Dodge Save Mart 350 News and Notes

Toyota/Save Mart 350 preview
By Micah Roberts
VegasInsider.com

The road race season begins this week in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series. The season consists of only two races, this week at Sonoma and next month in Watkins Glen. However, those two races are a huge change of pace and a welcome sight after watching a few of the same drivers winning every week in races that require similar set ups.
I am definitely in the minority being someone who actually likes the road courses, or at least I was. Many long time NASCAR fans despise the road courses citing that the roads and right turns take away the spirit and very embodiment that makes NASCAR different from the other motor sports. I can understand that point of view, but intruding on one-eighteenth of the season schedule with some diversity shouldn’t make too many grumble, should it?

Other than seeing a track layout completely different than what we normally see, my favorite reason for enjoying the road courses is to watch some of the Cup regulars struggle. I’m not a negative person and don’t take delight in others misery, but watching some of the best drivers in the world struggle at their craft is somewhat entertaining. Watching a road course specialist take over a car from a lowly financed team and finish better than the corporate mega-racing teams, now that is fun to watch!

What other races do we have on the circuit where David has a chance to slay Goliath? Every once in a while a few decades ago there used to be a place for the low budget cars where we would see an occasional win. Then, almost like what Wal-Mart has done to the Ma and Pa stores in America, The multi-car teams wiped out the little man and their chances to do well in races.

I’m attempting to get you all somehow excited for this race because many don’t like it. This race is all about the driver and less about the car, a ratio that is not comparable to on any other track. Most the time the driver just mashes the pedal and lets the corporate multi-tested horsepower do the work for them. Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch, and Kasey Kahne are fine drivers, buts it’s less about them than it is having such a great research staff, crew and car.

Now, I’ve given you the possibilities and what I believe, or want to believe, but here are the facts. Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart win just about every road course race. They have taken all their high financed equipment and parlayed that with their exceptional road racing skills to dominate everyone. We have seen a few drivers step up like Juan Pablo Montoya last year at Sonoma and Kevin Harvick the year before at Watkins Glen, and even Robby Gordon has won a couple during the Gordon/Stewart reign, but that’s about it of late.

So I guess I’ll detract some things I mentioned and clarify by saying there are more possibilities on a road course for someone else to contend. Whether its been fuel mileage or sequence of pitting, there are several instances of lower tiered drivers, or some of the hired assassins, being in contention for a win while beating several of the top name drivers in NASCAR. I love that part of it, simply for the reason of pure possibilities. Road course events in NASCAR are definitely a pleasant change.

Enough rambling, lets discuss the contenders.

It used to be Jeff Gordon would be the short favorite at 5/2 odds followed by Tony Stewart at 7/2 and then a bunch of other drivers with odds of 10/1 or higher. The short odds were obviously correct because they did win most the time. Juan Pablo Montoya came in with varied odds last season at several books ranging from 6/1 all the way to 14/1. The short price was correct because he won, but the longer odds likely were closer to what it should have been just because he won on pure fumes. Better to be lucky and cash than be right and lose.

This season there are several drivers that come in with a great shot at winning and are all around the 6/1 or 7/1 price. Scott Pruett from Ganassi racing is the only non-Cup regular who is considered a legitimate candidate to win at 7/1. He’ll have good equipment and he’ll also have an edge over most in driving skills, not to mention the track also his considered his home track.

Jeff Gordon leads the way as a 6/1 co-favorite with nine career road course Cup wins. Stewart is the other favorite with six career road course Cup wins, and having done so more recently than Gordon with a win at Watkins Glen last season. The two have mixed it several times on the roads and on one occasion, Stewart took his shot at punching the road course bully in the mouth. One road race early in Stewart’s career, he raced Gordon hard after only a couple laps and then punted him while battling for position on a straightaway. It was strong message sent and a changing of the guard. Gordon had won seven road races up that point and has only two more wins since then. Stewart has literally taken the road course crown and title belt away from Gordon.

Robby Gordon led the most last season in this race and finished 16th after all the late pit strategies. In 2003, Gordon swept the road course races while driving for Richard Childress. The difference over the last couple of years for Gordon and why he hasn’t been able to win since then has been equipment. He is one of the most talented drivers, and because of that, regardless of how terrible the team he owns and drives for is, he is a strong contender. In every race this season Gordon has been placed at odds of 200/1 or higher. For this race, he is 7/1. That is the ultimate compliment in respect for his skills and also a show of exactly how possible it is for someone in a jalopy to do well.

Juan Pablo Montoya qualified very poorly last season at Sonoma which put him at a huge disadvantage from the start. Once practice started, Montoya unleashed his fury and showed his skills by running the fastest lap the final two practice sessions. He still had to come from the back and the furthest anyone had ever come back from to win was 13th. In 15 of the previous 16 Sonoma races, the worst start position was 7th. Montoya was starting 32nd. Impossible! Obviously not for JP who went the last 40 green flag laps conserving fuel throughout and won a smart race.

TOP 5 Finish Prediction:

1) #20 Tony Stewart (6/1)
2) #24 Jeff Gordon (6/1)
3) #39 Scott Pruett (7/1)
4) #7 Robby Gordon (7/1)
5) #42 Juan Pablo Montoya (7/1)

You said what…..How Many?

An interesting note regarding this weeks race being held in Sonoma is that seven current Cup drivers hail from California. That is more than any other state, including great race driver producing states of North Carolina and Virginia, which is definitely a sign that NASCAR has come a long way.

Joey Logano worth the hype

I have heard a lot of drivers be called the next best thing, but never have I seen a driver come in and perform so quickly. He’s got three starts in the Nationwide series that has produced two poles and one victory. In gaining his first career win, he also becomes the Nationwide Series youngest driver ever to win a race. It’s a safe assumption that the combination of a Joe Gibbs car and Logano’s natural abilities will have him winning a few more races this season.

Dale Jr. on Fathers Day….Very Cool!

The Michigan race last week was one of the better races I’ve seen in a while just because of the tension filled drama late in the race. How Dale Jr. was able to last that many laps with the amount of fuel they had is a mystery.

Naturally, me wanting to put more fiction into the scene and read more into couldn’t help but think about other times I thought some paranormal activity was going on. Was it possible someone was looking after Dale Jr in some way during that Pepsi 400 at Daytona, the first race there after Dale Sr passed away there? Was it possible someone was looking after Junior getting out of his harness straps in the burning corvette during a sports car race he participated in?

I don’t know the answer. It’s fun to speculate, but a 76 race winless streak was a huge monkey on his back that has been lifted. Don’t know how it happened, but it did and it’s good for the sport.

Sonoma start positions by the winner

2007 Juan Pablo Montoya 32nd
2006 Jeff Gordon 11th
2005 Tony Stewart 7th
2004 Jeff Gordon 1st
2003 Robby Gordon 2nd
2002 Ricky Rudd 7th
2001 Tony Stewart 3rd
2000 Jeff Gordon 5th
1999 Jeff Gordon 1st
1998 Jeff Gordon 1st
1997 Mark Martin 1st
1996 Rusty Wallace 7th
1995 Dale Earnhardt 4th
1994 Ernie Irvan 1st
1993 Geoffrey Bodine 3rd
1992 Ernie Irvan 2nd
1991 Davey Allison 13th
1990 Rusty Wallace 11th
1989 Ricky Rudd 4th

Toyota/Save Mart 350 PreQ

With 15 races down this season Jeff Gordon has yet to make it victory lane. Gordon and his #24 DuPont Chevrolet team will be looking to end that streak this weekend at Infineon Speedway – a track where Gordon has dominated. In 10 starts at the track Gordon has five wins with eight top 10s for an average finish of 9th place. Gordon has had some bad luck at Infineon, the 1.99 Mile 10-turn road course, finishing outside the top 30 twice but overall on the road courses he is considered to be on of the best in the business. Gordon could use a win after seeing teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. win last weekend at Michigan. Expect Gordon to be one of the favorites to take the win in the Toyota/Save Mart 350.

It has an interested start to the season for Tony Stewart up to this point. He began the year four straight top 10s but has since recorded five finishes outside the top 20 with two of those being outside the top 40. Stewart desperately needed a good run and finally got one at Michigan last weekend. He is looking to keep that momentum going at Infineon. He has a pair of wins in the nine career starts at the track with five top 10s for an average finish of 10th place. Stewart, along with Gordon, will be among the favorites to win this race and is a must have in your fantasy lineup.

