Week away from NASCAR in Sonoma

It’s one week and counting for the Valley’s most attended major motorsports event, the popular NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, with Sonoma Raceway hosting the 27th annual NASCAR Toyota/Save Mart 350 weekend, starting Friday, June 26, and running Saturday and Sunday, June 27 and 28.

Highlighting this year’s major event is Vallejo native Jeff Gordon, who’s retiring as a full-time driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series after this season. The most successful NASCAR driver ever at Sonoma Raceway will be competing in his final Toyota/Save Mart 350.

Gordon holds numerous NASCAR records on Sonoma’s 1.99-mile road course, including most wins with five, most pole positions at five, most top-five finishes with 14, and most laps led at 440. 

Multiple Toyota/Save Mart 350 champions following Gordon’s five titles are two-time Sonoma winners Rusty Wallace (1990, ’96), Ernie Irvan (1992, ’94),  Ricky Rudd (1989, 2002) and Tony Stewart (2001, ’05).

Defending his 2014 Toyota/Save Mart 350 title is Carl Edwards, who became the 10th different race winner in as many years, and the eighth consecutive driver to claim his first Sprint Cup Series road-course victory in Sonoma.

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On Friday, June 26, the Great Clips Fast Friday NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice takes place from noon to 1:55 p.m.; NASCAR Pro Series West final practice is from 2 to 3 p.m.; and Great Clips Fast Friday NASCAR Sprint Cup Series final practice is from 3:30 to 4:55 p.m. – TV coverage by Fox Sports 1. 

Saturday, June 27, the NASCAR Pro Series West qualifying starts at 9:45 a.m.; Drive for Safety Pole Day NASCAR Sprint Cup Series qualifying begins at 11:15 a.m. – TV coverage by Fox Sports 1; and the Carneros 200 NASCAR Pro Series West race (64 Laps) gets under way at 2 p.m.

On Sunday, the featured NASCAR Toyota/Save Mart 350 race, which covers 110 laps, 218.9 miles, begins at noon and TV coverage will be by Fox Sports 1 and Fox Deportes.

The NASCAR weekend will also have local radio coverage (provided by PRN) with KNBR 1050 AM (San Francisco) and KHTK 1140 AM (Sacramento) will broadcast NASCAR Sprint Cup Series qualifying at 11 a.m. on Saturday, and the Toyota/Save Mart 350 on Sunday with pre-race at 11 a.m., and the race at noon.

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Sonoma Raceway’s longtime communication, marketing and community relations vice president, the late John Cardinale, will be posthumously inducted into the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame during a gala event at the Meritage Resort in Napa on Thursday, June 25.

For details about table sponsorship for the 2015 awards dinner, contact Jenniffer Wentzel at 623-463-5400, and for more information about the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame, visit WestCoastStockCarHallofFame.com.

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This year’s NASCAR grand marshal is Santa Rosa resident and climber extraordinaire Kevin Jorgeson, who will be honored on Friday, June 26, at the Children’s Champions Grand Marshal’s Banquet at Cline Cellars in Sonoma, a fundraiser for the Sonoma Chapter of Speedway Children’s Charities.

For more information or to purchase a seat or table for the Grand Marshal’s Banquet – the event is nearly sold out – contact Cheri Plattner at 933-3950 or cplattner@racesonoma.com.

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Sonoma Raceway’s major events season continues with back-to-back NHRA weekends on the Valley’s drag strip featuring the 28th annual Sonoma Nationals from July 31 to Aug. 2, preceded by the Division 7 Drag Races taking place from July 24 to 26.

The Verizon IndyCar Series weekend is set for Aug. 28 to 30, and its championship will, for the first time, be decided on a road course and include double points for the season finale at the 11th annual GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma on Sunday, Aug. 30.

Again, Sonoma’s season ends with the Classic Sports Racing Group’s Charity Challenge on Oct. 3 and 4.

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There are a variety of ticket packages being offered by Sonoma Raceway for the Valley’s major events season that is highlighted by the Buy-Early-and-Save options for NASCAR, NHRA and IndyCar.

Sonoma Raceway’s most inclusive ticket package is the 2015 Track Pass, which includes tickets to all major events, plus season-long VIP parking, a NASCAR pre-race pit and track passes; IndyCar garage and pit passes; and an NHRA Thunder Alley pass.

Also for the Toyota/Save Mart 350 weekend, Sonoma Raceway is offering tickets that start at $45 for race day, and new for 2015, kids ages 12-and-under will be admitted free with the purchase of an adult ticket at Save Mart Supermarkets or Lucky stores.

For major event tickets and ticket packages, including the all-?encompassing Track Pass, for Wednesday Night Drags details, or for general Sonoma Raceway information, call 800-870-RACE (7223) or visit racesonoma.com or ticketmaster.com. Camping is available for all major events.