Difference between revisions of "Infineon Raceway"

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!colspan=2 style="color: white; background: darkred;"|'''Infineon Raceway'''
 
!colspan=2 style="color: white; background: darkred;"|'''Infineon Raceway'''

Revision as of 07:59, 30 July 2008

220px
Infineon Raceway.gif
Infineon Raceway
Nickname Sears Point Raceway
Location 29355 Arnold Drive, Sonoma, California, 95476
Broke ground 1967
Opened 1968
Closed Open
Demolished N/A
Owner Speedway Motorsports, Inc.
Operator Speedway Motorsports, Inc.
Construction cost $70 million USD
Architect
Former names Sears Point Raceway
Major events AMA Superbike
Supercuts Superbike Challenge

Indy Racing League
[[Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma County]

Seating capacity 102,000
Dimensions
Track shape Road course
Track length 2.52 miles (1.95 miles for the NASCAR course)
Track banking none

Infineon Raceway, formerly Sears Point Raceway, is a road course and drag strip in the hills of northern California, near Sonoma, north of San Francisco. The course is a complex series of twists and turns that go up and down the hills. It is host to one of the only two NASCAR races each year that are run on road courses. It is also host to several other auto races and motorcycle races such as the American Federation of Motorcyclists series.

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 corporation, Infineon. However, as with many renamings of sports complexes, many people still call it by its original name. Despite its name, it was in no ways affiliated with Sears.

The standard road course at Infineon Raceway is a 2.52 mile (4.05 km), 12 turn course, however the track was modified in 1998, adding the Chute, which bypasses turns 5 and 6, shortening course to 1.95 miles (3.14 km). The Chute is only used for NASCAR events such as the Dodge/Save Mart 350, and is criticised by many drivers, who prefer the full layout; most races, including the Grand American Road Racing Association's Grand Prix of Sonoma, use the full course, while American Motorcyclist Association and Indy Racing League events use a modified 2.22 mile (3.57 km), 12 turn course. This layout, opened in 2003, skips much of the Esses and run from Turn 10 to Turn 11 (the hairpin) for additional safety for motorcyclists, including runoff available in the motorcycle Turn 11 (the main Turn 11 has no runoff, and is a very slow turn, similar to the Mirabeau hairpin at Monaco). The raceway also has a quarter mile (400 m) drag strip used for NHRA drag racing events.

See Also: List of NASCAR race tracks

Records

Major Events

  • Dodge/Save Mart 350
  • Infineon Grand Prix of Sonoma
  • FRAM Autolite Nationals
  • Indy Racing League
  • Jaguar Wine Country Classic

Current Races

External links

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