 1998 with the creation of "The Chute," an 890-foot (270 m) high-speed stretch.
The first-ever running of the American Le Mans Series takes place at Sears Point in July 1999.
In 2000 Sears Point Raceway gains unanimous approval from the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors by a 5–0 vote to begin work on a $35 million Modernization Plan that includes 64,000 Hillside Terrace seats, repaving of both the road course and drag strip and increased run-off around the entire track.
The standard, full length road course at Infineon Raceway is a 2.52 miles (4.06 km) 12-turn course. This course was utilized by all competition through 1997. Most races, including the Grand Prix of Sonoma, use the full course. The course is noted for turns two and three, which are banked on the driver's right. This provides a challenge for the driver, as turn two would normally have the drivers moving to the left side of the track.
The raceway also has a quarter mile (400 m) drag strip used for NHRA drag racing events. The drag strip was originally located on part of the front straightaway of the course. Track changes completed in 2002 separated the road course from the drag strip.[1]
The track was modified in 1998, adding the Chute, which bypassed turns 5 and 6 (the Carousel), shortening the course to 1.95 miles (3.14 km). The Chute is only used for NASCAR events such as the Toyota/Save Mart 350, and was criticized by many drivers, who prefer the full layout. In 2001, it was replaced with the 70° turn, 4A bringing the track to its current dimensions of 1.99 miles (3.20 km).[2]
The Chute was built primarily to increase speeds and improve competition for the stock cars, which are not necessarily groomed well for road course racing.
The AMA and IRL events use a modified 2.22 miles (3.57 km), 12-turn course. It is based on the full layout, and does not include the Chute. 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 Loews hairpin at Monaco).
When the Pirelli World Challenge returned to Infineon Raceway in 2011, the modified course was used (as the series doubleheader was acting as a support event for the Indy race). During the broadcast, it was explained that the Indy course skips much of the high-speed esses due to that part of the track ending with no runoff.
Another factor in removing the hairpin is, while being a major passing area, the turn has been blocked from view by permanent structures since no later than 2005. The only way spectators can view the hairpin is through garages positioned in the area.
| Driver | Car | Date | Speed | Time | Layout | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fastest Lap | Marco Werner | Audi R8 | July 17, 2004 | 110.641 miles per hour (178.06 km/h) | 1:21.688 | Full |
| NASCAR Qualifying | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet Monte Carlo | June 24, 2005 | 94.325 miles per hour (151.80 km/h) | 1:15.950 | NASCAR |
| NASCAR Race | Ricky Rudd | Ford Taurus | June 23, 2002 | 81.007 miles per hour (130.37 km/h) | 2:42:08 | NASCAR |
| IRL Qualifying | Ryan Briscoe | Panoz Honda | August 27, 2005 | 108.248 miles per hour (174.21 km/h) | 1:16.4913 | Indy Course |
| IRL Race | Tony Kanaan | Dallara Honda | August 28, 2005 | 91.040 miles per hour (146.51 km/h) | 2:02:48 | Indy Course |
| AFM 600 Superbike | Berto Woolridge | Yamaha Superbike | May 19, 2006 | 83.343 miles per hour (134.13 km/h) | 1:35.893 | Motorcycle |
| TTXGP[3] | Steve Atlas | Brammo Empulse RR | May 15, 2011 | 1:55.15 | Motorcycle |
(As of 6/27/11)
| Most Wins | 5 | Jeff Gordon |
| Most Top 5s | 12 | Jeff Gordon |
| Most Top 10s | 15 | Jeff Gordon |
| Starts | 21 | Mark Martin |
| Poles | 5 | Jeff Gordon |
| Most Laps Completed | 1975 | Mark Martin |
| Most Laps Led | 437 | Jeff Gordon |
| Avg. Start* | 6.9 | Rusty Wallace |
| Avg. Finish* | 8.6 | Dale Earnhardt |
* from minimum 10 starts.
Infineon Raceway has a permanent seating capacity of 47,000.[4] This includes the grandstands and terraces around the track. During major races, hospitality tents and other stages are erected around the track, which brings the total capacity up to 102,000 seats. The facility underwent a major expansion in 2004 which resulted in 64,000 hillside seats, 10,000 permanent grandstand seats, a wastewater treatment facility, 100 acres (40 ha) of restored wetlands, permanent garages, new retail space, a go-kart track and a new drag strip.
In the 1970 bike racing movie, Little Fauss and Big Halsy, starring Michael J. Pollard and Robert Redford, Redford's character, Halsy, sees Sears Point at the brass ring in the world of American bike racing, and the film is loosely based around this goal.
Infineon Raceway was first featured in Papyrus's NASCAR Racing for the PC, released in 1994. On consoles, Gran Turismo 4 was one of the first video games to feature the course. Forza Motorsport 4 brought the track to the series for the first time in 2011.