Sonoma Raceway

Sonoma Raceway
Sonoma; Sears Point
	; ; ;
Location	29355 Arnold Drive, Sonoma, California, 95476
Time zone	UTC−8 / −7 (DST)
Capacity	47,000
Owner	Speedway Motorsports, Inc.
Operator	Speedway Motorsports, Inc.
Broke ground	1967
Opened	1968
Construction cost	$70 million USD
Former names	Sears Point Raceway (1967–2001); Infineon Raceway (2002–2012)
Major events	Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series; Toyota/Save Mart 350; (1989-Present) Verizon IndyCar Series; GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma; (1970, 2005-Present) NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series; Toyota Sonoma Nationals; (1988-Present) Sonoma Historic Motorsports Festival Formerly: ; AMA Superbike; Supercuts Superbike Challenge FIA World Touring Car Championship; Race of the United States; (2012-2013)
Full Course
Surface	Asphalt
Length	2.52 mi (4.05 km)
Turns	12
Race lap record	1:21.688 ( Marco Werner, Audi Sport North America, 2004, LMP1)
NASCAR Course
Surface	Asphalt
Length	1.99 mi (3.2 km)
Turns	10
Race lap record	1:14.186 ( Kyle Larson, Chip Ganassi Racing, 2015, NASCAR Cup Series)
IndyCar Course
Surface	Asphalt
Length	2.385 mi (3.838 km)
Turns	12
Race lap record	1:15.5205 ( Josef Newgarden, Team Penske, 2017)

Sonoma Raceway, formerly Sears Point Raceway and Infineon Raceway is a 2.52-mile (4.06 km) road course and drag strip located on the landform known as Sears Point in the southern Sonoma Mountains in Sonoma, California, USA.^[1] The road course features 12 turns on a hilly course with 160 feet (49 m) of total elevation change.^[2] It is host to one of only three Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races each year that are run on road courses (the others being Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, New York and the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina). It is also host to the Verizon IndyCar Series, the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, and several other auto races and motorcycle races such as the American Federation of Motorcyclists series. Sonoma Raceway continues to host amateur, or club racing events which may or may not be open to the general public. The largest such car club is the Sports Car Club of America.

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

In 2002, Sears Point Raceway was renamed after a corporate sponsor, Infineon. However, as with many renamings of sports complexes, many people still call it by its original name. (It was never affiliated with Sears, Roebuck and Company, having been named for the nearby Sears Point Ranch founded in the 1850s by settler Franklin Sears.) On March 7, 2012, it was announced that Infineon would not renew their contract for naming rights when the deal expired in May, and the track management is looking for a new company to take over naming rights.^[3] Until it can find a new corporate sponsor, the course is simply identifying itself as "Sonoma".

History[edit]

1968–1979[edit]

The 2.52-mile (4.06 km) road racing course was constructed on 720 acres (2.9 km²) by Marin County owners Robert Marshall Jr., an attorney from Point Reyes, and land developer Jim Coleman of Kentfield. The two conceived of the idea of a race track while on a hunting trip. Ground was broken in August 1968 and paving of the race surface was completed in November. The first official event at Sears Point was an SCCA Enduro, held on December 1, 1968.

In 1969 the track was sold to Filmways Corp., a Los Angeles-based entertainment company for $4.5 million. In May 1970 the track was closed and became a tax shelter for Filmways after losses of $300,000 were reported. Hugh Harn of Belvedere and Parker Archer of Napa arranged to lease the track from Filmways in 1973. Bob Bondurant, owner and operator of the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving, and partner Bill Benck took over management and control of the leased raceway from Parker Archer and Hugh Harn in 1974. A few years later a group calling itself Black Mountain Inc., which included Bondurant, William J. Kolb of Del Mar and Howard Meister of Newport Beach, purchased the track from Filmways for a reported $1.5 million.

American Motorcycle Association national motocross races in the hills north of Turn 7 became popular with Bay Area fans, but were phased out by the end of the decade because of rising insurance costs.

1980–2000[edit]

In 1981 Filmways regained ownership of the track after a financial dispute with Black Mountain group. Jack Williams, the 1964 NHRA top-fuel drag racing champion, Rick Betts and John Andersen purchased the track from Filmways at an auction for $800,000. The track was renamed Sears Point International Raceway. In 1985 the track was completely repaved, in part with funds donated from the "Pave the Point" fund raising campaign. The first shop spaces (buildings A, B, C, and D in the main paddock area) were built.

