Monday, June 22, 2015

Sonoma Raceway Track Facts: 2015 Toyota/Save Mart 350

Martin Truex Jr. tasted the victory wine at Sonoma Raceway in 2013.
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series 2015 Top 16 at Sonoma Raceway

Driver
Races
Poles
Wins
Top Fives
Top 10s
DNFs
Average Finish
Driver Rating
 
 
1
Kevin Harvick
14
0
0
3
5
0
15.9
84.6
 
2
Martin Truex Jr.
9
0
1
1
2
1
18.7
86.1
 
3
Joey Logano
6
1
0
0
2
0
15.8
79.4
 
4
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
15
0
0
1
1
1
20.3
72.1
 
5
Jimmie Johnson
13
0
1
4
8
1
12.9
98.8
 
6
Brad Keselowski
5
0
0
0
1
1
20.0
73.9
 
7
Jamie McMurray
12
3
0
2
2
0
16.7
87.8
 
8
Matt Kenseth
15
0
0
0
1
1
22.1
75.4
 
9
Kasey Kahne
11
2
1
2
4
0
19.1
85.5
 
10
Jeff Gordon
22
5
5
14
18
1
8.0
103.4
 
11
Kurt Busch
14
1
1
6
6
0
15.7
106.5
 
12
Paul Menard
7
0
0
1
1
0
19.0
65.4
 
13
Denny Hamlin
9
0
0
1
2
1
23.2
77.4
 
14
Carl Edwards
10
0
1
3
5
0
14.1
90.1
 
15
Aric Almirola
4
0
0
0
0
0
24.8
56.7
 
16
Ryan Newman
13
0
0
2
5
0
12.9
88.4
 
* – Based on last 10 races at Sonoma Raceway.



Sonoma Raceway Data
Season Race #: 16 of 36 (06-28-15)
Track Size: 1.99-miles
Number of Turns: 12
Race Length: 110 laps / 219 miles / 350 Kilometers

Top 10 Driver Ratings at Sonoma
Kurt Busch................................ 106.5
Jeff Gordon.............................. 103.4
Tony Stewart............................... 98.8
Jimmie Johnson.......................... 98.8
Clint Bowyer............................... 95.0
Carl Edwards.............................. 90.1
Ryan Newman............................. 88.4
Jamie McMurray.......................... 87.8
Martin Truex Jr............................ 86.1
Kasey Kahne.............................. 85.5
Note: Driver Ratings compiled from 2005-2014 races (10 total) among active drivers at Sonoma Raceway.

Qualifying/Race Data
2014 pole winner:
Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet
96.350 mph, 74.354 secs. 06-20-14

2014 race winner:
Carl Edwards, Ford
76.583 mph, (02:51:30), 06-22-14

Track qualifying record:
Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet
96.350 mph, 74.354 secs. 06-20-14

Track race record:
Clint Bowyer, Toyota
83.624 mph, (02:39:55), 06-24-12

At Sonoma Raceway:
History
·         The track opened as a 2.52-mile road course and drag strip in 1968.
·         The first NASCAR Sprint Cup race was held on June 11, 1989 – won by Ricky Rudd at a speed of 76.088 mph.
·         The first nine races were 300 kilometers and switched to a 350k format in 1998.
·         The track was reconfigured to 1.949 miles in 1998 with the installation of an 890-foot chute between the original Turns 4 and 7.
·         The track was reconfigured to 2.0 miles in 2001 and re-measured at 1.99 miles in 2002.
Notebook
·         There have been 26 NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Sonoma Raceway since the first race there in 1989 – one race per season.
·         198 drivers have competed in at least one NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Sonoma Raceway; 137 in more than one.
·         Jeff Gordon leads the series in starts at Sonoma with 22; Tony Stewart is the next active driver with 16 starts.
·         Rusty Wallace won the inaugural Coors Light pole at Sonoma in 1989 with a speed of 90.041 mph.  
·         15 drivers have Coors Light poles at Sonoma, led by Jeff Gordon with five.
·         Three drivers have won consecutive Coors Light poles at Sonoma Ricky Rudd, Jeff Gordon (1998, ’99 and 2004, ’05) and Jamie McMurray (2013, ’14). Ricky Rudd holds the record for most consecutive poles at Sonoma with three; fall 1990 through 1992.
·         Youngest Sonoma pole winner: Joey Logano (06/26/2011 – 21 years, 1 month, 2 days).
·         Oldest Sonoma pole winner: Rusty Wallace (06/25/2000 – 43 years, 10 months, 11 days).
·         There have been 10 different winners in the last 10 races at Sonoma Raceway.