Every time a road course comes up on the schedule fantasy players must look at the ‘road course specialists’ that are entered in the event. These ringers mainly run the two road course races on the schedule and frequently produce solid results. The most recognizable by race fans is Boris Said. Said recorded four top 10s in the last five races at Infineon. Next up on the list is Ron Fellows has posted three top 15s in his last four starts at Infineon and will be replacing Regan Smith in the DEI #01 Chevrolet. One more ringer to consider is Scott Pruett. Pruett will be taking over the #41 Target Dodge from Reed Sorenson this weekend. Pruett currently leads the Rolex Sports Car Series point standings with teammate Memo Rojas. Pruett had a 3rd place finish in this race in 2004 and could easily post a top 10 finish this weekend.

No one has been better than Kasey Kahne over the last 6 races winning three times to go with two other top 5 finishes. Kahne, however, is not considered to be a very strong road course driver. In four career starts he has never finished in the top 20 at Infineon with an average finish of 32nd place. Overall in his career Kahne has just two top 20 finishes in eight starts with an average finish of 26th place and zero top 10s. It would be a wise move to avoid the #9 Budweiser Dodge for the race in Sonoma, California.

Like Kahne Matt Kenseth has been on a tear as of late posting six consecutive top 10 finishes as he moved from outside the top 20 in the point standings to just 24 points out of 12th place. That streak of top 10s and the distance between 12th and 14th will likely grow however with Infineon coming up next. In eight career starts at the track Kenseth has never finished in the top 10 with five finishes coming outside the top 20 for an average finish of 24th place. Kenseth has never liked road course racing and his statistical record reflects that as well. Like Kahne we would stay away from Kenseth this weekend no matter how well he has been running.

profantasysports.com

RacingOne Power Rankings

Carl Edwards is holding down the top spot in the power rankings for a second week, but Dale Earnhardt Jr. is making a charge for the front. RacingOne's rankings are based on a combination of season-to-date loop data, season standings and staff selections by Jeff Wackerlin and Rachael West.

1. Carl Edwards: Edwards maintains the top spot in the rankings after recording his sixth consecutive top 10 with a seventh-place finish at Michigan. He also is tied with Dale Earnhardt Jr. for the most top 10s on the season with 11. This weekend Edwards will look to continue the streak at Infineon where he has one top 10 in three starts.

Last Week's Rank: First

2. Dale Earnhardt Jr: Dale Earnhardt Jr. passed the pace car under caution at Michigan and in the process passed two drivers in the rankings to move into second. Earnhardt might want to carry over his fuel saving strategy to Infineon in case fuel mileage comes into play on the way to victory lane. Based on statistics the outlook doesn't look too good for Junior this weekend, as Infineon Raceway is his worst track on the circuit based on his 22.0 average finish.

Last Week's Rank: Fourth

3. Matt Kenseth: If Kenseth can avoid more officials on pit road he could be looking at a Chase seed soon. His third-place finish at Michigan moved him up to 14th in the standings. But like Earnhardt Jr, Kenseth probably isn't looking forward to this weekend as Infineon is also his worst track on the schedule based on his 23.5 average finish.

Last Week's Rank: Fifth

4. Kyle Busch: Busch is finally giving up on running another Nationwide in a different state, and will concentrate his efforts on scoring his second consecutive top 10 at Infineon. In the last three races at the 1.99-mile road course, Busch has put together the 10th best driver rating at 90.6.

Last Week's Rank: Third

5. Jeff Burton: Burton slipped to fifth in the rankings with his 15th-place finish at Michigan, ending a streak of four consecutive top 10s. Burton will look to jump back up the rankings at Infineon where he's finished in the top 10 in his last two starts with Richard Childress Racing..

Last Week's Rank: Second

6. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson moved up one spot in the rankings after leading the most laps at Michigan en route to a sixth-place finish. It marked the first time in 13 starts that he had led more than 60 laps at MIS. This weekend Johnson will compete in his seventh race at Infineon where he has posted two top 10s.

Last Week's Rank: Seventh

7. Brian Vickers: Vickers and the Red Bull Team continue to impress in 2008. His fourth-place finish at Michigan was his second consecutive top five of the year. Vickers also pushed his laps led total on the season to 128, which is 22 more than last season. This weekend Vickers will look to carry the momentum into Infineon where he failed to qualify the Red Bull Toyota in 2007.

Last Week's Rank: 12th

8. Kasey Kahne: Kahne jumped two spots in the rankings and the point standings with his runner-up finish at MIS. Prior to his win at Pocono the week before, Kahne was 12th in the points and he now sits in the seventh spot. He's gained over 200 points on his deficit to the leader since Dover. Kahne may take a hit this week though. With four starts at Sonoma, his average finish is 31.5.

Last Week's Rank: 10th

9. Jeff Gordon: Gordon made a resurgence a few weeks ago posting four straight top-10 finishes in May, but the last two weeks has slipped again in the rankings and the points. At Michigan, he finished 18th and is now ninth in the points. But, Gordon leads all drivers in career road-course wins with nine. He has won five races at Infineon Raceway, the most of all drivers at the track. His average finish there is 9.7 in 15 races and he has the sixth best pre-race driver rating of 102.1.

Last Week's Rank: Sixth

10. Tony Stewart: After the race at MIS, Stewart was almost as happy with his fifth-place finish as he would've been with a win. Stewart had been on a run of four straight finishes of 18th or worse prior to Sunday's top five. He's barely holding on to his spot in the top 12, though, and will have to muster up some of his past road course success to try to stay in the fight. Stewart is a two-time winner at Sonoma and has an average finish of 10.0 at the track in nine starts.

Last Week's Rank: 11th

11. Greg Biffle: Biffle dropped in both the rankings and the points this week after finishing 20th at Michigan. It was his third straight finish outside the top 15 at the track where he's a previous two-time winner. He should be able to bounce back at Sonoma, where he's posted two straight top-five finishes and has an average finish of 14.6 in five starts.

Last Week's Rank: Eighth

12. David Ragan: Ragan has come close but just can't quite break into the top 12 in the points. He's 10 points out of the spot after posting his fourth top-10 result of the season - an eighth place - at Michigan. The finish was good enough to keep him in the rankings for another week. Ragan made his first Sonoma start last year and didn't make too much of it, finishing 29th after starting 37th.

Last Week's Rank: 15th

13. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin's 14th-place finish wasn't quite the result he'd hoped for after starting fifth at MIS Sunday. He lost his fifth-place spot in the points to Johnson but may be able to gain it back after the road-course race. In two starts there, Hamlin has finished 12th and 10th, respectively, both times coming through the field from starting spots worse than 35th.

Last Week's Rank: Ninth

14. Kevin Harvick: Harvick is coming off a solid 12th-place finish at MIS, which helped him maintain his 10th spot in the points. He's heading to the road-course event at Sonoma off a second-place finish there last year. His average finish at the track is 15.1.

Last Week's Rank: 14th

15. Jamie McMurray: McMurray makes his third appearance in the rankings after posting his second 10th-place result in the last three races. The finish at Michigan helped him jump one spot in the standings. McMurray is the defending pole winner at the Sonoma road course event, but wasn't able to capitalize on that position last year and finished 37th. He has one top 10 result at the track, a runner-up finish in the 2004 race driving for Chip Ganassi.

Last Week's Rank: N/R

Racingone.com

Toyota/Save Mart 350 Preview

Dale Earnhardt Jr. will be looking to continue to race up the driver standings on Sunday when he takes to the track at Infineon Raceway for this season's Toyota/Save Mart 350.

Earnhardt Jr. took the checkered flag last week in the LifeLock 400 at Michigan International Speedway, holding off Kasey Kahne and Matt Kenseth for the win. Dale Junior last won a Cup event back in 2006, and he ended a drought spanning 76 races.

Brian Vickers and Tony Stewart rounded out the Top 5 at Michigan, while Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards, David Ragan, Elliott Sadler, and Jamie McMurray made up the rest of the day's Top 10. Kevin Harvick was 12th on the day, points leader Kyle Busch was 13th, Denny Hamlin was 14th, and Jeff Burton ended up in 15th place at the finish.

Martin Truex Jr. (17th), Jeff Gordon (18th), and Greg Biffle (20th) also cracked the Top 20 at Michigan, while Clint Bowyer ended up in 26th place, and Juan Montoya was 38th.

Earnhardt Jr. still sits in third place in the driver standings, but he's now just 84 points behind first-place Busch. Burton is 32 points back of the leader in second place after 15 events. Edwards, Johnson, Hamlin, Kahne, Biffle, Gordon, Harvick, Stewart, and Bowyer also sit in Top-12 positions in the standings and above the Chase's cutoff line.

