Toyota/Savemart 350 News and Notes

Next to the Bristol night race the two road course races are my favorite races. ;D

I already took

Tony Stewart +625
Jeff Gordon +625
Marcos Ambrose +1300

Also like Ryan Newman

NASCAR at Sonoma
By Micah Roberts
VegasInsider.com

Ever since the NASCAR circuit rolled out of Las Vegas in early March with all of it’s gigantic corporate hotels and spas, the NASCAR teams have missed that type of luxurious amenity.

Of course Vegas isn’t the only place that knows how to pamper a guest, but because of Vegas’ nature and with so many stars roaming, folks aren’t too star struck by a driver which makes being away from the track during race week more enjoyable than most for them. They can blend in like no where else on tour.

While the kids and Dads love the energy of Vegas and all the shows, the wives of the drivers always have the middle of June starred on their calendars, because that is usually when the NASCAR tour cruises into Sonoma Valley, California, right in the middle of America’s best wine region.

Other than sampling the best wines before the rest of the wine world gets to at the thousands of Vineyards throughout the region, the Sonoma Valley has also made itself known as one of the best places to pamper your spouse. Between all the world class spa’s with all the calmness and serenity that an agriculturally rich community exudes, one can feel taken away in the same instance like the old Calgon commercials.

It’s got the aristocratic feel of a Beverly Hills without the hustling, bustling snobs, traffic and black Mercedes everywhere. There is no place like it!

The race weekend also stamps a festive occasion at the raceway, where the 1.99 mile, ten turn road course turns NASCAR into something like a Formula One scene in Europe. Instead of beer stands everywhere like at a traditional oval, there is a mix of wine, fresh fruits, cheese and crackers. It really is quite a different scene and a welcomed change.

For most pure racing enthusiasts, the road course events tend to be their favorites because it brings an international flair to the American stock car series which normally just makes left turns all day. The road course races are the truest test of a drivers individual skills.

Of course a fast engine and great set up helps, but it is the drivers show. He is the one responsible for hitting that perfect line in and out of each turn at maximum speed. One little slip up along the ten differing turns and varying elevation changes can be more costly than any error made at any other track.

With everything resting on the driver, it’s easy to see why there is such a small fraternity within NASCAR that actually do well year after year. It’s also a reason we see several ringers, or hired guns take over existing cars for the two road course races. Drivers who normally participate on roads in different racing series always show up for these events because their skills are superior to most in NASCAR on the roads.

The favorite to win this week is Las Vegan Kyle Busch based simply on his road course runs last season at Sonoma and Watkins Glen. He also won at Mexico City in the Nationwide series race there giving him an unheard of total of three wins on the roads in NASCAR’s major series. Through all of his success at the Bull Ring in Las Vegas, who would have known that he was such an accomplished karting racer too. It turns out that his initial beginning into racing at a very young age was in the karts weaving in and out of any course he could find, including one made at his house.

The short list of drivers after Busch to contend for the win this week is Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Robby Gordon, and Juan Pablo Montoya. It’s no surprise that with Busch, they are the only drivers to have won at Sonoma in the last 11 years.

If you add Mark Martin and Kevin Harvick to the mix, the seven of them are the only active drivers to have won a road race at Sonoma and Watkins Glen combined. That is a very short list of winners for the last 16 years of racing in any series.

Mark Martin just got his third win of the season last week at Michigan and could be poised once again to contend for a road course win, which would be his first since 1997. He has a total of four road wins that include three straight at Watkins Glen BJG, which means before Jeff Gordon.

The combination of Roush adding more cars to his operation and the emergence of Jeff Gordon on the road courses made it tough for Martin to win again. Gordon would go on to win nine times between the two courses.

It wasn’t until Tony Stewart emerged that Gordon had any real competition, but at the same time, much like Gordon did to Martin, Stewart kind of took over the role as driver to beat on the roads. Between the two tracks, Stewart has compiled six wins.

Robby Gordon is kind of like the black sheep of NASCAR. He’s always been brash, doesn’t care about what the other drivers think, and walks with a swagger of knowing that he might just be the most complete driver of them all. This guy races everything, and does it well from Rally Races, Off Road events such as the Baja 500 he just won, and even Indy cars.

The series he has the least success in is NASCAR’s Sprint Cup series, however, the road courses are his equalizer. He performs at a very high level with cars that are well below the quality of all the other active drivers who have won on a road course.

I was always on the fringe about Gordon and his brashness, at least until this season when NASCAR visited Las Vegas. A couple fans asked Robby to sign a NASCAR poster for them so they could send to it to a soldier they knew in Iraq.

Gordon not only signed it, he took the poster into the garage and had every driver sign it.

Although it has nothing to do with his racing, it has everything to do about his character and who he is. I am now a Robby Gordon fan and will be rooting for him this week in what will be his best opportunity to win a Cup race since leaving Richard Childress.

When asked about his chances at Sonoma this week, Gordon was pretty confident.

"I'm looking forward to Sonoma…but the double-file restarts won't make any difference," Gordon says. "The leader (who gets to chose inside or outside) will take the inside every time and force the outside guy out.

"We've been testing for Sonoma for two months now, and the last time we were this well prepared for Sonoma we won it. So we could do it again."

Go Gettum’ Robby!

