Sonoma Raceway is a road course and dragstrip locatedat Sears Point in the southern Sonoma Mountains of Sonoma,California, United States.^[1] Theroad course features 12 turns on a hilly course with 160 feet (49 m) oftotal elevation change.^[2] Itis host to one of only three NASCAR Cup Series races each year thatare run on road courses. It has also played host to the IndyCar Series,the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, and several other auto racesand motorcycle races such as the American Federation ofMotorcyclists series. Sonoma Raceway continues to host amateur, or clubracing events with some open to the public. The largest such car club isthe Sports Car Club of America. The track is 30 miles north of SanFrancisco and Oakland.

With the closure of Riverside International Raceway in MorenoValley, California after the 1988 season, NASCAR wanted a WestCoast road course event to replace it, and chose the Sears Point facility.Riverside Raceway was razed for the Moreno Valley Mall.

In 2002, Sears Point Raceway was renamed after a corporatesponsor, Infineon Technologies. However, as with many renamings of sportscomplexes, many people still call it by its original name.^{[citationneeded]} On March 7, 2012, it was announced that Infineon would notrenew their contract for naming rights when the deal expired in May 2012, andthat track management is looking for a new company to take over naming rights.

1968–1979[edit]

The 2.52-mile (4.06 km) road racing course was constructedon 720 acres (2.9 km²) by Marin County owners RobertMarshall Jr., an attorney from Point Reyes, and land developer Jim Coleman ofKentfield. The two conceived of the idea of a race track while on a huntingtrip. Ground was broken in August 1968 and paving of the race surface wascompleted in November. The first official event at Sears Point was an SCCAEnduro, held on December 1, 1968.

In 1969 the track was sold to Filmways Corp., a LosAngeles-based entertainment company for $4.5 million. In May 1970 the track wasclosed and became a tax shelter for Filmways after losses of $300,000 werereported. Hugh Harn of Belvedere and Parker Archer of Napa arranged to leasethe track from Filmways in 1973. Bob Bondurant, owner and operator ofthe Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving, and partner BillBenck took over management and control of the leased raceway from Parker Archerand Hugh Harn in 1974. A few years later a group calling itself Black Mountain Inc.,which included Bondurant, William J. Kolb of Del Mar and Howard Meister ofNewport Beach, purchased the track from Filmways for a reported $1.5 million.

American Motorcycle Association national motocross races inthe hills north of Turn 7 became popular with Bay Area fans, but were phased outby the end of the decade because of rising insurance costs.

1980–2000[edit]

In 1981 Filmways regained ownership of the track after afinancial dispute with Black Mountain group. Jack Williams, the 1964 NHRAtop-fuel drag racing champion, Rick Betts and John Andersen purchased the trackfrom Filmways at an auction for $800,000. The track was renamed Sears PointInternational Raceway. In 1985 the track was completely repaved, in part withfunds donated from the "Pave the Point" fund raising campaign. Thefirst shop spaces (buildings A, B, C, and D in the main paddock area) werebuilt.

Tony Stewart atInfineon in 2005

In 1986 Harvey "Skip" Berg of Tiburon, CA took controlof the track and became a major stockholder in Brenda Raceway Corp., whichcontrolled the track until 1996. Additional buildings constructed on theproperty brought shop space to more than 700,000 square feet (65,000 m²) during1987. In addition, a five-year contract was signed with the National Hot RodAssociation for the California Nationals. The NASCAR Winston Cup Series debutedat the raceway in 1989.

In 1994 more than $1 million was spent on a beautificationproject and construction of a 62-foot (19 m)-high, four-sided electroniclap leader board in the center of the road course. In the following years amajor $3 million renovation plan included VIP suites and a two-story driver'slounge/emergency medical facility. In 1995 Trans-Am and SportsCar racesreturned to Sears Point and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series was added to themajor-events schedule. Owner "Skip" Berg sold the track to O. BrutonSmith, chairman of Speedway Motorsports, Inc. in November 1996.

Sonoma RacewayBack Side of NASCAR track, 2005

Major renovations began at Sears Point Raceway in 1998 with thecreation of "the Chute", an 890-foot (270 m) high-speed stretch.The first-ever running of the American Le Mans Series took place at Sears Pointin July 1999. In 2000 Sears Point Raceway gained unanimous approval from theSonoma County Board of Supervisors by a 5–0 vote to begin work on a $35 millionModernization Plan that included 64,000 Hillside Terrace seats, repaving ofboth the road course and drag strip and increased run-off around the entiretrack.

2000–present[edit]

After the turn of the millennium, Infineon Technologies boughtthe naming rights, and on June 22, 2002, the course was renamed InfineonRaceway. In 2006, the Grand Prix of Sonoma was transferred to the Rolex SportsCar Series, who would limit it to Daytona Prototypes only for 2007–2008 beforethe event was discontinued altogether. Since 2010, however, the course has seena mild resurgence, with the circuit becoming a sponsor for various events aswell as hosting an increasing amount of lesser series, including the WTCC andthe return of the SCCA World Challenge. The year 2012 saw the end of Infineon asthe corporate sponsor, with the track renaming itself Sonoma Raceway.

NOTE: NASCAR records based on full course.

NASCAR Cup Series records[edit]

Jeff Gordon atthe 2005 race

(As of May 8, 2017)

The view fromthe upper main grandstand at the finish line at Sonoma Raceway

Sonoma Raceway has a permanent seating capacity of47,000.^[14] Thisincludes the grandstands and terraces around the track. During major races,hospitality tents and other stages are erected around the track, which bringsthe total capacity up to 102,000 seats. The facility underwent a majorexpansion in 2004 which resulted in 64,000 hillside seats, 10,000 permanentgrandstand seats, a wastewater treatment facility, 100 acres (40 ha) ofrestored wetlands, permanent garages, new retail space, a go-kart track and anew drag strip.

·        Sonoma Drift Series

·        NASCAR Cup Series

·        NHRA

·        MotoAmerica

·        Formula Car Challenge

·        TTXGP race

·        American Federation of Motorcyclists (AFM) Racing

·        GT World Challenge America

·        ARCA Menards Series West

·        Ferrari Challenge

·        24 Hours of LeMons

·        San Francisco Region SCCA

·        National Auto Sport Association

·        ChampCar Endurance Series

·        Grand Am 2006–2008

·        IndyCar Series 1970, 2005–2018

·        American Le Mans Series 1999–2005

·        Trans Am Series 1969, 1978, 1981–1993, 1995, 2001

·        IMSA GT Series 1976–97

·        Can Am Series 1977, 1980, 1984

·        Camping World Truck Series 1995–1998

·        Formula 5000 1969–1970

·        World Touring Car Championship 2012–2013

·        GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma

·        Toyota/Save Mart 350

NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series[edit]

Trans-Am Series[edit]

In the 1970 motorcycle road racing film Little Fauss andBig Halsy, starring Michael J. Pollard and Robert Redford, Redford'scharacter, Halsy, saw Sears Point as the brass ring in the world of racing, andthe film was loosely based around that idea.^{[citation needed]}

Sonoma has been featured in many racing video games, beginningwith Papyrus's NASCAR Racing for the PC, released in 1994and has been a frequent addition to NASCAR based games and more recently roadcourse variations have appeared. Bill Elliot's NASCAR Challenge included thecourse released in 1991.

Scenes From a Toyota/Save Mart 350 NASCAR race were used in thesoftcore porn series Hotel Erotica in Season 1 Episode 3 TheFast and the Curious ^[15]