Ragan is only 10 points behind Bowyer for 12th place, while Kenseth moved up one spot into 14th with his result at Michigan (14 points behind Bowyer). Truex Jr. and Vickers sit just behind Kenseth, while Ryan Newman dropped three spots into 17th place after running into engine troubles on the weekend and finishing well back in 42nd.

Former Formula One driver Montoya picked up the victory at the Infineon road course last year, after starting way back from the No. 32 spot on the grid. Montoya sits back in 22nd place in the current standings, and he will be hoping for a solid result this weekend.

Gordon has five career Cup wins on the Sonoma, California track; he visited victory lane there in 2006, 2004, 2000, 1999, and 1998. The only other active driver with multiple Infineon wins is Stewart, who took the checkered flag there in both 2005 and 2001. Robby Gordon won this event in the 2003 season, and Mark Martin got the win in 1997.

And the Vegas oddsmakers have Jeff Gordon and Stewart pegged as the 5/1 co-favorites to win at Infineon this weekend. Robby Gordon, Montoya, and Scott Pruett are next at 7/1, with Kyle Busch and Harvick at 8/1, and Boris Said and Ron Fellows at 10/1.

Biffle begins the next tier of contenders at 12/1 odds, with Hamlin at 15/1, Bowyer and McMurray both at 18/1, and each of Earnhardt Jr., Truex Jr., and Kurt Busch at 20/1. Burton, Newman, and Patrick Carpentier are all at 22/1 odds, with Johnson, Edwards, Kahne, and Dario Franchitti sitting just back of that group on the current list at 25/1 odds.

Points leader Kyle Busch is still the oddsmakers' choice to win the Sprint Cup this year - he's pegged as the 5/2 favorite. Earnhardt Jr. is next at 3/1, with Edwards at 7/2, Johnson at 5/1, and Hamlin at 7/1. Jeff Gordon is currently listed at 10/1 odds to win the championship this season, with each of Stewart, Burton, and Biffle sitting at 12/1 odds.

After racing at Infineon the drivers of the Sprint Cup Series will move on to New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the LENOX Industrial Tools 301 on June 29. July's schedule then features the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway, the LifeLock.com 400 at Chicagoland, and the Allstate 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Pure Stats: Toyota/Save Mart 350 At Infineon Raceway

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s win Sunday at Michigan was a long time coming, but not only because there was a 76-race gap between wins. If ever a driver was “due,” it was Earnhardt. He had been on the verge of victory all season long.
Coming into Michigan, Earnhardt twice failed to earn at least 100 points in a given race this season. He led laps in all but four races. Once he moved into third place in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings after race No. 8 (Phoenix), he never relinquished it.
This weekend, Earnhardt will head to a track – Infineon Raceway – where his success rate is nowhere near that impressive.

In eight starts, Earnhardt has yet to crack the top 10, he has led just once for nine laps and he has a Driver Rating of 66.1, which is 24th-best in the series.

But Earnhardt is just one of the angles. The number of storylines going into this weekend seemingly match the number of turns (10) the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers will have to navigate at Infineon Raceway. Here’s a handful, by the numbers:

1 – Road-course races it took Juan Pablo Montoya to nab his first series win. Last season, Montoya lived up to expectations, winning at Infineon Raceway after leading seven laps.

5 – Infineon Raceway wins by Jeff Gordon, the all-time leader. Gordon also holds the all-time lead in career road-course wins with nine.

7 – Homecomings for drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Seven drivers call California home, the most of any state.

20 – NASCAR Sprint Cup races Infineon Raceway will have held after this weekend.

Selected Driver Highlights

Note: All driver statistics that follow are from Infineon Raceway. The Loop Data statistics – Driver Rating, Average Running Position, etc. – in this release, however, cover the last three races at Infineon Raceway. NASCAR’s scoring loops began collecting data for statistical purposes in 2005.

Greg Biffle (No. 16 3M Ford)
• Two top fives
• Average finish of 14.6
• Average Running Position of 14.1, ninth-best
• Driver Rating of 93.6, eighth-best
• Seven Fastest Laps Run, 11th-most
• 211 (63.9%) Laps in the Top 15, sixth-most
• 78 Quality Passes, tied for third-most

Kurt Busch (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge)
• Three top fives
• Average finish of 17.3
• Series-best Average Running Position of 7.1
• Driver Rating of 109.3, third-best
• 13 Fastest Laps Run, fourth-most
• Average Green Flag Speed of 90.375 mph, second-fastest
• Series-high 298 (90.3%) Laps in the Top 15
• 71 Quality Passes, sixth-most

Jeff Burton (No. 31 AT&T Mobility Chevrolet)
• One top five, five top 10s
• Average finish of 19.4
• Average Running Position of 10.6, fifth-best
• Driver Rating of 100.6, seventh-best
• 292 (88.5%) Laps in the Top 15, second-most
• 84 Quality Passes, second-most

Jeff Gordon (No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet)
• Five wins, nine top fives, 11 top 10s; five poles
• Average finish of 9.7
• Average Running Position of 13.7, eighth-best
• Driver Rating of 102.1, sixth-best
• 35 Fastest Laps Run, third-most
• 148 Green Flag Passes, tied for 10th-most
• 196 (59.4%) Laps in the Top 15, seventh-most
• 78 Quality Passes, tied for third-most

Robby Gordon (No. 7 TBD Dodge)
• One win, two top fives, three top 10s
• Average finish of 20.7
• Driver Rating of 91.9, ninth-best
• 45 Fastest Laps Run, second-best
• 146 Green Flag Passes, 12th-best
• Average Green Flag Speed of 90.208 mph, sixth-fastest
• 167 (50.6%) Laps in the Top 15, 11th-best

Juan Pablo Montoya (No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge)
• One win
• Average finish of 1.0
• Average Running Position of 11.4, sixth-best
• Series-best Driver Rating of 115.3
• Average Green Flag Speed of 90.252 mph, fifth-best
• 70.0% (77 total) Laps in the Top 15, seventh-best percentage
• 26 Quality Passes (average of 26.0 per race), tied for fourth-best average

Ryan Newman (No. 12 Alltel Dodge)
• Two top fives, four top 10s
• Average finish of 9.8
• Average Running Position of 9.2, fourth-best
• Driver Rating of 104.3, fourth-best
• Eight Fastest Laps Run, tied for ninth-most
• Average Green Flag Speed of 90.258 mph, fourth-fastest
• 279 (84.5%) Laps in the Top 15, fourth-most
• 61 Quality Passes, seventh-most

Boris Said (No. 60 Slurpee/No Fear Energy Ford)
• Four top 10s
• Average finish of 17.6
• Average Running Position of 9.1, third-best
• Driver Rating of 103.9, fifth-best
• Nine Fastest Laps Run, eighth-most
• Average Green Flag Speed of 90.322 mph, third-fastest
• 291 (88.2%) Laps in the Top 15, third-most
• 74 Quality Passes, fifth-most

Tony Stewart (No. 20 Home Depot Toyota)
• Two wins, three top fives, five top 10s; one pole
• Average finish of 10.0
• Average Running Position of 8.8, second-best
• Driver Rating of 113.9, second-best
• Series-high 55 Fastest Laps Run
• Series-fastest Average Green Flag Speed of 90.657 mph
• 265 (80.3%) Laps in the Top 15, fifth-most
• Series-high 112 Quality Passes

At Infineon Raceway:
History
• The track opened as a 2.52-mile road course and drag strip in 1968.
• The first NASCAR Sprint Cup race was held in 1989.
• The first nine races were 300 kilometers and switched to a 350k format in 1998.
• The track was re-configured to 1.949 miles in 1998 with the installation of an 890-foot chute between the original turns 4 and 7.
• The track was reconfigured to 2.0 miles in 2001 and re-measured at 1.99 miles in 2002.