Top 5 Finish prediction:
1) #7 Robby Gordon (15/1)
2) #42 Juan Pablo Montoya (10/1)
3) #14 Tony Stewart (6/1)
4) #18 Kyle Busch (4/1)
5) #24 Jeff Gordon (7/1)

Toyota/Save Mart 350 PreQ

Many are surprised that Tony Stewart has began his tenure as an owner/driver this well. Frequently it is a struggle for drivers to move into the ownership role but it has not affected Stewart’s performance on the track this season. Through the first 15 races he has posted one win with 11 top 10s. Stewart is now the early week favorite for the first of two road course races this season. The series heads to Infineon Raceway which features both the left and right hand turns, something unique to road course racing. Stewart has failed to finish outside the top 10 just three times in 10 career starts with a pair of wins. The #14 Old Spice Chevrolet is a must have in any lineup for the Toyota/Save Mart 350.

In his young career Juan Pablo Montoya is beginning to display some consistency. He has posted three top 10s in the last four events. Montoya is also in a solid position to make a run at his first chance to contend in the Chase for the Championship. He sitting in the 14th position in the point standings and a win could go a long way this weekend in his bid to make the Chase. Infineon is the track in which he has his lone career win which came during his rookie season (2006). He followed that up with a 6th place finish last season. Montoya is looking for his third consecutive top 10 finish of the season as well as his third consecutive top 10 at this track. Expect that to happen.

Every time the road course race rolls around we also have to consider adding the “road course ringers” to your lineup. The most notable ring is Boris Said. Said had some problems last season in this race finishing in the 41st position. It was his first finish outside the top 20 in five years at Infineon in which he recorded four top 10s during that span. Next up is Ron Fellows, who will be driving the #09 Miccosukee Chevrolet, which has already been to victory lane this season when Brad Kieslowski took home the checkers at Talladega. Fellows has a pair of top 10s in seven career starts at Infineon and is always a good option for a top 20 finish. Finally, a driver to consider is Brian Simo. Simo has just six career starts at the Cup level, all on road courses, with a career best 10th place finish coming at Infineon during the 2005 season. There are a couple of “road course ringers” out there so keep a close eye on qualifying and consider adding one or even two to your lineup.

profantasysports.com

Driver Highlights - Sonoma
VegasInsider.com

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 four races at Infineon Raceway. NASCAR’s scoring loops began collecting data for statistical purposes in 2005.

Jeff Burton (No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet)

# One top five, five top 10s
# Average finish of 18.9
# Average Running Position of 11.6, fifth-best
# Driver Rating of 96.5, seventh-best
# Average Green Flag Speed of 89.805 mph, eighth-fastest
# 349 Laps in the Top 15 (79.0%), second-most
# 89 Quality Passes, fourth-most

Kurt Busch (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge)

# Three top fives, three top 10s; one pole
# Average finish of 19.1
# Average Running Position of 11.4, fourth-best
# Driver Rating of 102.6, fourth-best
# 13 Fastest Laps Run, seventh-most
# Average Green Flag Speed of 89.936 mph, fifth-fastest
# 328 Laps in the Top 15 (74.2%), fourth-most
# 73 Quality Passes, ninth-most

Kyle Busch (No. 18 M&M's Toyota)

# One win, one top five, two top 10s
# Average finish of 15.0
# Average Running Position of 16.3, 13th-best
# Driver Rating of 104.8, third-best
# 37 Fastest Laps Run, third-most
# Average Green Flag Speed of 89.964 mph, fourth-fastest
# 268 Laps in the Top 15 (60.6%), eighth-most
# 63 Quality Passes, 13th-most

Jeff Gordon (No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet)

# Five wins, 10 top fives, 12 top 10s; five poles
# Average finish of 9.3
# Average Running Position of 13.2, eighth-best
# Driver Rating of 100.1, sixth-best
# 35 Fastest Laps Run, fourth-most
# 172 Green Flag Passes, 12th-most
# Average Green Flag Speed of 89.756 mph, 10th-fastest
# 273 Laps in the Top 15 (61.8%), seventh-most
# 94 Quality Passes, second-most

Robby Gordon (No. 7 Red Stag by Jim Beam/Kid Rock Toyota)

# One win, two top fives, three top 10s
# Average finish of 22.1
# Driver Rating of 91.9, ninth-best
# 49 Fastest Laps Run, second-most
# Average Green Flag Speed of 89.916 mph, sixth-fastest
# 236 Laps in the Top 15 (53.4%), 12th-most
# 70 Quality Passes, 10th-most

Mark Martin (No. 5 Kellogg's/CARQUEST Chevrolet)

# One win, seven top fives, 13 top 10s; one pole
# Average finish of 10.1
# Average Running Position of 12.6, sixth-best
# Driver Rating of 90.2, 10th-best

Jamie McMurray (No. 26 Crown Royal Ford)

# One top five, one top 10; one pole
# Average finish of 18.0
# Average Running Position of 12.6, seventh-best
# Driver Rating of 92.7, eighth-best
# 287 Laps in the Top 15 (64.9%), sixth-most

Juan Pablo Montoya (No. 42 Target Chevrolet)

# One win, one top five, two top 10s
# Average finish of 3.5
# Average Running Position of 9.6, second-best
# Series-best Driver Rating of 113.2
# Average Green Flag Speed of 90.020 mph, third-fastest

Ryan Newman (No. 39 U.S. Army Chevrolet)

# Two top fives, five top 10s
# Average finish of 9.4
# Average Running Position of 9.7, third-best
# Driver Rating of 101.9, fifth-best
# 10 Fastest Laps Run, eighth-most
# Series-high 379 Laps in the Top 15 (85.7%)
# 94 Quality Passes, second-most

Tony Stewart (No. 14 Old Spice/Office Depot Chevrolet)

