Raceway menu pulls out all the stops

Sonoma Raceway president Steve Page posted his favorite food from Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s Indy 500 last weekend: a St. Elmo (fire, I assume) shrimp cocktail “with horse radish sauce that will clear your sinuses for three weeks. Among Indy 500 traditions, this one ranks near the top.”

As Sonoma Raceway improves its food offerings this year – through Levy Restaurants, which does concessions at 11 speedways throughout the country – the goodies include some vegetables from the raceway’s garden, interesting new treats, and some almost-local craft beers.

Sonoma Raceway’s first huge racing event of the year, the Toyota/SaveMart NASCAR 350, takes off June 24 to 26.

This year’s Nascar weekend inaugurates Chevys Fresh Mex food booths at the event and offer tasties throughout the season. The “outposts” will be located beneath the Main Grandstand, in the main paddock, and above Turn 2.

The Chevys menu will include a mesquite grilled steak fajita burrito, a mesquite grilled chicken fajita burrito, cheese nachos with picadillo beef and pickled jalapeño slices and, my favorite, corn on the cob with mayo/aioli, chilie Piquin and Cotija Cheese ($6 to $12).

Karen Schirmuhly, of Levy Restaurants, calls the crab-cake corn dog this year’s “wow item.” It consists of three “hand-breaded” crab cakes, skewered and deep fried, served with ghost pepper slaw and drizzled with lemon aioli available at the Sears Point Grill. And then there’s the chicken apple sausage with ghost pepper slaw on a hoagie, a Korean BBQ Bowl of thinly sliced beef or chicken marinated in bulgogi sauce and served over steamed white rice and fresh vegetables, with toasted sesame seeds and scallions.

And then there are the waffle sandwiches – from a waffle breakfast sandwich with country egg scramble, a crispy buffalo chicken waffle sandwich topped with blue cheese slaw, to a char sui pork sando with pork and Nappa slaw, a Philly cheese waffle with beef, onions and Cheese Whiz and even a vegetarian waffle sandwich.

Beers might include Lost Coast Great White from Eureka, North Coast Scrimshaw from Fort Bragg, 101 North Brewing Heroine IPA of Petaluma and Sudwerk Brewing Co. Hefeweizen Bavarian White from Davis. While Sonoma and Napa wines have not been specified, there will be a frozen Margarita Trailer at Turn 9.