Notebook
• There have been 19 NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Infineon Raceway since the first race there in 1989.
• Rusty Wallace won the first NASCAR Sprint Cup pole.
• Ricky Rudd won the first NASCAR Sprint Cup race.
• 11 different drivers have won poles; only three have won more than one.
• Jeff Gordon (five) leads all pole winners. Ricky Rudd has four, including three consecutive (1990-92) and Rusty Wallace has two.
• There have been five different pole winners in the last six races. Jeff Gordon (2004 and 2005) is the only repeat pole winner there since 2002.
• There have been consecutive pole winners three times: Ricky Rudd (1990-92), Jeff Gordon (1998-99 and 2004-05).
• 11 different drivers have won races; five have more than one victory there – led by Jeff Gordon with five. Ernie Irvan, Ricky Rudd, Tony Stewart and Rusty Wallace (all with two) are the other multiple-race winners. • Jeff Gordon is also the only driver with consecutive wins, winning in 1998, 1999 and 2000.
• Seven of the drivers that have won races also have won poles there.
• There have been only five different race winners in the last 10 races at Infineon. Jeff Gordon (five), Tony Stewart (two), Robby Gordon (one), Ricky Rudd (one) and Juan Pablo Montoya (one).
• Five of 19 races have been won by the pole winner, including three times by Jeff Gordon. His victory from the pole in 2004 is the most recent.
• The 1991 race was won from 13th starting position by Davey Allison - the deepest in the field that a race winner ever started at Infineon.
• Jeff Gordon is the all-time leader in NASCAR Sprint Cup road-course victories with nine. Five of Gordon’s road-course victories have occurred at Infineon Raceway. He has three more victories than any other driver at the Sonoma track. Gordon also heads the all-time pole winners list for Infineon Raceway with five and has led the most laps there with 437 – more than twice the total of Rusty Wallace (171), who has led the second most.

Infineon Raceway Data
Race #: 16 of 36 (6-22-08)
Track Size: 1.99 miles
Race Length: 110 laps/350 Kilometers
Driver Rating at Infineon Raceway
Juan Pablo Montoya 115.3#
Tony Stewart 113.9
Kurt Busch 109.3
Ryan Newman 104.3
Boris Said 103.9
Jeff Gordon 102.1
Jeff Burton 100.6
Greg Biffle 93.6
Robby Gordon 91.9
Kyle Busch 90.6
Note: Driver Rating compiled from 2005-2007 races (3 total) at Infineon Raceway.
# - One race only.

Qualifying/Race Data
2007 pole winner: Jamie McMurray (92.414 mph, 77.521 seconds)
2007 race winner: Juan Pablo Montoya, 74.547 mph, 6-24-07)
Track qualifying record: Jeff Gordon (94.325 mph, 75.950 secs., 6-24-05)
Track race record: Ricky Rudd (91.007 mph, 6-23-02)
Estimated Pit Window: Every 30-32 laps, based on fuel mileage

Road racers looking for 1st win Sunday at Sonoma
June 18, 2008

When NASCAR heads to a road course, many teams hire ringers to better their chances at victory.

This weekend will be no different at Infineon Raceway, where the usual aces have landed rides for the first of two road course races on the Sprint Cup schedule.

Series regular Reed Sorenson was pulled from the No. 41 Dodge for Scott Pruett, while rookie of the year candidate Regan Smith gave up his seat in the No. 01 Chevrolet for Ron Fellows.

But in 19 previous races at Infineon, a ringer has yet to drive his way to Victory Lane. Irv Hoer was the first non-Cup regular to crack a top-10 with an eighth-place finish in 1990.

Robby Gordon, before he became a full-time Cup driver, scored finishes of ninth and second. Boris Said has the most top-10 finishes of non-Cup regulars at Infineon with four, and only three drivers have cracked the top five: Gordon (second), Pruett (third) and Terry Labonte, who was third in 2006 while not running a full schedule.

``It goes to show that it's not easy for these guys to come in, without a lot of time in the cars or practice, and run well,'' said 2000 series champion Bobby Labonte. ``A guy like Boris, he's been in the Cup cars at different tracks besides Infineon and Watkins Glen. He knows the characteristics of these cars. A guy who's coming in for a one-off race? No, it's not that easy.

``They have a lot of road racing skill, maybe better than most of us, but they don't have that time with the cars.''

Still, Said is hoping this trip to Sonoma will end what's seemed like a season-long slump.

``This has been the worst year of my career - I haven't finished a race yet,'' he admitted.

Said's team failed to finish the 24 Hours of Daytona in January, and he failed to qualify for the Daytona 500 three weeks later. He was wrecked out of the Nationwide Series race in Mexico City, and an engine failure in Germany last month ended his hopes of winning the 24 Hours of Nurburgring.

``This has really been a horrific year,'' he said. ``I need to break the jinx this weekend. We have great equipment.''

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TRIPLE CHASE OVER: Kyle Busch's bid to win three championships this season comes to an end Saturday when he skips the Nationwide Series race in Milwaukee.

Busch never officially had the race on his schedule, but could have hopped in a Braun Racing entry if he so desired. After wrecking out of last week's race in Kentucky, Busch declared he was ``done'' and would sit out Milwaukee.

The decision comes after consecutive manic weekends that saw Busch running in all three of NASCAR's top series, including a cross-country tour two weeks ago that saw him make history by racing at three different tracks on the same weekend.

His commitment to the Truck Series was to help team owner Billy Ballew win the owner's championship, and Busch has put the truck in second place - just eight points behind Bill Davis Racing's No. 23 Toyota.

Busch is currently fifth in the Nationwide driver standings and is the Cup Series points leader.

This weekend's double - the Sprint Cup Series is in Sonoma, Calif. - is the most challenging for drivers running both series. A year ago, Denny Hamlin didn't even make the start of the race in Milwaukee and Aric Almirola had to get out of the car while leading once Hamlin arrived at the track.

James Buescher will now drive the Braun entry in Milwaukee instead of Busch. It will be Buescher's third career Nationwide start.

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DOUBLE BILLING: Michael Waltrip is giving longtime sponsor NAPA double billing this weekend by sending two cars to Sonoma adorned with the company logo.

Both Waltrip's No. 55 and Michael McDowell's No. 00 will be decked out in the NAPA blue and gold. NAPA has supported Waltrip since 2001 and together they've won four races, including a pair of Daytona 500s.

``They are wonderful supporters of mine, so I would like to say thanks for everything they have done for me,'' Waltrip said. ``McDowell is going to California to showcase his specialty - his experience is in road racing. He is very talented and was very impressive at the Virginia International Raceway test we did two weeks ago.

``As for me, I had a top-five finish at Infineon in 2004 and I have always run well there so I am really looking forward to having two NAPA cars on track and in the race. NAPA will have twice the chance of getting great exposure.''

NASCAR: Toyota/Save Mart 350

The drivers on the Sprint Cup circuit get a break from making only left turns this weekend, as they roll into Infineon Raceway for the first road course race of the season in the Toyota/Save Mart 300.

Last year the first stop on the road course at Infineon meant the first career NASCAR win for Juan Pablo Montoya. Montoya’s road racing experience in Formula 1 and Indy Car likely makes him the driver to beat again this weekend. Not surprisingly, Montoya is among the favorites on the BetJamaica odds at +600.

Before Montoya ruled the Infineon track, victory lane had belonged to Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart for almost the last decade. Prior to last season either Gordon or Stewart had won seven of the last nine races at Infineon.

Gordon won at Infineon five times, the last coming back in 2006, while Stewart has a pair of victories, the last of which came in 2005. Both Gordon and Stewart are winless so far this season and a road race may be what they need to finally claim another checkered flag. The oddsmakers care more about road course history than this season’s results after tagging both Gordon and Stewart among the favorites at +600.

The departure from the oval this weekend also means there will be at least a few “road course ringers” lining up in the starting grid on Sunday. Drivers like Boris Said (+1200), Ron Fellows (+1200) and Scott Pruett (+3500) will all try to find a ride this weekend and snap the long losing streak for ringers, which has been ongoing since Mark Donohue last won as a ringer back in 1973.

One former road course ringer to keep an eye on this weekend is Robby Gordon. Gordon, who’s been a full-time driver on the Cup circuit for almost a decade, has three career wins and two of them have come in road course races. One of those just happened to take place at Infineon. Gordon may be a regular at the bottom of the odds, but that’s all changed this week as he also shares the top spot at +600.

Last week at Michigan International Speedway, a long losing streak finally came to an end after Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the LifeLock 400. The win brought an end Junior’s 76-race winless streak. The chances of Junior making it two in a row at Infineon don’t look very good though, considering his best finish on the road course was 11th in 2003 and in 2004. He comes in at +2500 on the odds.

NASCAR feeling the pain at the pump too

Rising gasoline prices mean shrinking attendance at races, particularly with fans who have to fill up those RVs.