# Two wins, three top fives, six top 10s; one pole
# Average finish of 10.0
# Series-best Average Running Position of 9.5
# Driver Rating of 109.5, second-best
# Series-high 58 Fastest Laps Run
# 189 Green Flag Passes, fourth-most
# Series-best Average Green Flag Speed of 90.262 mph
# 343 Laps in the Top 15 (77.6%), third-most
# Series-high 127 Quality Passes

Odds and Ends - Sonoma
VegasInsider.com

Notebook
# There have been 20 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.
# 12 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 four different pole winners in the last four races.
# There have been consecutive pole winners three times: Ricky Rudd (1990-92) and Jeff Gordon (1998-99 and 2004-05).
# 12 different drivers have won races; five have multiple victories 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.
# There have been four different race winners in the last four races at Infineon: Tony Stewart (2005), Jeff Gordon (2006), Juan Pablo Montoya (2007) and Kyle Busch (2008). Montoya was a rookie when he won.
# Five of 20 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 lowest starting position by a race winner was 32nd by Juan Pablo Montoya. Last season, Kyle Busch came close to matching that mark, starting 30th in his Infineon victory.
# 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/219 miles/350 kilometers

Driver Rating at Infineon Raceway

#Juan Pablo Montoya 113.2
Tony Stewart 109.5
Kyle Busch 104.8
Kurt Busch 102.6
Ryan Newman 101.9
Jeff Gordon 100.1
Jeff Burton 96.5
Jamie McMurray 92.7
Robby Gordon 91.9
Mark Martin 90.2

Note: Driver Rating compiled from 2005-2008 races (4 total) at Infineon Raceway.
# - Two races only

Qualifying/Race Data
2008 pole winner: Kasey Kahne (92.153 mph, 77.740 seconds)
2007 race winner: Kyle Busch, 76.445 mph, 6-22-08)
Track qualifying record: Jeff Gordon (94.325 mph, 75.950 secs., 6-24-05)
Track race record: Ricky Rudd (81.007 mph, 6-23-02)

Estimated Pit Window: Every 30-32 laps, based on fuel mileage

Toyota/Save Mart 350 HOT! Sheet

The last time that Mark Martin won at least three races in a season he was 39 years old. He is now 50 years young and accomplishing that feat with still more than half of the season left. Some would say it was all luck due to a couple of guys running out of gas in front of him on the last lap last week. But sometimes you're both lucky and good. That's been the case with Martin. He's got an average finish of about 10th on this road course. He's a good start in all leagues this weekend.

One of the drivers Martin passed on the final lap last week was Greg Biffle. But he still managed to coast around to a nice 5th place finish. It would have been his first win of the season, something he has narrowly missed a lot. At Darlington, he led the most laps (117) but went home 8th. At Dover, the #16 car was out front for 41 laps but posted a 3rd place finish. In his last three trips to this road course, he has an average finish of about 7th. He's as hungry as anyone to put that car in victory lane, so keep him active.

His teammate at Roush Fenway Racing, Jamie McMurray, has been one of the risers recently. The #26 team has strung together three straight strong top 15s that has jumped him into the top 20 in the standings. He has only one DNF all season, and that came at Talladega in an accident, so we don’t put too much in to that. He finally led his first lap of the season at Pocono, and then followed that up by improving 20 spots from start to finish at Michigan. He’s a good value right now.

Not a good value right now: David Stremme. He finds himself mired at the very bottom of our sheet this week, and the numbers show why. In 7 straight races, and 8 of the last 10, he has finished outside of the top 20. He has a DNF in 4 of the last 7 events. Last week at Michigan, he brought out the only yellow flag that involved a wreck, and he was the only one involved. It has forced him to fight for his top 35 life this weekend. We don’t think he can stay there.

Almost the exact same thing could be said about A.J. Allmendinger. Although he has yet to post a DNF, he has only one top 20 finish in the last eight races (17th – Darlington). As illustrated below, he has an average finish of about 33rd in his last three races. Even when he’s been qualifying well (7th at Dover, 6th at Michigan), something sends him home deep in the field (29th at Dover, 39th at Michigan). There’s no reason he should be active on your roster.

profantasysports.com

Driver Handicaps: Infineon
Racingone.com

This weekend the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to Infineon Raceway for the first road course event of the season in 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 Infineon
• Jeff Gordon leads all drivers with five wins.
• Juan Pablo Montoya, winner of the 2007 race, has the best driver rating at 113.2.
• Tony Stewart has two wins and six top 10s in 10 starts.
• Kyle Busch led 78 laps en route to the win last season.
• Mark Martin has one win and 13 top 10s in 18 starts.
• Clint Bowyer has recorded two straight fourth-place finishes.
• Ryan Newman has a 9.4 average finish in seven starts.

Keep an Eye on at Infineon
• Robby Gordon is the only driver not mentioned already that has gone to Victory Lane at Infineon. Gordon will also have a teammate at Infineon as PJ Jones will attempt to qualify a second car for RGM.
• Road course experts Boris Said and Ron Fellows will attempt to qualify for Sunday's race. Both have combined for six top 10s at Infineon.
• Marcos Ambrose's career-best Sprint Cup finish, of third, came on a road course in 2008 at Watkins Glen.
• Kurt Busch has the fourth-best driver rating over the past four races at Infineon.
• Greg Biffle has posted an average finish of 6.7 in his last three starts at Infineon.
• Patrick Carpentier will replace Michael Waltrip in the No. 55 Toyota this weekend.
• Kevin Harvick has won at Infineon in the NASCAR West and Southwest Series.

