Email  Print

Infineon Raceway welcomes NASCAR for 23rd time with Toyota/Save Mart 350 weekend starting Friday

 

For the 23rd year at Infineon Raceway, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will feature its popular fast-paced, action-packed, Toyota/Save Mart 350 weekend, with the Valley’s, as well as Northern California’s, biggest motorsports event beginning this Friday, June 24, and running through Saturday and Sunday, June 25 and 26.

The featured Toyota/Save Mart 350 race on Infineon’s 1.99-mile road course takes place at noon on Sunday, June 26, with Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet) ready to defend his title after being the sixth different winner in six years in Sonoma.

One of the drivers who’ll be out to dethrone Johnson is the undisputed king of Infineon Raceway, Vallejo native Jeff Gordon, who has five victories (1998-2000, ’04, ’06); five pole positions (1998-99, ’01, ’04, ’05); 11 top-five finishes; and 14 top-10 finishes which is the most of any driver at the track.

Gordon recently won the NASCAR event at Pocono, which was the 84th Sprint Cup victory of his career and moved him into third-place in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings.

Serving as this year’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 grand marshal is actor John “Cliff Clavin” Ratzenberger, and included during the pre-event ceremonies will be a 25-minute air show by Discovery Bay's Patriots Jet Demonstration Team.

 

•••

Legendary NASCAR Hall of Famers Bobby Allison, Ned Jarrett and Richard Petty will also be at Infineon Raceway all three days and race fans will get a chance to meet and talk to them at an autograph and question-and-answer session today in the Wine Country Winner's Circle at 1 p.m.

Allison, Jarrett and Petty will also be featured during a special question-and-answer session during pre-event ceremonies on Toyota/Save Mart 350 race day, Sunday, June 26.

 

•••

This Saturday, June 25, the annual Thunder Valley Casino Resort 200 NASCAR Pro Series West race will be held, and two NASCAR regulars, plus road-course ace Boris Said, are confirmed for the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West event, which will span 64 laps.

Topping Saturday’s racing list is Joey Logano, who will pilot the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota – he drives the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota on the Sprint Cup Series circuit.

NASCAR regular David Gilliland is also scheduled to run the race behind the wheel of the No. 9 Sunrise Ford. Gilliland won the 2007 West Series race at Infineon, and his father, Butch, is a four-time West Series winner in Sonoma. Gilliland drives the No. 34 Taco Bell Ford in the Cup Series.

Sonoma fan-favorite and road-course specialist Said will also race in Saturday's main event. He has never won a West Series event in Sonoma, but he qualified on the pole for the Cup race in 2003.

Qualifying for Saturday’s 12:45 p.m. Thunder Valley Casino Resort 200 is this Friday, June 24.

 

•••

Single-day NASCAR tickets range from $25 to $130, with weekend passes from $99 to $180, parking is free and there are discounts for military.

Also available is Infineon’s most inclusive ticket package, the Track Pass, which costs $399 and includes tickets to all major events, plus season-long VIP parking, a Pre-Race Pit and Track Pass for NASCAR, a garage pass for IndyCar and more.

 

•••

Following NASCAR, the Infineon Raceway’s 2011 Big O Tires major events season continues with the NHRA Division 7 Drag Racing weekend of July 22 to 24; the FRAM Autolite NHRA Nationals from July 29 to 31; the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma weekend of Aug. 26 to 28; and the Classic Sports Racing Group Charity Challenge on Oct. 1 and 2.

To purchase NASCAR and other major event tickets, the Track Pass or other special ticket packages, or for details on Wednesday Night Drags, Top the Cops, Drifting or for more general information, visit www.infineonraceway.com, www.ticketmaster.com or call 800-870-RACE (7223).

 

INFINEON’S NASCAR SCHEDULE/TV COVERAGE

Friday, June 24 (Pick-n-Pull Pole Day): NASCARSprint Cup Series practice, noon to 1:30 p.m. (SPEED); NASCAR West Series qualifying, 1:50 p.m.; Pick-n-Pull Pole Day NASCAR Sprint Cup Series qualifying, 3:40 p.m., on SPEED at 8 p.m.

Saturday, June 25: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice, 9:30 to 10:15 a.m., SPEED, 11:30 a.m.; DenBeste Happy Hour NASCAR Sprint Cup Series final practice, 10:45 a.m. to noon, SPEED, 12:30 p.m.; Thunder Valley Casino Resort 200 NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race, 12:45 p.m.

Sunday, June 26: Toyota/Save Mart 350, noon – TV-TNT, radio – KNBR 1050 AM (San Francisco), KHTK 1140 AM (Sacramento).