Infineon Raceway - The Save Mart/Toyota 350 (News & Notes)

[HacheMan]

The Save Mart/Toyota 350
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series moves to Infineon Raceway's 1.99 mile road course for the 16th race of the 2010 season, the Toyota/SaveMart 350. Fantasy Cheat Sheet took a look at past performances, season trends, and spoke to NASCAR contacts to provide you with the most accurate fantasy preview of Sunday's race.


When: Sunday, June 20, 2010; 3:19 p.m./et.


Weather: Sunny with a high around 85; wind out of the SW at 13 mph. There is a 10% chance of precipitation.


The Track: Infineon Raceway

Infineon is a 1.99 mile road course. It has 10 turns including some of the only right-hand turns NASCAR drivers will make all season.


Key to Race: GORDON, BORIS, AND THE BOYS

Jeff Gordon has been the King of Infineon. In 17 career starts at the circuit No. 24 has won an impressive five races. Then there are the road track specialist, drivers like Boris Said, Juan Pablo Montoya, and Robby Gordon are always a threat to steal a win on road courses.


Qualifying Procedures:

46 cars will attempt to qualify for 43 spots. Cars not in the top 35 in the 2010 owner point standings will have to qualify based on speed. Starting positions 1-43 will be determined by qualifying on Friday, June 18 at 6:35 pm/et.


Fantasy Cheat Sheet:

Top 5


No. 42 Juan Pablo Montoya: Montoya won the 2007 race at Infineon. This is the weekend for the No. 42 team to get back on your active fantasy roster.
No. 24 Jeff Gordon: Gordon has been awesome at Infineon. He holds the all-time record for wins at the track with five.
No. 14 Tony Stewart: Stewart has been excellent at Infineon. In 11 career starts he has two wins and seven top 10 finishes.
No. 18 Kyle Busch: Rowdy dominated both road course races in 2008. He will be one of the cars to beat this weekend.
No. 11 Denny Hamlin: Hamlin has cracked the top 15 in three of his four career starts at Infineon. The talented driver has showed he can drive on any surface and any track configuration making him a great pick on Sunday.


6 to 10

No. 47 Marcos Ambrose: Ambrose has three top five finishes in four career road course starts. He is will be the Terrific Tasmanian this weekend.
No. 39 Ryan Newman: Newman is a great option on Sunday. In eight career starts at Infineon he has five top 10 finishes.
No. 7 Robby Gordon: Road courses are where Gordon usually shines. We think he is a solid bet to make the top 10 on Sunday.
No. 2 Kurt Busch: Busch has three top five finishes in nine career Infineon starts. We think he will be in the top 10 again when the checkers fly Sunday.
No. 33 Clint Bowyer: Bowyer has finished inside the top eight in the past three races at Infineon. He will be fast once again.


11 to 20

No. 26 Boris Said: Said has four top 10 finishes in 10 career starts at Infineon. The road course master is an excellent pick this weekend.
No. 1 Jamie McMurray: McMurray has finished worse than 20th just once in seven career Infineon starts. He could make some noise on Sunday.
No. 5 Mark Martin: Martin has 13 top 10 finishes in 19 career starts at Infineon. The crafty veteran is always a threat to steal a win.
No. 48 Jimmie Johnson: Johnson has led just 30 laps during his career at Infineon. He does have two top five finishes at the track, but there are much better weekends to use him.
No. 31 Jeff Burton: Burton has five top 10 finishes at Infineon during his career. He is a good option this weekend.
No. 99 Carl Edwards: Edwards led 14 laps during the last three races at Infineon. He won't crack the top 10, but he should finish inside the top 15.
No. 16 Greg Biffle: Biffle has finished in the top 15 in five of his seven career Infineon starts. He is a solid option on Sunday.
No. 19 Elliott Sadler: Sadler has been great at Infineon during his career. We think he will finish near the top 15 on Sunday.
No. 29 Kevin Harvick: Harvick has been hit-or-miss at Infineon during his career. He won't match his second place finish of 2007, but he should crack the top 20.
No. 83 Mattias Ekstrom: The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters veteran makes his first NASCAR start this weekend. He has a fast car and has years of experience making right-hand turns.