Track Performers
Tony Stewart has competed in 20 road course events, and his 7.9 average finish tops all drivers. Jeff Gordon, who has an 11.4 average finish, leads all drivers in road course wins (9) and laps led (664) in 32 starts. Mark Martin, Denny Hamlin, Juan Pablo Montoya, Clint Bowyer, Ryan Newman, Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards and Kevin Harvick are the only other drivers that have an average finish of 15.0 or better on road courses.

Qualifying Tidbits
A pole position start has produced the most winners (five) at Infineon Raceway of any other starting position. Fifteen of the 20 road course races have been won from a starting position within the top seven. The two races with the COT at Infineon Raceway have been won by drivers starting 30th and 32nd. Juan Pablo Montoya won the 2007 race from 32nd, the furthest back of any winner at the road course. Jeff Gordon leads all drivers with five poles at Infineon. He's the only active driver with multiple poles at the track. Boris Said, who must qualify to make the race, won the pole for the 2003 race. Seven road-course favorites entered must qualify for the race including Said, Max Papis, Ron Fellows, PJ Jones, Brian Simo, Chris Cook and Brandon Ash. Past Pole Winners | Starting Positions of Infineon Winners

RacingOne Staff Picks

Jeff Wackerlin: Marcos Ambrose
Pete Pistone: Tony Stewart
Rachael West: Kyle Busch
Kym Opalenik: Juan Pablo Montoya

Top 20 Driver Notes - Ordered by Current Standings

1. 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 10 starts, will make his first road course start for Stewart-Haas Racing on Sunday. The car he will be driving is a new chassis (No. 546) that recently saw track time during a test at Virginia International Raceway.

2. Jeff Gordon: Gordon is coming off his 10th top five at Infineon Raceway after finishing third last season. 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.

3. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson captured his best finish (fifth) at Infineon Raceway in 2004 in his third of seven career starts at the track. In 2005, Johnson scored his worst finish of 36th after starting second. His only other top 10 came in 2006 when he led two laps en route to a 10th-place finish. In 2007, Johnson, like his teammate Jeff Gordon, had to make his way to the front after starting in the back of the pack due to failing inspection. He started 42nd. Last year, Johnson equaled his best start (second) and led 27 laps en route to a 15th-place finish. This weekend, Johnson will pilot a new car (chassis No. 543) in the Toyota/Save Mart 350.

4. Kurt Busch: Since starting on the pole and finishing fifth in his first start with Penske Racing at Infineon Raceway in 2006, Busch has gone on to post an average finish of 27.0. His other two career top fives came with Roush Racing in 2002 and 2005. This weekend, Busch will look to return to form with Penske when he races a new car (chassis No. 617) in the Toyota/Save Mart 350. This is a car that was tested at Virginia International Raceway last Tuesday.

5. Ryan Newman: Newman is coming off his fifth top 10 in seven starts at Infineon Raceway. His best finish, of second, came in 2006 after leading 11 laps. His average finish is 9.4 on the strength that he hasn't finished outside the top 20 there. This weekend, Newman will make his track debut with Stewart-Haas Racing. He will race a new car (chassis No. 545) that was tested at Virginia International Raceway last week.

6. Carl Edwards: Edwards will look to use some information gathered in a test at Road Atlanta to help him score his third career top 10 at Infineon Raceway. Last year in this event, Edwards started 12th and finished ninth. The brand new car (chassis No. RK-646) Edwards will race at Infineon is the same one he tested at Road Atlanta.

7. Greg Biffle: Biffle has posted an average finish of 6.7 in his last three starts at Infineon Raceway. Biffle's finishing average of 14.0 in six starts is hindered by a 37th-place finish in 2003 after his No. 16 Ford ran out of fuel. This weekend, Biffle will pilot a new car (chassis No. 659) that was tested at Road Atlanta.

8. Mark Martin: Infineon Raceway is Martin's third best track on the circuit based on his 10.1 average finish. Sunday's race will be Martin's first at the track since 2006. His previous 18 starts all came with Roush Racing where he posted one win (1997) and 13 top 10s. This weekend, Martin will pilot a new car (chassis No. 512) when he makes his Infineon debut with Hendrick Motorsports. This car was tested earlier this month at Road Atlanta.

9. 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, eighth and first, respectively. His victory came last season in his first track start with Joe Gibbs Racing. He also led 78 laps in that event, which is the most among all drivers with the new car at Infineon.

10. Denny Hamlin: Denny Hamlin has posted an average finish of 11.5 in his six road course starts. One of his four career top 10s on a road course came at Infineon Raceway in 2007. In that event, he started 36th and finished 10th. Last year in this event, Hamlin finished 27th after a spin and getting caught by the caution. This weekend, Hamlin will drive a new car (chassis No. 241) that was tested at Virginia International Raceway last week.

11. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth finally scored his first top 10 at Infineon Raceway last season after finishing eighth. Kenseth's 21.8 average finish, in nine starts, is his worst among all tracks on the circuit. Last season, Kenseth statistically posted his best season of Cup road racing, with a 10.0 average finish in his two road course starts at Sonoma and Watkins Glen.

12. Jeff Burton: Burton has competed in 15 races at Infineon Raceway, scoring five top-10 finishes. In 2007, 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. 246. This car was converted in the offseason from its original downforce configuration to a road course car.

13. David Reutimann: Reutimann finished 40th in his debut at Infineon Raceway in 2008 after a crash took him out of contention. In preparation for Sunday's Toyota/Save Mart 350, Reutimann rode along with Marcos Ambrose at Virginia International Raceway to learn some road course racing techniques in a two-seater car supplied by Richard Petty Driving Experience.