Infineon Raceway in Sonoma is selling discount ticket packages to its NASCAR Sprint Cup race Sunday, and at next week's race, New Hampshire Motor Speedway will choose one lucky fan and pay the rest of their 2008 mortgage.

The reason: NASCAR has run smack into OPEC.

The record surge in gasoline prices, along with the nation's housing crisis and a sluggish economy overall, are taking a toll on stock-car racing fans and tempering NASCAR's popularity.

With Americans digging deeper to pay at the pump, some NASCAR tracks are seeing more empty seats and empty sites at their campgrounds, where thousands of RV owners park their gas-guzzling rigs on race weekends.

Chunks of vacant seats were evident at recent races at Michigan International Speedway, Dover (Del.) International Speedway and Pocono (Pa.) Raceway. Even Lowe's Motor Speedway near Charlotte, N.C., home of most NASCAR teams, saw declines at last month's Coca-Cola 600.

It might get worse. Many fans buy their tickets and make travel arrangements well in advance of race dates, so the full impact of $4.50-a-gallon gasoline on attendance might not be felt until NASCAR's fall races.

Most track operators are reluctant to divulge specific attendance trends, but several acknowledged they're seeing declines of up to 10% from a year ago -- which trans- lates into thousands of empty seats.

At Atlanta Motor Speedway, which already had struggled to fill its 124,000 seats before gas prices skyrocketed this spring, "I anticipate we certainly will be off" for its race in late October, said track president Ed Clark.

The fans' struggle is one reason why NASCAR President Mike Helton met privately last week with the Cup drivers -- many of them millionaires -- and effectively told them to quit griping so publicly about their race cars, track conditions and other matters.

Helton "reminded them to think about the fans, what they are facing, the rising cost of gas and the hardships," NASCAR spokesman Jim Hunter said.

Some speedways, meanwhile, rolled out promotions in hopes of preventing even steeper drops in attendance.

Infineon offered a $195 family package for Sunday's Toyota/Save Mart 350 that included four race tickets, hot dogs, soft drinks and a $10 gasoline card -- now worth a tad more than two gallons of unleaded regular -- that represented a $100 savings off normal prices.

In the New Hampshire race, the Loudon track will pay one fan's mortgage or rent for the rest of the year, up to $2,500 a month, while 20 others will win $500 gas cards.

"In these challenging economic times, we need to recognize those who support the speedway," said NHMS General Manager Jerry Gappens. The contest also "is an incentive for those fans thinking about coming, but [who] are still on the fence."

Indeed, television ratings for Cup races are edged higher this year after a two-year dip, an upswing many partly attribute to fans staying home to save money.

"People are feeling pain at the pumps," said Cup driver Jeff Burton. Increases in "the fuel price, ticket prices, food prices, lodging prices, it makes it harder for them to come to the events," he said.

Just ask Richard Turner, 66, a retired fireman who spent $300 to drive his 36-foot RV from his home in Fort Myers Beach, Fla., to the race at Lowe's last month.

Turner said he typically attends three to four races a year. But he hasn't yet decided whether to attend the next one on his list, the Oct. 5 race at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

"It all depends on what happens with the gasoline," he said. "Whether we're going to make it this year, I don't know."

Despite their problems, NASCAR races remain a popular destination. They still draw crowds larger than most U.S. sporting events, and NASCAR said races last month at Darlington, S.C., and Richmond, Va., were sellouts.

At Sunday's race at Michigan International Speedway, the crowd fell well short of filling the 132,000 seats and thousands of additional RV sites. But NASCAR estimated the race still drew 115,000 people.

And some tracks said they remain optimistic about the fall. Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage said his track has not seen a decline in reservations for its 9,000 camping spots for its race Nov. 2.

Gillian Zucker, president of Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, said her track's infield RV sites are sold out for the Pepsi 500 on Aug. 31.

But she said it's too early to make attendance predictions because most of the speedway's ticket sales occur in the four weeks leading up to the race.

Auto Club Speedway, with 92,000 seats, hadn't been able to sell out its two Cup races a year even before gas prices zoomed. But now that prices are so high, the track hopes to lure more fans who are forgoing long-distance trips this Labor Day weekend, Zucker said.

Dave Knopp and his wife Terri, of Kettering, Ohio, are two fans who can afford to keep attending races. As they soaked up the sun in front of their 37-foot RV at Lowe's last month, they said they spent $370 in gas for the drive to Charlotte -- twice what they spent a year earlier.

That has forced them to make some financial choices but hasn't changed their desire to see NASCAR live.

"Now, at home, we don't go out to eat as often as we used to," said Dave Knopp, 60. "We could have stayed home and eaten the tickets, but we're not going to do that.

"We're not going to let whoever is controlling the price of fuel change our lifestyle. As long as we can afford to do this, we're going to do it."

latimes.com

Toyota/Save Mart 350 Driver Rating

This is one of my favorite weeks of the year for NASCAR. The sport throws us a curve ball as the series heads to Sonoma, CA for the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway. A lot of road course specialists are on the entry list, some of which you’ve probably never heard of. The list includes Max Papis, Brian Simo, Ron Fellows, and everyone’s favorite: Boris Said.

Said is 5th in this week’s Infineon Driver Ratings. He always qualifies exceptionally well here (4.3 average start), so it’s safe to assume that he’ll make the field. He has an average finish of 11.7, and has been in the top 15 in 88.2% of his laps ran here in the past three years. Said is the definition of “ringer”, so don’t be surprised when he posts a top 5 this weekend.

Juan Pablo Montoya has only been at Infineon once, but it was a memorable race. He grabbed his first and only NASCAR Sprint Cup victory there last season. He only led seven laps, but did so when it mattered most. Expect another great performance from Montoya, and see if that can turn things around for Chip Ganassi Racing.

Besides Montoya, there are only two drivers with an average finish in the single digits: Greg Biffle and Elliott Sadler. Both haven’t led many laps, but their consistency should pay off this weekend. Both are safe bets to finish in the top 10. That’s about all you can ask for at a race like Infineon.

profantasysports.com

Driver Handicaps: Sonoma

This weekend the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to Infineon Raceway for Sunday's Toyota/Save Mart 350. To help you make your fantasy racing picks, RacingOne brings you our weekly detailed look at some of the field for the 110-lap event.

Who's HOT at Sonoma
• Jeff Gordon leads all drivers with five wins.
• Defending race winner Juan Pablo Montoya has the best driver rating at 115.3.
• Tony Stewart has finished sixth or better in four of the last seven races, which includes two wins.
• Ryan Newman is the only other driver entered in this weekend's race that has a finishing average under 10.0.
• Greg Biffle is coming off two consecutive top fives.
• Robby Gordon is the only other driver entered in this event with a win.
• Kurt Busch has the best average running position (7.1) over the last three races.

Keep an Eye on at Sonoma
• Road course "Ringers" Boris Said, Ron Fellows and Scott Pruett have combined for seven top 10s at Infineon.
• Kevin Harvick has won at Infineon in the NASCAR West and Southwest Series.
• Marcos Ambrose will attempt to qualify for his Cup debut in the No. 21 Ford. He has raced four road-course events in the Nationwide Series, with a best second in this year's event in Mexico City.
• Aric Almirola will make his Cup road-course debut in the No. 8. He finished 11th in the Nationwide Series Montreal road-course event in 2007.
• Terry Labonte will be back behind the wheel this weekend, racing for Kyle Petty in the No. 45 Dodge.
• If he can qualify, AJ Allmendinger will make his first Cup road course start. He logged testing laps at both Sebring Raceway and VIR earlier this season and has extensive road course experience in an open wheel car from his days in the Champ Car World Series.

Track Performers
Tony Stewart has competed in 18 road course events and his 8.1 average finish tops all drivers. Jeff Gordon, who has an 11.1 average finish, leads all drivers in wins (9) and laps led (664) in 30 starts. Denny Hamlin, Ryan Newman, Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick are the only other drivers entered in the Toyota Save/Mart 350 that have an average finish of 15.0 on road courses.

Sonoma Rookie Report
Regan Smith, who will be replaced by Ron Fellows this weekend, was the only Raybestos Rookie of the Year candidate that had made a Sprint Cup Series start at Infineon Raceway. Patrick Carpentier's first career Cup start came at Watkins Glen last season. His 22nd-place finish in that event is still his career-best career finish in the series. Along with Carpentier, Sam Hornish Jr. and Dario Franchitti have road course experience in open wheel racing. Rookie Standings

Qualifying Tidbits
Jeff Gordon has won five of the last 10 Pole Awards at Infineon Raceway, including two consecutive in 2004, 2005. In 2003, Boris Said captured his first Cup pole driving for the injured Jerry Nadeau in the No. 01 U.S. Army Pontiac. Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch and Jamie McMurray are the only other three full-time drivers that have won a pole at Infineon, with McMurray the most recent in 2006. Gordon's 2005 lap of 94.325 mph still stands as the track record. Fifteen of the 19 races at Infineon have been won from a starting position of seventh or better.