21 to 30

No. 9 Kasey Kahne: Kahne broke his Infineon slump with a win in last year's race at the track, but even with the win he still isn't a great choice. He has averaged just a 23rd place finish on road course during his career.
No. 09 Jan Magnussen: The former F1 driver makes his NASCAR debut this weekend. He is the definition of a road course specialist and is someone worth taking a chance on.
No. 13 Max Papis: Papis should have the No. 13 car flying on Sunday. Look for him to knock off some of NASCAR's superstars.
No. 43 A.J. Allmendinger: For a former open-wheel driver A.J. surprised us with his struggles in road course races. He will be better on Sunday, but there are far better options.
No. 98 Paul Menard: Menard has been very consistent at road courses. He won't crack the top 15, but he should notch a mid-20s finish.
No. 17 Matt Kenseth: We recommend steering clear of the talented Kenseth this weekend. In 10 career starts at Infineon he has just one top 10 finish.
No. 56 Martin Truex Jr.: Road courses aren't Truex Jr.'s forte. He will be lucky to crack the top 25 on Sunday.
No. 82 Scott Speed: Speed has plenty of right-hand turn experience. He could surprise.
No. 20 Joey Logano: Logano has a lot to learn about road course racing. Save him for next year's race at Infineon when he has a little more experience.
No. 77 Sam Hornish Jr.: Hornish Jr. is another former open-wheel driver that struggled on road courses. He should be much faster than he has been in his previous four road course starts.


31 to 35

No. 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Junior has averaged a 21st place finish in 10 career races at Infineon. There are much better weeks to use No. 88.
No. 07 P.J. Jones: Jones is a road course guru. He could finish decent with a little luck.
No. 6 David Ragan: Ragan has never cracked the top 20 at Infineon in his career. He shouldn't be active on any rosters this weekend.
No. 38 David Gilliland: Gilliland finished second in the 2008 edition of this race. He is won't be that fast this time around, but he might be worth using in very deep leagues.
No. 12 Brad Keselowski: The rookie will earn his yellow-stripe in this year's trip to California wine country.


Field Fillers

No. 55 Michael Waltrip
No. 00 David Reutimann
No. 34 Kevin Conway
No. 78 Regan Smith
No. 71 Bobby Labonte
No. 36 Brian Simo
No. 02 Brandon Ash
No. 37 Travis Kvapil
No. 46 J.J. Yeley
No. 66 Dave Blaney
No. 87 Joe Nemechek


Brownie's Picks

Top Four:

1. Juan Pablo Montoya
2. Jeff Gordon
3. Tony Stewart
4. Kyle Busch

Sleepers:

1. Robby Gordon
2. Marcus Ambrose

Bust of the Week:

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

 

[HacheMan]

Toyota/Save Mart 350
Track history: Robert Marshall Jr. and Jim Coleman built the first Sears Point 2.52 mile road course in 1968. For the next 20 years, Sears Point hosted events for USAC, Indy cars, SCCA races, drag races, motorcycle road and motocross races and some non-Cup NASCAR races. The first Cup Series race was held there in 1989. The Craftsman Truck Series began competition at the track in 1995.

During the 1990's, several million dollars was spent on beautification and modernization of the facility, including the new medical facility, VIP suites, and a track reconfiguration to its current 1.99-mile layout. Since 2000, another $50 million went to projects such as new grandstands, pedestrian tunnels, a 44-car garage area, repaving of the road course, enlargement of the pit road to accommodate the entire 43-car starting grid, and sightline improvements so the fans can see almost the entire road course from their seats. Sears Point was renamed Infineon Raceway at the start of the 2002 season.

First Sonoma, California Cup race: The inaugural Cup Series race, the 1989 Banquet Frozen Foods 300, was held on June 11, 1989. Rusty Wallace put the Raymond Beadle owned No. 27 Kodiak Pontiac on the pole, led 10 laps and finished 2nd. Ricky Rudd started 4th, led 61 of the 74 lap event and took the flag in Kenny Bernstein's No. 26 Quaker State Buick by a little more than a second over runner-up Wallace. Rudd earned $62,350 for the victory in front of around 60,000 fans.