·         18 different NSCS drivers have won at Sonoma Raceway, led by Jeff Gordon with five wins. Tony Stewarthas the second most wins (two) among active drivers at Sonoma; eight other active drivers have a single win.
·         Jeff Gordon leads the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in road course wins with nine (Sonoma, five; Watkins Glen, four); Tony Stewart has the second most road course wins all-time with seven (Watkins Glen, five; Sonoma, two).
·         NASCAR Hall of Famer Bobby Allison holds the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series record for the most wins (six) at a single road course track - Riverside International Raceway.
·         Jeff Gordon is the only driver to post consecutive wins (three total) at Sonoma Raceway (1998 and 1999 each from the pole and 2000 from the fifth starting position).
·         Youngest Sonoma winner: Kyle Busch (06/22/2008 – 23 years, 1 month, 20 days).
·         Oldest Sonoma winner: Ricky Rudd (06/23/2002 – 45 years, 9 months, 11 days).
·         Hendrick Motorsports has the most wins at Sonoma in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with six: Jeff Gordon(five) and Jimmie Johnson (one).
·         Six different manufacturers have won in the NSCS at Sonoma; led by Chevrolet with 10 victories; followed byFord with seven, Toyota (three), Dodge (three), Pontiac (two) and Buick (one).
·         Five of the 26 (19.2%) NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Sonoma have been won from the Coors Light pole; the most recent was Jeff Gordon in 2004. Gordon is the only NSCS driver to win from the pole at Sonoma more than once (1998, 1999 and 2004).
·         The Coors Light pole position is the most proficient starting position in the field, producing more wins (five) than any other starting position at Sonoma Raceway.    
·         Eight of the 26 (30.7%) NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Sonoma have been won from the front row: five from the pole and three from second-place.
·         19 of the 26 (73%) NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Sonoma have been won from a top-10 starting position.
·         Seven of the 26 (26.9%) NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Sonoma have been won from a starting position outside the top 10.
·         Two of the 26 (7.6%) NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Sonoma have been won from a starting position outside the top 20.
·         The deepest in the field that a race winner has started at Michigan was 32nd, by Juan Pablo Montoya in 2007.
·         Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin leads the series in runner-up finishes at Sonoma with four; followed by TonyStewart with three.
·         Jeff Gordon leads the series in top-five finishes at Sonoma with 14; followed by Ricky Rudd with 10.   
·         Jeff Gordon leads the series in top-10 finishes at Sonoma with 18; followed by Mark Martin with 13.

·         Jeff Gordon leads the series in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in average starting position at Sonoma with a 7.818.
·         Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in average finishing position at Sonoma with a 7.955. Clint Bowyer (9.222) is the only other active driver with an average finish in the top 10.
·         Carl Edwards competed at Sonoma Raceway 10 times before before visiting Victory in Lane; the longest span of any the 10 active NASCAR Sprint Cup Series winners.    
·         Matt Kenseth and Dale Earnhardt Jr. lead the series among active drivers with the most NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Sonoma without visiting Victory Lane at 15 each.
·         Since the advent of electronic scoring the closest margin of victory (MOV) in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Sonoma Raceway was the June 27, 1999 race won by Jeff Gordon over Mark Martin with a MOV of 0.197 second.
·         There have been three NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races resulting with a green-white-checkered finish at Sonoma Raceway (Scheduled No. of Laps/Actual No. of Laps): 2008 (110/112); 2009 (110/113) and 2012 (110/112).
·         None of the 24 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Sonoma Raceway have been shortened due to weather conditions.     
·         Qualifying has never been cancelled in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Sonoma Raceway.   
·         Boris Said posted his first career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coors Light pole at Sonoma Raceway (6/22/2003).       
·         Juan Pablo Montoya posted his first career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win at Sonoma Raceway (6/24/2007). 
·         Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in laps led at Sonoma with 457 laps led in 22 starts.    
·         Danica Patrick is the only female driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series to compete at Sonoma Raceway.
Date
Driver
Starting Position
Finishing Position
Driver Rating
6/23/2013
Danica Patrick
31
29
43.0
6/22/2014
Danica Patrick
11
18
69.6

