Sonoma Will No Longer Be Called INFINEON Raceway

I was wondering what was up because I had a fair idea that the 10-year sponsor contract was coming to a close, and no official word was "leaked" about a renewal between the Sonoma road course and Infineon.  With that in mind, I guess for the moment, it's they'll be calling themselves Sonoma for a while.  Not sure how long it will stay that, but as is the case, in most things, everything reverts back to its original state!  Or in this case, name!

The track sent out a bit of press to the fans and here's their news note about the name change:

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Dear race fans:
As many of you know, we will no longer be called Infineon Raceway beginning tomorrow, Friday, June 1.
To answer some of your most pressing questions, we sat down with raceway President & General Manager Steve Page to provide some insight about what the name change means for our fans.
I understand you will no longer be called Infineon Raceway as of June 1. Why is this happening and what does it mean for the raceway?Our 10-year naming-rights sponsorship with Infineon Technologies ends in June.  Under the terms of our contract, the name Infineon will be removed from signs, brochures and any other materials identifying the raceway. We are very grateful for Infineon's investment in the raceway, which, among other things, helped make possible the dramatic facility transformation we unveiled nearly a decade ago.
Will this change affect my experience at the raceway in any way when I attend events there during the 2012 season?Not in any way.  The management of the raceway has not changed, nor has our commitment to provide you with the best possible experience every time you are our guest at our facility.
What will you be calling the raceway as of June 1?For the next few months we will simply be identified by our location, "Sonoma." We will not have a formal name. We will formally re-brand the facility before the end of this year, whether with a new company or otherwise, with a major announcement, new logo, promotions and merchandise.  However, since this current change is happening in the middle of race season, our immediate focus is to produce a series of terrific events and continue providing you with the most diverse menu of racing of any facility in America. 
Where can I find you on the web?You can now find our website at www.racesonoma.com.  In terms of social networking, we will be at facebook.com/RaceSonoma (change coming soon!), on Twitter @racesonoma and YouTube at Race Sonoma.  Our phone number remains 800-870-RACE (7223).

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For the IndyCar Fan: Free Test Session at Infineon

I just received a piece of "Sonoma Insider" email in the... well, my email, announcing that there will be an IZOD IndyCar test session on Saturday, February 25th at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma.

And admission is FREE to attend on this test day.

In attendance will be four IZOD teams, testing and tweaking from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on February 25th.

Your free admission will grant you access to the main grandstand, the paddock and if there's room, you will also be able to attend a driver press conference that will be held at noon.

The Raceway Cafe will also be open from 8 to 2.

Teams and drivers scheduled to attend:

• Rubens Barrichello (KV Racing Technology),
• EJ Viso (KV Racing Technology),
• JR Hildebrand (Panther Racing),
• Ryan Hunter-Reay (Andretti Autosport),
• Will Power (Team Penske) and
• Ryan Briscoe (Team Penske).

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There's more at   infineonraceway.com  if you're interested.

Infineon Raceway Is A Green Place To Be

On the face of it all, NASCAR and other motor sports seems to be a wasteful endeavor and hurtful on the environment overall.

Though the hills aren't always that green at the track, but green can be an attitude. As for saving the environment or at least doing their part, Infinion Raceway accumulated some interesting statistics headed in that direction.

During the 2008 season at it's various events, the track collected an amazing 17 tons of recyclable materials. Eesh... I kind of feel sorry for the staff that had handle all that.

The breakdown for the 2008 motor-racing season included:
· 18,928 pounds of glass OR 35,768 glass bottles.
· 13,366 pounds of plastic bottles OR 179,639 plastic bottles.
· 2,274 pounds of aluminum cans OR 66,628 cans.
· Which makes a sum of 34,568 pounds OR 282,035 beverage containers in all.

The program at the track, which was started in 2004, is managed by Environmental Event Management Group.