2009 Toyota/Save Mart 350: With a qualifying lap of 93.678 mph, Brian Vickers started the June 21, 2009 Toyota/Save Mart 350 on the pole. He led the first 16 laps in the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota. He was running in the top 10 when he was bumped in the "esses" by Kyle Busch on lap 60 and the car wasn't same for the rest of the race. Vickers finished 16th. Kasey Kahne, who started the No. 9 Budweiser Dodge 5th in the lineup, took the lead on lap 80 and never looked back (except to fight off Tony Stewart who finished 2nd). Kahne even survived a charge during a green-white-checker finish to score the win.

Your fantasy game won't allow you to pick all track favorites so Mid-Pack Attack is here to help. A mid-packer may not win the race but has as good a shot at a top 15 finish as track favorites Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon, Juan Pablo Montoya, Ryan Newman and Tony Stewart. There were 46 cars on the preliminary entry list for this weekend's Cup race. Here are our picks for Sunday's Toyota/Save Mart 350 in Sonoma, California.


Bonus Pick: He's 20th in the points, we could pick him, but Juan Pablo Montoya is considered a favorite at the Sonoma track.. so, he should be one of your picks anyway this week.


Double-bonus Pick: Most games may not carry all possible drivers, especially the road-course ringers. If your game has Jan Magnussen, the Danish road course expert, he's definitely a driver to watch on Sunday. Magnussen will be driving the No. 09 Phoenix Racing entry.


Mid-Pack picks

Marcos Ambrose didn't get a chance to show his stuff in the 2008 Toyota/Save Mart 350. He started 7th, had driven as high as 2nd (lap 76) but finished 42nd in his first Sonoma start after the transmission failed on lap 85. The 2009 race looked to be another bomb for the Tasmanian Devil. He qualified 3rd for the event but, due to an engine change, the No. 47 had to start the race at the rear of the field. By lap 52, he had already passed half the cars and was in 21st. About 10 laps later he was in the top 5. He never led a lap but finished 3rd. We're going with the Ambrose this week for our top mid-packer.

We're a little hesitant about picking Robby Gordon because he is the most fearless road course racer in the lineup. If he can stick a fender in there to pass going in or out of a turn he'll do it. He has wins at both Infineon and Watkins Glen. In the 2008 race, Gordon started 8th, ran in the top 10 for the first 70 laps but got into a three-car wreck and ended up with a 36th place finish. In the 2009 race, he was in the lead with about 30 laps to go when caution came out. Since he was due for a pit stop, it put him out of sequence with those who already made their stops. He couldn't recover and again finished 36th. Gordon's a gamble since his fearless moves sometimes result in his No. 7 going back to the garage on a flatbed but he always makes a road course race interesting.

Elliott Sadler has the third most championship driver points of any driver (behind favorites Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon) over the last 10 races at Infineon Raceway. He finished in the top-15 at the Sonoma track in five of the last six races (four were top tens). In this race in 2008, Sadler was running in 4th going into the green-white-checker finish when a tire started going down. He decided to run it to the finish but the tire finally blew resulting in a 19th place finish (his worst here in 6 years). Give Sadler a look for your third or fourth driver this week.

We have to pick a "hired gun" this weekend and Boris Said is our choice. He's entered in the No. 26 Ford this weekend. The team is outside the top 35 but Said's average start of 13.1 should get them into the show. He had top ten finishes in four of the last seven Cup starts at Infineon. Said was running as high as 3rd (lap 62) here in 2009 but then his troubles began. He got a pit-road speeding penalty on lap 68 which prompted him to driver over-aggressively in the turns to make up the penalty. He spun out Sam Hornish Jr. (lap 83) and Scott Speed (lap 108). Said finished that race in 24th. If he can keep his cool on Sunday, look for Boris to be challenging for another top ten or better.

 

[zeeman]

I'm playing Hamlin at the nice price of 14-1. I've been on the Hamil Train!

Also Marcus Ambrose at 6.50.

Mattias E. at 28-1. Just a small action bet.

Jaime Mc at 24-1

Kasey Kahne "defending champ" 25-1

P.S. One reason Hamil is 14- is because of his recent foot surgery. This is a road course race and drivers will be using the gas and brake peddles way more than an oval race. I'm hoping Hamlin foot is healthy. He's been driving great.