RacingOne Staff Picks

Jeff Wackerlin: Robby Gordon
Pete Pistone: Juan Pablo Montoya
Rachael West: Boris Said
Kym Opalenik: Tony Stewart

Top 20 Driver Notes - Based on Current Standings

1. Kyle Busch: Kyle Busch didn't make too much of his Cup debut at Infineon Raceway in 2005, but he's made up the difference since. In that first outing Busch finished 40th, but since, has finished 11th and eighth respectively. He'll be making his first road-course start in a Toyota with Joe Gibbs Racing.

2. Jeff Burton: Burton has competed in 14 races at Infineon Raceway scoring five top-10 finishes. Last year he scored his best finish (third), and second consecutive top 10 with Richard Childress Racing. Burton's three other top 10s came with Roush Racing. In his first start with RCR in 2005, Burton was running 10th in the closing laps, until another competitor spun him out. Infineon is Burton's worst track on the circuit when it comes to laps led. His three total laps led came in the 1999 race. This weekend Burton will race chassis No. 249. This is a brand new car that has yet to see any laps on a race track.

3. Dale Earnhardt Jr: Infineon Raceway is Earnhardt Jr's worst track by finishing average at 22.0. Along with Homestead, Infineon is the only track where Junior has yet to score a top 10. He is coming off finishes of 26th and 13th, respectively, on the California road course. The 2004 race marked the only time Junior has led a lap(s) at Infineon after holding the No. 8 Chevrolet up front for nine laps. This weekend he will shoot for his first Infineon top 10 in his first track start with Hendrick Motorsports. He will make that start in a brand new chassis (No. 514).

4. Carl Edwards: Edwards will look to use some information gathered in a test at Road Atlanta to help him score his second career top 10 at Infineon Raceway. Edwards will once again travel long distance to pull double duty, as he will be driving the No. 60 Ford in the Nationwide race at Milwaukee. The car (chassis No. RK-482) Edwards will race at Infineon is the same one that finished 18th at Infineon and eighth at Watkins Glen in 2007.

5. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson captured his best finish (fifth) at Infineon Raceway in 2004 in his third of six career starts at the track. In 2005, Johnson scored his worst finish of 36th after starting a best second. His only other top 10 came in 2006 when he led two laps en route to a 10th-place finish. Last year, like his teammate Jeff Gordon, Johnson had to make his way to the front after starting in the back of the pack due to failing inspection. He wound up finishing 42nd.

6. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin has put together a solid finishing average of 11.0 in his two Sprint Cup starts at Infineon Raceway. Last year he led his first laps (3) en route to his first top 10 at the track. To prepare for the Toyota/Save Mart 350, Hamlin spent a couple of days testing at Virginia International Raceway. This weekend's chassis (No. 181) is the same one that served as the back up for both the Infineon and Watkins Glen races last season.

7. Kasey Kahne: Kasey Kahne has yet to finish within the top 20 in four starts at Infineon Raceway with Gillett-Evernham Motorsports. His best finish of 23rd came in this event last year.

8. Greg Biffle: Biffle is coming off two consecutive top fives at Infineon Raceway. His fourth-place finish in 2006 is his best-to-date. A few weeks ago Biffle tested chassis RK 497 at Road Atlanta to get ready for this weekend.

9. Jeff Gordon: Last year, Gordon battled back from the 41st starting position (failed inspection) to finish seventh at Infineon Raceway. The finish was his 11th top 10 in 15 starts at the 1.99-mile road course. In 2006, Gordon led 44 of the 110 laps from the 11th position en route to his last win at the track. Gordon's 92 laps led en route to his 2004 victory was the most laps he led in the nine races where he has held the lead there. He took victories (two from the pole) for three consecutive years from 1998 to 2000 leading a combined total of 171 laps. He has finished outside the top 11 three times, including the 2005 event when he led 32 laps from the pole before suffering transmission problems. His worst finishes of 37th came in 1994 (only DNF) and 2002. Gordon is the leader in wins and laps led (437) at Infineon.

10. Kevin Harvick: In Sprint Cup racing, Harvick has started seven times at Infineon Raceway, with a best finish of second coming last year. He has, however, won twice at the track, in the NASCAR West Series in 1998 and the Southwest Series in 2003. In 2004, he picked up 24 spots in the final 70 laps to salvage a 12th-place finish after an early pit road miscue. Harvick's worst finishes, and only ones outside the top 15, came in 2005 and 2006 when he placed 37th and 24th, respectively. Earlier this month, Harvick and the No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Racing team tested at Virginia International Raceway. This weekend he will be driving a new chassis (No. 228) in the Toyota/Save Mart 350.

11. Tony Stewart: Stewart won his first Sprint Cup road race and the first for Joe Gibbs Racing in this event in 2001. The next season he won his only pole at Infineon Raceway and finished second. In 2005, Stewart won his second race and led 39 of his career total 66 laps at the 1.99-mile track. Stewart, who has a 10.0 average finish in nine starts, will return in the same car (chassis No. 175) that finished sixth in this event last year, then went on to win Watkins Glen.

12. Clint Bowyer: Bowyer scored his first career Sprint Cup top five on a road course after he finished fourth last year at Infineon Raceway. This weekend he will shoot for another good finish at the 1.99-mile track behind the wheel of a brand new car (chassis No. 250). Bowyer will also race in the Nationwide race at Milwaukee.

13. David Ragan: Ragan finished 29th in his first career start at Infineon Raceway. He tested a GT America stock car at the 1.99-mile road course to prepare for the Toyota/Save Mart 350. The car he will race in the event is a brand new chassis (No. RK-495). This weekend he will also be flying with his teammate Carl Edwards to compete in the Nationwide race.

14. Matt Kenseth: Infineon Raceway is the only track where Kenseth has yet to score a top-10 finish. His 23.5 average finish is the worst among all tracks on the circuit. Kenseth's best finish at Sonoma was an 11th in 2005. This weekend's chassis (No. RK-597) is the same one that was tested at Road Atlanta.

15. Martin Truex Jr: Martin Truex Jr. has managed to finish all 220 laps of his two starts at Infineon Raceway, but has yet to post a top-10 result. His best finish there was 15th in 2006 from a 39th starting position. The No. 1 DEI driver has been to victory lane at a road course, though. Truex won the first Nationwide Series race held at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez road course in Mexico City in 2005.

16. Brian Vickers: Brian Vickers' average finish is 23.3 at Infineon Raceway in three starts with Hendrick Motorsports. He won a 2006 NASCAR West Series race the day before running 14th in the No. 25 Chevrolet - his last start at the track. Vickers recently spent three days testing his Red Bull Toyota at Virginia International Raceway where he logged 319 miles.

17. Ryan Newman: Ryan Newman has posted four top-10s in six starts at Infineon - a best second in the 2006 event after leading 11 laps. His average finish is 9.8 on the strength that he hasn't finished outside the top 20 there. The No. 12 Penske team is bringing chassis PRS-527 to the track. It made its debut at Bristol Motor Speedway this season.

18. Travis Kvapil: Kvapil and the No. 28 team tested chassis No. 492 at Road Atlanta earlier this month in preparation for the driver's second career start at Infineon Raceway. His only start came in 2005 with the No. 77 Team. In that race he started 39th and finished 21st.

19. Kurt Busch: Heading to Infineon, Kurt Busch is holding his own in recent years when taking Loop Data into consideration. The No. 2 Dodge driver has a series-best average running position of 7.1 and a series high 298 (90.3%) laps run in the top-15. His driver rating of 109.3 is third-best overall. Busch has also taken the green flag from a starting spot of sixth or better in five of the last six races at Infineon, including from the pole in 2006. In seven total starts at Infineon, Busch has posted three top-five finishes and four finishes outside the top 20. The team is debuting a new Dodge Charger (chassis PSC-565) this weekend. They tested the car two days (May 21 and June 4) at Road Atlanta.