14. Juan Pablo Montoya: In 2007, 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. He followed up his win with a sixth-place run in 2008 to give him an overall average finish of 3.5, which ranks No. 1 among all drivers. This weekend, Montoya will return in the same car (chassis No. 821) that finished fourth at Watkins Glen last season.

15. Kasey Kahne: Kasey Kahne has yet to finish within the top 20 in five starts at Infineon Raceway with Gillett-Evernham Motorsports. Last year in this event, he won his first Sprint Cup road course pole with a lap of 92.153 mph. Kahne finished 33rd in that event, and his best finish to date is a 23rd-place run, which came in 2007.

16. Clint Bowyer: Bowyer has finished fourth in his last two starts at Infineon. The finishes have given him an overall average of 8.0 in three starts. This weekend, Bowyer will look to continue his top five streak at Infineon in a new car (chassis No. 278).

17. Brian Vickers: Brian Vickers is coming off a pair of 14th-place finishes at Infineon Raceway. Vickers' start last year was his first with Team Red Bull at the track, after failing to qualify in 2007. In 2006, he won a NASCAR West Series race at Infineon Raceway the day before making his final track start with Hendrick Motorsports.

18. Dale Earnhardt Jr: Along with Homestead, Infineon Raceway is the only track where Junior has yet to score a top 10 in his Sprint Cup career. Last year he finished 12th in his track debut with Hendrick Motorsports to give him an average finish of 20.9 in nine starts. The 2004 race marked the only time Junior has led a lap(s) at Infineon after holding the No. 8 Chevrolet for Dale Earnhardt, Inc. up front for nine laps. This weekend, Junior will be back in the same car (chassis No. 514) that led 33 laps and finished 22nd last August at Watkins Glen.

19. Jamie McMurray: McMurray has posted an average finish of 18.0 in six starts at Infineon Raceway. His only top 10 is a runner-up finish in the 2004 race. In 2007, he won the pole to help lower his average starting position to 12.5 at Infineon, which is his best qualifying track on the Sprint Cup circuit.

20. Marcos Ambrose: Ambrose's career-best NASCAR Sprint Cup Series finish came at a road course last season. In only his third start, he finished third at Watkins Glen International. He also won his first career NASCAR Nationwide Series event at WGI the day before. Last year in this event, Ambrose finished 42nd driving for the Wood Brothers after transmission problems took him out of contention. This weekend, Ambrose will pilot a new road course car that his JTG Daugherty Team prepared for the Toyota/Save Mart 350.

Vickers takes Sonoma for second straight pole

Sonoma, CA (Sports Network) - Brian Vickers picked up his Sprint Cup Series- leading fourth pole of the season after recording the quickest lap in Friday's qualifying for the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway.

Vickers lapped the 1.99-mile, 12-turn road course at 93.678 m.p.h. (76.475 seconds) in his No.83 Red Bull Toyota. He also won the pole last weekend at Michigan.

"I just didn't want to make any mistakes," Vickers said. "When I finished the lap, I was kind of thinking it was a decent lap. I felt there was some corners that I could have gone faster."

Kyle Busch, the defending race winner, grabbed the outside pole after turning in a lap at 93.415 m.p.h. (76.690 seconds). Busch improved significantly from last year's practice and qualifying at Sonoma.

"It was definitely a good practice for us, better than last year," Busch said. "We came out of the box struggling here last year, and this year we came back with what we raced last year, and it was really good during the qualifying run."

Busch overcame a 30th starting position to win at Sonoma one year ago, capturing his fifth Sprint Cup victory of the season.

Marcos Ambrose qualified third, giving Toyota the top-three starting positions. Ambrose, a former Australian road racer, finished a career-best third in the most recent road-course event last August at Watkins Glen, NY.

"I'm going to go into Sunday very relaxed and try to take over some laps," Ambrose said.

Points leader Tony Stewart and Kasey Kahne rounded out the top-five.

Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Newman, Elliott Sadler, Boris Said and Matt Kenseth qualified sixth through 10th, respectively.

Three-time defending series champion Jimmie Johnson will start 11th, while his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Jeff Gordon, a five-time Sonoma winner, will roll off 13th.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. struggled in qualifying with a 35th starting position.

Scott Speed, Tom Hubert, Chris Cook and Brian Simo failed to qualify.

Sunday's race is scheduled to start just after 5:00 p.m. (et).

NASCAR hits the road
By Brobury Sports

Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California is the site of the first of two NASCAR road races this year and that’s making for some interesting odds at BroburySports.com.

Road course racing presents different challenges for the NASCAR driver. Note that the second road course is this August at Watkins Glen International.

The course at Infineon Raceway is a bunch of twist and turns that go up and down hills. Drivers will need to avoid getting deep in the pack as track position is a major key to success.

Some excellent drivers simply don’t perform well at road courses. That’s why you see Jimmie Johnson way down the leaderboard at +2500 odds. Johnson is winless at this track and has only two Top 10 finishes in seven tries.

Here a look at Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 favorites coming to you from Sonoma.

Jeff Gordon (+500)

Gordon has five wins at Sonoma, including three this decade in 2006, 2004 and 2000. He also has a remarkable 10 Top 5’s in 16 tries. Gordon is NASCAR’s all-time leader for road course (Sonoma plus Watkins Glen) victories with nine.

Tony Stewart (+500)

Stewart is the only other Sunday driver besides Gordon to have multiple wins at Sonoma in the last 20 years. Stewart won here in 2005 and 2001 and he also has four road course wins at Watkins Glen.