Tony Stewart at Infineon in 2005

In 1986 Harvey "Skip" Berg of Tiburon, CA took control of the track and became a major stockholder in Brenda Raceway Corp., which controlled the track until 1996. Additional buildings constructed on the property brought shop space to more than 700,000 square feet (65,000 m²) during 1987. In addition, a five-year contract was signed with the National Hot Rod Association for the California Nationals. The NASCAR Winston Cup Series debuted at the raceway in 1989.

In 1994 more than $1 million was spent on a beautification project and construction of a 62-foot (19 m)-high, four-sided electronic lap leader board in the center of the road course. In the following years a major $3 million renovation plan included VIP suites and a two-story driver's lounge/emergency medical facility. In 1995 Trans-Am and SportsCar races returned to Sears Point and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series was added to the major-events schedule. Owner "Skip" Berg sold the track to O. Bruton Smith, chairman of Speedway Motorsports, Inc. in November 1996.

Sonoma Raceway Back Side of NASCAR track, 2005

Major renovations began at Sears Point Raceway in 1998 with the creation of "The Chute", an 890-foot (270 m) high-speed stretch. The first-ever running of the American Le Mans Series took place at Sears Point in July 1999. In 2000 Sears Point Raceway gained unanimous approval from the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors by a 5–0 vote to begin work on a $35 million Modernization Plan that included 64,000 Hillside Terrace seats, repaving of both the road course and drag strip and increased run-off around the entire track.

2000–present[edit]

After the turn of the millennium, Infineon Technologies bought the naming rights, and on June 22, 2002, the course was renamed Infineon Raceway. In 2006, the Grand Prix of Sonoma was transferred to the Rolex Sports Car Series, who would limit it to Daytona Prototypes only for 2007–2008 before the event was discontinued altogether. Since 2010, however, the course has seen a mild resurgence, with the circuit becoming a sponsor for various events as well as hosting an increasing amount of lesser series, including the WTCC and the return of the SCCA World Challenge. The year 2012 saw the end of Infineon as the corporate sponsor, with the track renaming itself Sonoma Raceway.

Layouts[edit]

Sonoma Raceway

Full circuit[edit]

Pit road at Infineon in 2005

The standard, full length road course at Sonoma Raceway is a 2.52 miles (4.06 km) 12-turn course. This course was utilized by all competition through 1997. Most races, including the Grand Prix of Sonoma, use the full course. The course is noted for turns two and three, which are negative-camber ("off-camber") turns, with the inside of the turn higher than the outside. This provides a challenge for the driver, as turn two would normally have the drivers moving to the left side of the track.

The raceway also has a 440-yard (402.3 m) dragstrip used for NHRA drag racing events. The drag strip was originally located on part of the front straightaway of the course. Track changes completed in 2002 separated the road course from the drag strip.^[4]

The Sonoma Historic Motorsports Festival, an annual classic car racing event, uses the full circuit.

The Chute[edit]

The track was modified in 1998, adding the Chute, which bypassed turns 5 and 6 (the Carousel), shortening the course to 1.95 miles (3.14 km). The Chute is only used for NASCAR events such as the Toyota/Save Mart 350, and was criticized by many drivers, who prefer the full layout. In 2001, it was replaced with the 70° turn, 4A bringing the track to its current dimensions of 1.99 miles (3.20 km).^[5]

The Chute was built primarily for spectator visibility, to increase speeds, and improve competition for the stock cars, which are not necessarily groomed well for road course racing. However, it has been criticized for taking away a primary passing point, and some INDYCAR drivers believe eliminating The Chute and replacing it with a new hairpin at Turn 4A, then rejoining the track at Turn 5, would create a circuit with three passing zones (Turn 4, Turn 7, and Turn 11). Furthermore, the speeds of the current layout with The Chute have been slower than if the full configuration was used.

Gilligan's Island[edit]

From 1989 to 2001, the pit road could only accommodate 34 pit stalls. So, during the Toyota/Save Mart 350 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race, some teams were required to share pit stalls while other teams were forced to pit inside the garage area. When cars dropped out of the race, their pit stalls were reassigned to cars who were sharing.