20. Bobby Labonte: Bobby Labonte has two top-five and five top-10 finishes in 15 starts at Infineon Raceway. But he hasn't finished in the top 10 in his last four starts there, the last two for Petty Enterprises. In 2006 with Petty, he crashed in the final laps of the race and last year ran out of gas on the next to final lap of the race.

Notables Outside the Top 20

Juan Pablo Montoya: Last year in this event, Montoya became the first rookie to win at Infineon Raceway and joined Dan Gurney and Mario Andretti as the only drivers to win races in the Cup, IndyCar and Formula One series. This weekend he will return in the same car (chassis No. 811) that won at Infineon. He also tested the car at Virginia International Raceway in preparation for the Toyota/Save Mart 350.

Robby Gordon: One of Gordon's three Sprint Cup Series win came in this event in 2003. Last year he ran his own car for the second time at Infineon Raceway and led 48 laps en route to a 16th-place finish. Gordon, who tested at Road Atlanta in preparation for this weekend's race, will be shooting for his fourth top 10 in his 11th start at Infineon.

Boris Said: Last year at Infineon Raceway, Said finished ninth for the second consecutive time. The finish was his fourth top 10 in the last five races at the 1.99-mile track. In 2003 he won the pole driving the No. 01 U.S. Army for MB2 Motorsports. In 2005 at Watkins Glen, Said scored his best road course finish when he came home third after starting 41st in the No. 36 MB2 Chevrolet.

Ron Fellows: Fellows will make his seventh start at Infineon Raceway driving the No. 01 Dale Earnhardt Inc. Chevrolet. Last year, he competed with his fourth different team at the track, finishing 15th with the No. 96 Hall of Fame Racing Team. He captured his only top 10s at the 1.99-mile road course in 2003 and 2005 finishing seventh and eighth, respectively, with DEI and PPI Motorsports. Fellows has also enjoyed success at Watkins Glen International in the NASCAR Busch and Truck Series where he has visited victory lane a combined five times. The Glen is also the site of Fellows' career best Sprint Cup finishes - two second-place runs in 1999 and 2004.

Racingone.com

Toyota/Save Mart 350 HOT! Sheet

It was not too long ago that Matt Kenseth sat back in 22nd position in the standings, and nearly 200 points out of the coveted 12th spot. In the five events since then, he has worked his way up to the 14th position and just 14 points out of a “playoff” position. His worst finish in this current run is a pair of 7th places at both Charlotte and Pocono. The #17 car has also gained the bonus points for leading at least one lap in each the last 5. This track hasn’t been very kind to him, but there’s no way you should sit him.

His teammate at Roush Fenway Racing, Jamie McMurray, is right up there with him on our sheet this week. That’s thanks to a nice string of three races in which he posted a pair of strong 10th place finishes. At Dover he started a season best 5th and eventually led a lap before ending 10th. This past weekend at Michigan, he again made his way to the front and led a lap before again ending 10th. He has started on the front row here each of the last two years, so another top 10 is highly possible.

Another driver on the fast track for the top 12 is Brian Vickers. As you can see on our chart, his average finish over the last three events is about 6th place. At Dover he ran with the lead pack for most of the day before ending 13th. The following week at Pocono he came within 3.7 seconds of a trip to victory lane but had to settle for 2nd. This past weekend he was leading for 44 laps and wound up 4th. Look for him to be a factor on the road Sunday.

The guy at the bottom our list is Clint Bowyer. He is leading the Nationwide Series standings, but may want to focus a little more on his Cup status because he has fallen down to 12th. The #07 car has been nowhere near the front of the pack in the last four races. He finally finished on the lead lap this past weekend at Michigan, but on the final rundown he was scored 26th. He’ll be flying back and forth between California and Wisconsin this weekend, so we would recommend finding someone else to fill the roster spot.

After sitting out due to injury from an accident, the return to the track for Dario Franchitti has been a nightmare. At Pocono, he started in the top 15 but got caught up in a wreck that sent him home with a DNF in 41st. Just when you think it can’t get worse than that, the engine in the #40 car gave way after just 30 laps at Michigan which forced him to the hauler in last place. This is his first experience on this course, so we would stay away.

profantasysports.com

Kahne conquers Sonoma qualifying

Sonoma, CA (Sports Network) - Kasey Kahne captured the pole for Sunday's Toyota/Save Mart 350 Sprint Cup race at the Infineon Raceway. The No.9 Gillett Evernham Motorsports Dodge circled the 1.99-mile, 12-turn road course in one minute, 17.740 seconds.

The pole victory was Kahne's second of the season, first on a road course and 16th of his "Cup" career. He is the hottest driver in NASCAR with three wins in the last five races. Kahne finished second to Dale Earnhardt Jr. last week in Michigan.

"The guys gave me a great car and we were able to make a smooth lap," said Kahne. "I'm really looking forward to the race."

Starting alongside Kahne on the front row will be two-time series champion Jimmie Johnson who posted a time of 1:17.836 seconds.

Kurt Busch (1:17.865) and Bobby Labonte (1:17.918) will make up row two.

Other drivers of note and their starting positions: Jeff Gordon (fifth), Robby Gordon (eighth), Carl Edwards (12th), Denny Hamlin (13th), Earnhardt Jr. (15th), Jeff Burton (20th), points leader Kyle Busch (30th), Kevin Harvick (32nd) and Tony Stewart (39th).

It was just one year ago that Montoya, starting 21st, stunned the NASCAR regulars and "road-course ringers" with his victory at Infineon.

Jamie McMurray, Harvick and Montoya were first through third with just 20 laps remaining. Montoya got around Harvick, but McMurray was putting a gap between himself and the Colombian.

Montoya closed in on McMurray with 11 laps to go and tried to pass McMurray in turn 11 with nine laps to go, but he couldn't hold on. He got ahead, but locked up the tires and McMurray re-took the lead. On the next lap, however, Montoya made the pass in turn two and the lead was his.

Montoya was low on fuel as were many others, but he wasn't about to stop and he made it to the checkered flag four seconds ahead of Harvick as McMurray ran out of gas.

Montoya's early success at Infineon and his solid performances elsewhere helped open-wheel drivers to get access into NASCAR. His win certainly sped up the process that brought Dario Franchitti, Sam Hornish Jr., Jacques Villeneuve and Patrick Carpentier to the NASCAR scene.

So far, results have been mixed, but this week at Sonoma should be fun to watch. Carpentier and Marcos Ambrose along with "ringers" Ron Fellows, Brandon Ash, Brian Simo, Boris Said and "Mad" Max Papis should give the NASCAR regulars a run for their money.

The green flag is scheduled to drop on Sunday around 5 p.m. (et).

Toyota/Save Mart 350 Odds and Predictions
by Christopher G. Shepard

Five-time winner Jeff Gordon hopes to jump-start his season in California as NASCAR hits the road of Infineon Raceway in Sonoma County on Sunday at 5 p.m. for the Toyota/Save Mart 350.

Get ready for a lot of breaking on the grueling 12-turn Sonoma track where any minor mistake can send drivers flying across the scrub brush. With little quality passing opportunities drivers will have to adopt a wait-and-see attitude and let the other drivers make the mistakes and then take advantage of the slim opportunities when they arise. There are a few courses on the NASCAR circuit where starting grid position is very important and this is one of them, so watch the qualifiers to see how the cars are running. Keep in mind there'll be a lot of sore necks this weekend as drivers will have to turn right for the first time this season.

In case you missed the results of the LifeLock 400 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. won (some say due to a questionable fuel strategy) for the first time in more than two years. To conserve fuel during caution at the end of the race Junior cruised ahead of the pace car and then killed his engine allowing it to drift behind the pace car and conserve fuel. Be that as it may he won the race and ended his 76-race drought. Hendrick Motorsports, strange as it may seem, hasn't won a race since April when Jimmie Johnson won on the short track at the Subway 500 in Phoenix.

Who will win the Toyota/Save Mart 350?

This week a lot of attention will be on another HMS driver. Gordon has dominated the road course in recent history and has won every other year since 2004 so if everything goes according to plan 2008 could spell what ails him. Remember, last year at this time Gordon had already won four races and led in points. Incidentally, he also holds the track record for fastest qualifying record at 94.325 mph in 2005. Gordon has also won the pole four times at Infineon.

Gamblers thinking about backing the No. 24 car should know that Gordon is the best active road course driver and averages a win every three times he gets behind the wheel of a road race. Gordon also won at Sonoma three years in a row from 1998-2001. Furthermore, Gordon has won fifty percent of the last 10 races at Sonoma, which makes him very hard to bet against.