Kyle Busch (+600)

Busch doesn’t have the overall road course resume of Gordon and Stewart, but he is considered a budding superstar after winning at Sonoma and Watkins Glen last year.

Juan Pablo Montoya (+700)

Montoya is 14th in the season standing after two Top 8 finishes in the last two races. More importantly, the last NASCAR race he won was at Infineon Raceway in 2007. Montoya also finished 6th at this track last year.

Marco Ambrose (+800)

Ambrose is 20th on the season standings and he finished 42nd last year at his only start at Sonoma. However, he was running in the Top 5 most of the race before his transmission blew. Ambrose then finished 3rd at Watkins Glen last August.

Robby Gordon (+1500)

The ‘other Gordon’ is way down on the season standings list in 34th but he won this race in 2003. Robbie Gordon has also had recent success at Watkins Glen, winning in 2003 and finishing 5th in 2007 and 4th in 2006.

More of The Field

Carl Edwards (+2000)
Jamie McMurray (+2000)
Kurt Busch (+2000)
Denny Hamlin (+2500)
Jimmie Johnson (+2500)
Kevin Harvick (+2500)
Mark Martin (+2500)
Ryan Newman (+2500)
Boris Said (+3000)
Greg Biffle (+3000)
Ron Fellows (+3000)

Save Mart 350 Predictions
by Christopher G. Shepard

Love him or hate him, Kyle Busch tries for his third consecutive road course victory as NASCAR hits the road-course of Infineon Raceway for the Toyota/Save Mart 350 this Sunday at 5:19 p.m. Also, Jeff Gordon, five-time winner at the Sonoma, California road course, will attempt to recapture first place in the Sprint Cup standings from Tony Stewart.

Who will win the 2009 Toyota/Save Mart 350?

I see this race coming down to two drivers and you can make a good argument for backing either Stewart or Jeff Gordon. Stewart is coming off a seventh-place finish at Michigan last week. The finish was good enough to keep him 47 points ahead of Gordon on the Sprint Cup leaderboard. Stewart has won at Infineon twice (2001 and 2005). Stewart has also smoked the competition with three Top-5 and six Top-10 finishes at the Sonoma road course. Stewart is respected as one of the best active road-course drivers in NASCAR. At the only other road course on the circuit, Watkins Glenn, Smoke has four wins and two seconds in seven starts.

Meanwhile, Jeff Gordon has to be considered a top-play this Sunday despite the fact that he has not won a road race since the inception of the CoT last year. Gordon is the last driver to win this race back-to-back-to-back from 1998-2000.

Jeff Gordon last won this race in 2006 and has consistently been dangerous on all tracks and all surfaces. In his last two races Gordon has finished in the Top 5, notching a second last week at Michigan and fourth place at Pocono. It looks like he might be coming out of the May doldrums where he did not finish better than 14th place in three consecutive races, May 16-31.

Kyle "Les Paul" Busch is the defending race winner and actually swept both road races last year with precision. He wasn't helped out any by starting 30th on the grid; but he knows how to work the road courses to his advantage and use a good pit-strategy to move up throughout the 110 laps. However, this weekend is going to be a very busy weekend for Rowdy. I used this system to great success last year and I think this is the perfect spot to use it again. Kyle will be racing in the Nationwide Series in Milwaukee and then the road course in Sonoma for the Sprint Cup. At 6/1 Kyle seems like a sucker bet and if you can find a prop bet against Busch winning three road courses in a row give it a look.

Pick! Jeff Gordon, No.24, (7/5)

2009 Toyota/Save Mart 350 - Lucky Dog Long Odds Special

Marcos Ambrose. That's a name you won't see all that often in this column; except when twice a year I look at road courses for my sports-V-Chip investment. Thanks to finishing 31st at Michigan Ambrose dropped to 18th from 20th and 650-points out of the lead in the Sprint Cup. Ambrose is virtually out of the Chase. However, he seems to be able to handle the road course well despite his deceiving 42nd-place finish last year. Keep in mind Ambrose was in the lead pack the entire race last year until he was nudged by Elliot Sadler in the chicane and ended the No. 47 Toyota's chances for a special finish. This year Ambrose has to be pumped up for the road courses. He was a V-8 Supercar superstar in Australia and I wouldn't be surprised to see him show us why on Sunday.

Pick! Marcos Ambrose, No. 47, (13/1)

2009 Toyota/Save Mart 350 - Odds for Top 3 Finish

The driver of the Chevy Target No. 42 car, Juan Pablo Montoya, has come on strong in the last two races and has to be confident coming into Infineon. JPM has finished sixth at Michigan and eighth at Pocono. Now he rolls into Sonoma, arguably his best track. In two starts on the California road course JPM has one win and one Top 10 with an average finish of 3.5 at Infineon. Given JPM's open wheel background you have to give JPM serious consideration whenever NASCAR goes out-of-the-oval. Infineon couldn't come at a better time for JPM, who is 14th in the Sprint Cup standings and is within 50 points of the 12th and final spot in the Chase and the points reset. Of course a lot will depend upon pit-position strategy and where on the grid he starts, but JPM always qualifies well on the road courses. He's won one pole this year and I wouldn't be surprised to see him win another pole, and perhaps another victory. But, if not, I can't see how JPM finishes out of the Top 3 on Sunday.