After a few years, a makeshift auxiliary pit road was constructed inside the hairpin (turn 11) nicknamed Gilligan's Island. Cars that had the nine slowest qualifying speeds were relegated to these pit stalls. Pitting in this area was considered an inconvenience and a competitive disadvantage, more so than even the disadvantages one would experience pitting on the backstretch at a short track at the time.^[6]

Since the length of the auxiliary pit road was significantly shorter than the main pit road, the cars that pitted there were held from 15–20 seconds to make up for the time that would have been spent if the cars had traveled the entire main pit road.^[7]

Pitting on Gilligan's Island had several other inconveniences. The location (the staging area for drag races) was landlocked by the race course, and crew members were unable to leave once the race began. Teams sent only the primary pit crew to Gilligan's Island, and once they were there, they could not access the garage area or their transporters to collect spare parts/tools. The only repairs that could be made were routine tire changes and refueling, as well as only minor repairs. Other auxiliary pit crew members, who were not part of the main crew, were staged in the garage area, and would have to service the car if it required major repairs. If a team pitting on Gilligan's Island dropped out of the race, the crew was unable to pack up their supplies and prepare to leave (a common practice at other tracks) until the race was over.

Modified course[edit]

INDYCAR series and Motorcycle course

Variations of Sonoma's circuits are often used. Motorcycles use a 2.22 miles (3.57 km), 12-turn course. It is based on the full layout, and does not include the Chute. This layout, opened in 2003, skips the later section of the Esses (8A and 9) and the run from Turn 10 to Turn 11 (the hairpin), using instead Turn 11a as Turn 11 has no runoff. This hairpin is located just past the drag strip control tower and offers a fairly straight run to the start-finish line.

When the Pirelli World Challenge returned to Infineon Raceway in 2011, the modified course was used (as the series doubleheader was acting as a support event for the Indy race). During the broadcast, it was explained that the Indy course skips much of the high-speed esses due to the curving section from Turn 9 to 10 ending with no runoff, especially on the outside of the curved section (bordered by the drag strip), and precariously little runoff in the high-speed Turn 10.

Another factor in removing the hairpin is the fact that the turn is only visible from the garages or the bleachers behind the esses. This is due to grandstands built along the front straight that serve also as the drag strip's grandstands.

In some variants, the end of the dragstrip (instead of the Keyhole) is used to create a Magny Cours-style hairpin that joints the drag strip to Turn 7 to open an overtaking opportunity.

For the 2012 IndyCar race, the course was modified again. The Magny Cours-style hairpin in Turn 7 is being used to create a passing zone. Turn 9A (the chicane similar to Spa's new Bus Stop) is being widened by ten feet (~3 meters) to allow for more room. A new Turn 11B has been made, moving further past the drag strip tower (Motorcycle Turn 11), being lengthened by 200 feet (~61 meters) to create a passing zone (it is located just before the race logos painted in Turn 11), and is located where the drag strip staging area is located.

For the World Touring Car Championship race, the full configuration is being used, but with the bus stop replacing the esses.

WTCC layout

Records[edit]

	Driver	Car	Date	Speed	Time	Layout
Fastest qualifying lap	Allan McNish	Audi R8	July 23, 2000		1:20.683	4.05 km (Full)
Fastest racing lap	Marco Werner	Audi R8	July 17, 2004	110.641 miles per hour (178.06 km/h)	1:21.688	4.05 km (Full)
Trans-Am qualifying	Brian Simo	Qvale Mangusta	July 22, 2001		1:35.727	4.05 km (Full)
NASCAR qualifying	Kyle Larson	Chevrolet SS	June 27, 2015	96.524 miles per hour (155.34 km/h)	1:14.354	3.2 km (NASCAR)
NASCAR race	Clint Bowyer	Toyota Camry	June 24, 2012	94.6 miles per hour (152.24 km/h)	1:15:67	3.2 km (NASCAR)
IndyCar qualifying	Josef Newgarden	Dallara DW12 Chevrolet	September 16, 2017	113.691 miles per hour (182.97 km/h)	1:15.5205	3.838 km (Indy) ^[8]
IndyCar race	Scott Dixon	Dallara Honda	September 17, 2018	98.6 miles per hour (158.68 km/h)	1:19:8646	3.57 km (Indy)
WTCC qualifying	Alain Menu	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T	September 22, 2012	86.206 miles per hour (138.74 km/h)	1:45.235	4.032 km (WTCC)
WTCC race	Tiago Monteiro	Honda Civic WTCC	September 10, 2013	84.206 miles per hour (135.52 km/h)	1:46.905	4.032 km (WTCC)
AMA Pro Superbike	Ben Spies	Suzuki GSXR-1000	May 17, 2008		1:34.731	3.57 km (Motorcycle)
Pirelli World Challenge GTS Race	Jack Baldwin	Porsche Cayman S PWC	August 23, 2013	69.583 miles per hour (111.98 km/h)	1:42.558	km (PWC)