Another road warrior is Tony Stewart who has two wins at Sonoma and used the 2005 win to launch his championship season. But I'm not going to let my investment go up in smoke as Stewart has had really bad luck all year. No matter how good Tony is on the road I wouldn't be surprised to see him lead the race and hit a bottle of wine in the middle of the track and get a flat tire. I wouldn't invest Mark Cuban's money in Smoke.

In professional (and amateur I am sure) marquee team sports there is an expression known as a "must-win game." Whether it is at Cameron Indoor, Giants Stadium or Wrigley Field, there are some games you just don't lose. For Jeff Gordon Sunday is a season-defining moment. Stuck 337 points behind Kyle Busch (now that should be the name of a country song) Gordon has not seen the other side of ninth place in the standings in a long time. Winless after almost half the season completed on the Spring Cup this is a must-win race for Gordon.

Pick! Jeff Gordon, No. 24, 9/2

Toyota/Save Mart 350 Solid Gold Picks

Sportsbook.com has listed many matchups on the Toyota/Save Mart 350 this weekend. Last week, we continued to ride the hot streak that is Kasey Kahne as a +1.35 'dog to frequent flyer Kyle Busch. And the trend paid off as Kahne finished second at the LifeLock 400. This week Busch said since he was so far off in the points he was going to stop racing in the Craftsman Truck series. Think there was a big sigh of relief in the truck bays? This brings my record Over-the-Wall to 10-10 with -1.20 units on the season after 15 of 36 Sprint Cup races have been completed.

Long Odds Value Pick

The driver of the No. 12 car, Ryan Newman, is one of the hot free agents on the market looking to land with a new deal. The Daytona 500 winner is a keeper and so Penske Racing is going to do their best to help Newman win and keep him in the stable. Helped out by four top-10 finishes, Newman sports a better-than-respectable average finish of 9.8 at Sonoma. Newman came in second at Sonoma in 2006. He has the chops to run a mistake-free race and perhaps win if Penske Racing gives him a great car on Sunday.

Pick! Ryan Newman, No. 12, (28/1)

Square Tire Pick

Just as I rode a hot NASCAR matchup trend the trend decides he doesn't want to race three races a weekend on three different surfaces (that aren't in the same venue)! Now Kyle Busch has to fall back on Plan B or whatever it is that keeps him winning Sprint Cup races. As of deadline matchups for the Save Mart 350 had not been listed but I'll offer this bit of advice for those looking for an edge. Eschew the Sprint Cup point's leaders for those with quality road experience. You spend a season turning left and then have to turn right it is different. Last year JPM managed to win at Sonoma the first time he raced the track. No surprise since JPM cut his teeth road-racing in F1. I'm taking JPM in any matchup other than against Jeff Gordon.

Pick! Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 42

*Toyota/Save Mart 350 Odds

A.J. Allmendinger 35/1
Aric Almirola 70/1
Bobby Labonte 100/1
Boris Said 18/1
Brandon Ash 150/1
Brian Simo 100/1
Brian Vickers 100/1
Carl Edwards 40/1
Casey Mears 60/1
Clint Bowyer 40/1
Dale Earnhardt Jr. 25/1
Dario Franchitti 30/1
Dave Blaney 100/1
David Gilliland 100/1
David Ragan 100/1
David Reutimann 100/1
Denny Hamlin 20/1
Elliott Sadler 40/1
Greg Biffle 40/1
J.J. Yeley 150/1
Jamie McMurray 18/1
Jeff Burton 40/1
Jeff Gordon 9/2
Jimmie Johnson 28/1
Joe Nemechek 150/1
Juan Pablo Montoya 6/1
Kasey Kahne 65/1
Kevin Harvick 10/1
Kurt Busch 20/1
Kyle Busch 14/1
Marcos Ambrose 30/1
Martin Truex Jr. 40/1
Matt Kenseth 50/1
Max Papis 80/1
Michael McDowell 35/1
Michael Waltrip 100/1
Patrick Carpentier 25/1
Paul Menard 100/1
Reed Sorenson 125/1
Robby Gordon 10/1
Ron Fellows 18/1
Ryan Newman 28/1
Sam Hornish Jr. 80/1
Scott Riggs 100/1
Terry Labonte 100/1
Tony Stewart 9/2
Travis Kvapil 125/1

*Odds courtesy of Bodog

Docsports.com

Chip Ganassi's NASCAR team struggling to get up to speed

He brought Montoya and Franchitti to NASCAR but hasn't found the success he has enjoyed in other motor sports.

SONOMA, Calif. -- Moments after his driver Scott Dixon won the Indianapolis 500 last month, team owner Chip Ganassi took the winner's traditional gulp of milk in Victory Lane before Dixon could hold the bottle.

"I was just so thirsty and happy at that point, I wasn't really thinking about protocol," Ganassi recalled.

If Ganassi skips the finer points now and then, he has earned it. His IndyCar Series team, Target Chip Ganassi Racing, is among the most successful in the sport and this season has won four of the series' first seven races, including the Indy 500.

He has also been one of NASCAR's more daring owners, bringing former Indy 500 winners Juan Pablo Montoya and Dario Franchitti to NASCAR's premier Sprint Cup Series.

And today, Ganassi will watch Montoya defend his 2007 victory in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 on the 1.99-mile Infineon Raceway road course here.

That win was Montoya's first in NASCAR, and it appeared to validate Ganassi's bold stroke of bringing the Colombian to stock-car racing.

But Montoya hasn't won since, only one reason why there hasn't been much to cheer about at Ganassi's Cup team, which he co-owns with Felix Sabates.

In fact, their Dodge team has been mediocre for several years -- Montoya's win was the only Cup victory for Ganassi since 2002. It's a perplexing shortfall in light of Ganassi's sterling record in other motor sports.

Besides Ganassi's Indy car success, his Grand-Am sports car team this year won the Rolex 24 at Daytona endurance race a third consecutive time and its drivers Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas lead that series' point standings.

Ganassi also was dominant a decade ago, when his team won four consecutive titles in the now-defunct CART open-wheel series from 1996 to '99. His drivers included Montoya, who also won the Indy 500 in 2000.

And after Ganassi moved to the IndyCar Series, Dixon won the series' championship in 2003.

But in NASCAR this year, Montoya is 22nd in points after 15 races. The team's third driver, 22-year-old Reed Sorenson, is 32nd. Both have only one top-five finish this season. (Pruett, a road-racing specialist, is substituting for Sorenson today.)

Franchitti, a NASCAR rookie this year, has been in only nine races after breaking an ankle in an April crash. He hoped to rebound this weekend, but his car was too slow to qualify for today's race.

It was the latest example of a slump that's frustrated Ganassi's teams and prompted the owner to recently shuffle Montoya's crew chiefs -- twice -- in search of a turnaround.

"I'm not content where we are," Ganassi said. "We feel we're better than what the standings indicate. We expect to be running better than we are and we will run better."

Ganassi and his drivers said the team has not mastered NASCAR's new Car of Tomorrow as well as the powerhouse teams of Hendrick Motorsports, Roush Fenway Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing.

But Ganassi and his team also acknowledged that they weren't working together to make the whole team stronger.

"Every person was pulling a different direction," said Montoya, who drives the No. 42 Dodge. "There was no communication, no [one] on the team saying, 'This is where we need to go.' "

Ganassi and Montoya both publicly griped about the team's performance this spring, but Montoya said Friday that the team finally appears to be melding under Ganassi's direction.

"Everybody's really pushing the same way now," he said. "It's going to take time and you have to build on it. But I didn't come to NASCAR to run 20th every week."

Ganassi, 50, still lives in his hometown of Pittsburgh but is constantly traveling between his race shops in Indianapolis and Concord, N.C., and to races around the country.

He started as a driver himself, competing in the Indy 500 in the 1980s. But with a business degree from Duquesne University, he formed his own team in 1990.

"It's a difficult business," said Ganassi, conceding that "yes, I can be impatient when things should be happening faster than they're happening, or when I've given people enough time to accomplish something and they don't.

"At the same time . . . I've given a lot of people fair chances," he said. "First and foremost racing is about performance. I live for racing -- this is all I do. I put everything I have into this sport."

Before his failed qualifying run Friday, Franchitti said, "We're all frustrated, none of us want to be running where we're running." But he said Ganassi was "very focused on making it better. The last month or so, I think he's redoubled his efforts."

Montoya agreed and, when asked whether the team was finally turning the corner, replied: "I don't think we're turning it yet. But I think we can see the corner."

latimes.com