Pick! Juan Pablo Montoya, (11/5)

Docsports.com

Next to the Bristol night race the two road course races are my favorite races. ;D

I already took

Tony Stewart +625
Jeff Gordon +625
Marcos Ambrose +1300

Also like Ryan Newman

Happy Hour Notes

#47-Ambrose blew an engine, the team will put in a new one and Ambrose will have to start from the rear of the field, he was scheduled to start 3rd. 😡

About 15 minutes into the session, #34-Andretti was waiting at the end of pit road to enter the track, #71-Gilliland was behind him, looked down to turn on switches and ran into the rear of the #34, crushing the nose of his own car. Gilliland will go to a backup car, Gilliland's primary car was a road race car they purchased a month ago, the backup is not. Some rear damage to the #34.

Drivers anxious over restarts at Sonoma
By Terry Blount
ESPN.com

SONOMA, Calif. -- Pocono and Michigan were just warm-ups, a prelude to the real show for the new restart rule. Now things could get crazy.

Infineon Raceway and its 10 turns may transform the wine-country Sprint Cup race into the road-course version of the good old days at Bristol.

Bumping, banging and tempers flaring.

"Pocono and Michigan were good tracks to try out the double-file restart rule," Jeff Gordon said. "But I think it's going to create some havoc here."

Count on it. Pocono and Michigan are huge tracks with lots of room. Infineon is tight turns in different directions going up and down hills.

Having all the lead-lap cars bunched together on restarts is bound to cause some issues with drivers vying for positions.

"I think it will be opening a new can of worms [at Sonoma] on those late-race restarts," Ryan Newman said. "We've always had double-file starts at the beginning of the race, but people are careful then because they want to finish that first lap.

"This definitely will make the race interesting, especially at the end of the race. It's going to be exciting."

Exciting and unpredictable, but some explanations are needed.

First, let's clarify the term of the new rule. It's a bit of a misnomer. Double-file restarts aren't new for any race. NASCAR always used double-file restarts until the last few laps, but the second line was cars a lap down.

Now all the lead-lap cars line up double file for every restart with the laps cars in the back. This takes on added significance on a road course because most of the cars still on the track are on the lead lap.

Last year at Sonoma, 31 of 37 cars still were running on the lead lap at the end. The last restart came on Lap 71 of 112 around the 1.99-mile circuit.

But what if the final restart comes on Lap 110 with 30 or more cars on the lead lap?

"We're going to be battling even harder and more intensely for each position," Gordon said. "Sometimes that leads to more mistakes and more accidents.

"I'm anxious to get through it and see how it works out. The drivers may need to rethink how we've raced in the past. We're going to need to figure out how to get through the first set of corners on each double-file restart."

The first turn at Infineon is a sweeping left up a hill. This means the leader probably will choose the inside line, the opposite of what he usually does on an oval track.

The double-file restarts will play a factor in the outcome. It's a one-groove type of track. Some cars will have advantages and some will have disadvantages. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out.

But Turn 2 is a sharp right. That's trouble. The leader needs to get ahead of the driver beside him before they enter Turn 2.

If the first few rows get to Turn 7 still double file, watch out. It's a hard right that's almost a U-turn. Expect someone to get punted there.

And the true danger zone is the hairpin turn before the drivers head back to the start/finish line. Leaders wreck there when running single file.

A driver needs the inside spot to make a pass, but having more lead-lap cars in the front almost guarantees some sheet-metal damage here.

"The double-file restarts will play a factor in the outcome," said Marcos Ambrose, one of the best road racers in Cup. "It's a one-groove type of track. Some cars will have advantages and some will have disadvantages. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out."

This will be fun to watch, folks, and there's one other little possibility fans may see for the third consecutive race -- guys running out of gas.

Sonoma often comes down to fuel mileage and making the right decision on pit strategy. If a driver is running on fumes in the final laps, fighting for spots on a double-file restart could run the tank dry.

"We'll be looking for the best balance of horsepower and fuel mileage," Kurt Busch said. "If it comes down to a final restart and the fuel mileage is critical, you'll still need all the horsepower that you can get in order to pick up as much track position as possible for the final run."

You can't save fuel if the guy next to you and the two behind you are trying to get by you on a late restart. That's true on any track, but saving fuel on a road course, with constant shifting and turning, is a lot to ask.

"It's one of the hardest things you can ever do inside a race car," Newman said.

However, passing will be easier than ever before for lead-lap cars. In the past, if a driver was 16th with 30 laps to go at Sonoma, his chances of getting to the front were nil. Now he's only eight rows back. Factor in a wreck or two in front of him and he might pull it off.

Yes, things could get crazy. All you need are a few hungry drivers and a late restart, thanks to the leaders doubling up at the front.

Five things to know: Sonoma
ESPN.com

What can we expect as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series turns to Infineon Raceway in Northern California's wine country? ESPN Stats & Information offers five things to know about the Toyota/Save Mart 350:

ONE

Jeff Gordon always looks forward to his trips to California wine country. Gordon, a California native, has won five times at Sonoma. No other driver has won there more than twice. Gordon also has a Sprint Cup Series-record nine career road course victories.

TWO

In 2008 no driver dominated road course racing like Kyle Busch. He swept both Cup races (Sonoma and Watkins Glen) and added a Nationwide Series win at Mexico City to boot. It's no surprise that Busch racked up impressive statistics. He led 130 laps (64.4 percent of the laps), had a driver rating of 146.4, an average running position of 4.4 and 46 fastest laps run.

THREE

The last "road course ringer" to win a Cup series event was Mark Donohue at Riverside in 1973, a track that no longer exists. Several road course ringers will attempt to break through at Sonoma this weekend, including Boris Said, Ron Fellows and Patrick Carpentier.