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series records[edit]

Jeff Gordon at the 2005 race

(As of May 8, 2017)

Source:^[10]
Most wins	5	Jeff Gordon
Most top-5s	14	Jeff Gordon
Most top-10s	18	Jeff Gordon
Most starts	22	Jeff Gordon
Most poles	5	Jeff Gordon
Most laps completed	2,233	Jeff Gordon
Most laps led	457	Jeff Gordon
Avg. start (active)	4.0	Kyle Larson
Avg. finish (active)	11.5	Clint Bowyer

Seating capacity[edit]

The view from the upper main grandstand at the finish line at Sonoma Raceway

Sonoma Raceway has a permanent seating capacity of 47,000.^[11] This includes the grandstands and terraces around the track. During major races, hospitality tents and other stages are erected around the track, which brings the total capacity up to 102,000 seats. The facility underwent a major expansion in 2004 which resulted in 64,000 hillside seats, 10,000 permanent grandstand seats, a wastewater treatment facility, 100 acres (40 ha) of restored wetlands, permanent garages, new retail space, a go-kart track and a new drag strip.

Current series[edit]

Former series[edit]

Grand Am 2006–2008
American Le Mans Series 1999–2005
Trans Am Series 1969, 1978, 1981–1993, 1995, 2001
IMSA GT Series 1976–97
Can Am Series 1977, 1980, 1984
Camping World Truck Series 1995–1998
Formula 5000 1969–1970
World Touring Car Championship 2012–2013

Major events[edit]

NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series[edit]

Year	Date	Top Fuel	Funny Car	Pro Stock	Pro Stock Motorcycle
1988	July 29−31	Joe Amato	Mark Oswald	Harry Scribner	-
1989	July 28−30	Frank Bradley	Don Prudhomme	Bob Glidden	-
1994	July 29−31	Scott Kalitta	John Force	Darrell Alderman	-
2011	29–31 July	Antron Brown	Ron Capps	Greg Anderson	L.E. Tonglet
2012	July 27–29	Antron Brown	Johnny Gray	Allen Johnson	Eddie Krawiec
2013	July 26–28	Shawn Langdon	Ron Capps	Vincent Nobile	Hector Arana Jr.
2014	July 25–27	Khalid alBalooshi	Courtney Force	Jason Line	Eddie Krawiec
2015	July 31−August 2	Antron Brown	Jack Beckman	Chris McGaha	Eddie Krawiec
2016	July 29−31	J.R. Todd	John Force	Greg Anderson	L.E. Tonglet
2017	July 28−30	Steve Torrence	J.R. Todd	Tanner Gray	L.E. Tonglet

Trans-Am Series[edit]

Year	Category One Driver Category One Vehicle	Category Two Driver Category Two Vehicle
1969	Mark Donohue Chevrolet Camaro	Don Pike Porsche 911
1978	Gene Bothello Chevrolet Corvette	Greg Pickett Chevrolet Corvette
1981	Tom Gloy Ford Mustang
1982	Tom Gloy Ford Mustang
1983	Willy Ribbs Chevrolet Camaro
1984	Greg Pickett Mercury Capri
1985	Willy Ribbs Mercury Capri
1985	Willy Ribbs Mercury Capri
1985	Elliott Forbes-Robinson Buick Somerset
1986	Wally Dallenbach Jr. Chevrolet Camaro
1986	Wally Dallenbach Jr. Chevrolet Camaro
1986	Wally Dallenbach Jr. Chevrolet Camaro
1987	Scott Pruett Merkur XR4Ti
1988	Willy Ribbs Chevrolet Camaro
1989	Darin Brassfield Chevrolet Corvette
1990	Darin Brassfield Oldsmobile Cutlass
1991	Darin Brassfield Oldsmobile Cutlass
1992	Darin Brassfield Chevrolet Camaro
1993	Scott Sharp Chevrolet Camaro
1995	Dorsey Schroeder Ford Mustang
2001	Brian Simo Qvale Mangusta

In popular culture[edit]

In the 1970 motorcycle road racing film Little Fauss and Big Halsy, starring Michael J. Pollard and Robert Redford, Redford's character, Halsy, saw Sears Point as the brass ring in the world of racing, and the film was loosely based around that idea.^{[citation needed]}

Sonoma has been featured in many racing video games, beginning with Papyrus's NASCAR Racing for the PC, released in 1994 and has been a frequent addition to NASCAR based games and more recently road course variations have appeared.