NASCAR in California
·         There have been 138 NASCAR Sprint Cup races at 15 tracks in California.
Track Name
City
NSCS
Riverside International Raceway
Riverside
48
Auto Club Speedway
Fontana
26
Sonoma Raceway
Sonoma
26
Ontario Motor Speedway
Ontario
9
California State Fairgrounds
Sacramento
6
Carrell Speedway
Gardena
4
Ascot Stadium
Los Angeles
3
Bay Meadows Race Track
San Mateo
3
Marchbanks Speedway
Hanford
3
Oakland Stadium
Oakland
3
Redwood Speedway
Eureka
2
Willow Springs Speedway
Lancaster
2
Capitol Speedway
Sacramento
1
Merced Fairgrounds
Merced
1
Santa Clara Fairgrounds
San Jose
1
·         431 drivers in NASCAR national series history have their home state recorded as California.
Driver
NSCS
NXS
NCWTS
Jeff Gordon
92
5
0
Jimmie Johnson
74
1
0
Kevin Harvick
30
46
14
Marvin Panch
17
0
0
Ernie Irvan
15
3
0
Dick Rathmann
13
0
0
Dan Gurney
5
0
0
Eddie Gray
4
0
0
Parnelli Jones
4
0
0
Eddie Pagan
4
0
0
Robby Gordon
3
1
0
Ray Elder
2
0
0
Danny Letner
2
0
0
Marvin Porter
2
0
0
AJ Allmendinger
1
2
0
Dick Brooks
1
0
0
Marvin Burke
1
0
0
Jim Cook
1
0
0
Lou Figaro
1
0
0
Danny Graves
1
0
0
Johnny Mantz
1
0
0
Casey Mears
1
1
0
Bill Norton
1
0
0
John Soares
1
0
0
Danny Weinberg
1
0
0
Ron Hornaday Jr
0
4
51
Kyle Larson
0
2
1
Jason Leffler
0
2
1
David Gilliland
0
1
0
Ryan Reed
0
1
0
Joe Ruttman
0
1
13
Boris Said
0
1
1
Mike Skinner
0
1
28
Matt Crafton
0
0
8
Cole Custer
0
0
2
Tyler Reddick
0
0
2
Justin Lofton
0
0
1
Scott Speed
0
0
1
Brandon Whitt
0
0
1

MILESTONES – SONOMA RACEWAY

DRIVER
HAS
NEEDS
MILESTONE
Brad Keselowski
299
1
300th Consecutive NSCS Start - Keselowski is 15th on the active consecutive NSCS starts list. 
Jimmie Johnson
74
2
76th NSCS Win - Jimmie Johnson is eighth on the all-time NSCS wins list, two wins behind NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt in seventh (76 wins).
Tony Stewart
48
2
50th NSCS Win - Stewart is 13th on the all-time NSCS wins list, two wins behind NASCAR Hall of Famer Ned Jarrett in 12th (50 wins).
Matt Kenseth
32
1
33rd NSCS Win - Kenseth is tied with Dale Jarrett for 22nd on the all-time NSCS wins list, one win behind Fireball Roberts in 21st (33 wins).
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
24
1
25th NSCS Win - Earnhardt Jr. is tied with Carl Edwards for 30th on the all-time NSCS wins list, one win behind Joe Weatherly and Denny Hamlin in 29th (25 wins).
Carl Edwards
24
1
25th NSCS Win - Edwards is tied with Dale Earnhardt Jr. for 30th on the all-time NSCS wins list, one win behind Joe Weatherly and Denny Hamlin in 29th (25 wins).
Kevin Harvick
10
1
11th NSCS Top-2 Finish in the first 16 races of the season - Harvick is tied with NASCAR Hall of Famers Cale Yarborough (1977) and Richard Petty (1971 and 1974) for the most top-2 finishes (10) in the first 15 races of the season. If Harvick finishes in the top-2 this weekend at Sonoma he will tie Bobby Allison (1972), as the only two drivers in series history to have 11 top-2 finishes in the first 16 races of the NSCS season. 
Kevin Harvick
124
1
125th NSCS Top-Five Finish - Harvick is 27th on the all-time NSCS top fives list, 10 top-fives behind Jeff Burton, Bobby Isaac and Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 26th (134 each).
Jeff Gordon
24,826
174
25,000 NSCS Laps Led - Gordon can become the sixth driver in NSCS history to lead 25,000 laps.
Matt Kenseth
9,597
403
10,000 NSCS Laps Led - Kenseth can become the 16th driver in series history to lead 10,000 or more laps. 
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
7,954
46
8,000 NSCS Laps Led - Earnhardt can become the 23rd driver in series history to lead 8,000 or more laps. 
#43 car
199
1
200 NSCS Wins - The No. 43 car is second on the all-time NSCS wins list, five wins behind the No. 11 car in first (204).

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