FOUR

Michigan winner Mark Martin is seeking his fourth Sprint Cup Series win of 2009. A win at Sonoma will make Martin the oldest driver to win a Cup road course race (he's 50). Geoff Bodine holds the record. He was 47 years old when he won at Watkins Glen in 1996.

FIVE

Kurt Busch has led 99 laps in 16 road course races. That's the most by a driver without a road course win.

Who's hot?

• Tony Stewart has scored 11 top-10 finishes in 15 races, the most of all drivers.

• Gordon has finished 14th or better in 12 of the 15 races this season.

Who's not?

• Dale Earnhardt Jr. ranked third in points one year ago with 11 top-10 finishes in the first 15 races. He is now 18th, and has scored three top-10 finishes in 2009.

Post-Practice Driver Ratings
By Micah Roberts
VegasInsider.com

After both practices were run Saturday at Infineon Raceway in preparation for Sunday’s Toyota / Save Mart 350, there are several drivers heading the list that don’t get a lot of print time for being considered a contender to win.

In a normal week, the discussions are all about Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson, and Carl Edwards and how fast they are in practice.

This week we get to analyze the times of Robby Gordon, Marcos Ambrose, Ron Fellows, and A.J. Allmendinger because despite having lesser cars without the financial backing of the mega teams, they themselves are the equalizer. The 10 turn 1.99 mile road course is a welcome site for a few, while some of the traditional NASCAR oval drivers hope to just finish and leave.

For the two sessions, many teams were attempting differing strategies during different segments. Some teams were using older tires in an attempt to simulate longer runs, which made their times lower on the leader board.

Others were attempting fuel conservation strategies by not running so hard to see the difference in times and fuel used. Theoretically, the cars should have to pit every 33 laps, but some of the crews are talking like they can get close to 40 laps on one run which, if were true, would mean that a team could get by with only two pit stops in the 110 lap race. It always looks good on paper early on before the race as a game plan, but never seems to happen.

The ratings below are based on both of Saturday’s practice sessions with an emphasis on average times, mixed in with some of their past road racing history, along with a small pinch of where they start on the track because being up front is so critical.

1) Robby Gordon had the fifth fastest lap in the early session and then the third fastest in the final session. In the final session, Gordon had the fastest average times with 13 laps run which shows that he’s maintaining high speeds for a longer duration than most and will help him mow down the 21 drivers ahead of him to begin the race. I loved his confidence before the race regarding his brand new chassis. He’s been talking about it for two weeks since his Road Atlanta test session. The only fault with Gordon has been his parts, which seem to fail him just about every year on the roads since leaving RCR.

2) Ron Fellows has to start from the 29th position, but after some major changes in their set up Friday, they came out strong in both sessions. He laid down the second quickest lap during happy hour, but was also second fastest in average times for both sessions combined. He’s got NASCAR wins in the Nationwide and Truck Series, but hasn’t been able claim a Cup win yet.

3) Juan Pablo Montoya will start from the 17th position and looks to have the best car among all the well funded teams running this week. He was second quickest in the early session and fourth in happy hour with good average times in all. His only Cup win is at Sonoma during his first season and is sitting pretty good to end the drought this week.

4) A.J. Allmendinger has got things figured out after two great practice sessions Saturday. He had a strong upward progression in both practices beginning with seventh fastest early and then reeling out the fastest lap just as happy hour ended. He likely came in to get tires just as the session ended, but after running a total of 17 laps in that session, Allmendinger should be very good Sunday.

5) Ryan Newman may be one of the drivers that can get to the front quickly and maintain a solid position throughout the race. He’ll only have two rows of cars in front of him when the green flag drops and his final practice session was very encouraging for a driver that has good success on the road courses. He had the sixth fastest lap and average time in that session.

Best of the Rest

Tony Stewart didn’t practice well but it might be more about trying some different things with the tires and fuel mileage than what his car can actually do. Before qualifying Friday, Stewart had awful times and then went out and busted out the fourth fastest lap for qualifying. Starting up front will be huge for Stewart early.

Jeff Gordon has never looked worse in any road course practice session as he did Saturday. He stated that the team didn’t treat these races with the same emphasis as the other because there are only two roads, but that has been the case every year. They were one of the teams that tried lots of different strategies during both practices, but being 30th and 20th quickest in the final two sessions are not the Gordon times I have seen from him ever at a place that is considered his home track. I don’t believe the times, so I still consider him a contender.

Kyle Busch swept the roads last year and won at Mexico City in the Nationwide series. Other than running a strong qualifying lap that will start him first after Ambrose goes to the back, he hasn’t done anything in practice to make me think he’ll hold the lead for very long despite it being hard to pass. Busch also had to change his transmission prior to happy hour with results that weren’t successful. However, I also didn’t think he could win at Sonoma or Watkins Glen last year.

Jamie McMurray has had very good runs at Sonoma and practiced well. Last years pole sitter, Kasey Kahne, also had a strong practice session. Clint Bowyer finished fourth at Sonoma last season and ran two great session coming in second and seventh.

Marcos Ambrose was fastest in the first practice but blew an engine and will be going to the back of the field. He came out to run only one lap in happy hour, but it wasn’t very fast.

In all, there aren’t many drivers that have joined the road racing winner fraternity. There are currently only seven active drivers that have won a road race at both tracks combined. This week has a great possibility of having someone join the ranks just because Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, Mark Martin, Tony Stewart, and Kyle Busch don’t look to be as stout coming in as they have been in the past when they won.

That leaves us with Montoya and Robby Gordon as the top two candidates of past road course winners to win this week. While I’d love to see Ron Fellows finally break through, I think it’s Montoya’s race to lose based on all the variables.