Besides the containers noted above, Safety-Kleen Systems, Inc., provides oil recycling and re-refining services to Infineon Raceway, as well as 64 other racetracks/drag strips around the country. Everything that Safety-Kleen collects during an event such as motor oil, gasoline or antifreeze, is eventually put back into a usable product.

Safety-Kleen processes over 300 million gallons of oil a year, and every bit helps.


source: NASCAR Press Release

Toyota / Save Mart 350 Lineup

The smoother drivers prevailed on Friday in qualifying:

Kasey Kahne and Jimmie Johnson own the front row of the Infineon Raceway race on Sunday, with Kahne on the pole.
Row two has Kurt Busch and Bobby Labonte,
Row Three - Jeff Gordon and Elliot Sadler.
(Sadler looked like he had the pole but he hit turn 11 way too hard and slid up to the outside in the turn, losing his lead slot in the process.)
Row Four sees Marcos Ambrose and Robby Gordon.
(Marcos topped the speed charts, surprising everyone, including I think, himself.)
Finally, Row Five residents are Ryan Newman and Greg Biffle.

Oddly, Greg Biffle and Terry Labonte tied in time, but ties are figured out by standings position, and so Terry is relegated to 11th, but good job Terry.

7 Dodge's in the top 11 spots. Maybe I'm making a snap judgment, but it seems that the Dodge camps have the handling aspect of the car down pat. But could there be something with the aero of the make that holds them back on ovals? Just wondering out loud. Anyone have an opinion on this?

See the rest of the line up at NASCAR.

Montoya WINS at Sonoma

Juan Pablo Montoya wins a fuel balancing act, with the pit crew reporting that they were a lap short, Kevin Harvick pedals off to let them run out of gas, but they never do and the 42 car leads the crowd across the checkered flag.

We watched Jeff Gordon get up to the lead for a few laps with green flag fuel stops, and he had a chance to win, but the fuel gambit came into play and dictated the final cards dealt to the field.

Montoya is followed by Kevin Harvick in 2nd, Jeff Burton in 3rd, Clint Bowyer 4th, Greg Biffle 5th, Tony Stewart 6th, Jeff Gordon 7th, Kyle Busch 8th, Boris Said 9th and Denny Hamlin rounds out the top 10.

Dale Jr. finishes 13th, pole sitter Robby Gordon 16th, Jimmie Johnson 17th, McMurray ends up 37th after .

Now we wait and see what penalties will be forth coming from NASCAR to the 24 and 48 teams.

See the unofficial results at NASCAR.com And the unofficial point standings at NASCAR.com

Here's my recap of the race at NASCAR-Notes

Live Updates for Sonoma / Infineon Race

For updates about the race today, Toyota / Savemart 350 race at Infineon,
check out my race update blog:

http://nascar-notes.blogspot.com/

Thanks for visiting - Bruce

Lineup for Toyota Save Mart 350

By just barely o.o12 seconds, Jamie McMurray snagged the pole away from Robby Gordon (And we got to actually see it before speed channel broke away to the truck race pre-show!).

Dale Earnhardt Jr is 3rd, Boris Said 4th, Tony Stewart 5th, Jeff Burton 6th, Bill Elliott 7th, Kasey Kahne 8th, Ryan Newman 9th and Clint Bowyer rounds out the top 10.

See NASCAR.com for the entire line up.

by Bruce Simmons, The Fan Reporter

Upcoming Infenion Race

52 teams are entered in Sunday's race capped off with road course specialists in several of the cars.

check out the details at
http://www.scenedaily.com/stories/2007/06/18/scene_daily949.html

Buses to Infineon

With gas prices soaring to extremely high levels, Infineon Raceway is offering an alternative for race fans at this year's Toyota/Save Mart 350 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race.

Prices start at just $122 for the program and include:
Transportation to/from the raceway.
Premium reserved seat for Sunday, June 24.
Commemorative souvenir race program.

Infineonraceway.com