Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Sonoma:

Sonoma:
History
·         The track opened as a 2.52-mile road course and drag strip in 1968.
·         The first NASCAR Sprint Cup race was held in 1989.
·         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 23 NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Sonoma since the first race there in 1989.
·         Rusty Wallace won the first NASCAR Sprint Cup pole.
·         Ricky Rudd won the first NASCAR Sprint Cup race.
·         14 different drivers have won poles; only four have won more than one.
·         Jeff Gordon (five) leads all pole winners. Ricky Rudd has four, including three consecutive (1990-92), Rusty Wallace and Kasey Kahne each have two.
·         There have been consecutive pole winners three times: Ricky Rudd (1990-92) and Jeff Gordon (1998-99 and 2004-05).
·         15 different drivers have won races; five have multiple victories there – led by Jeff Gordon with five. Ernie Irvan, Ricky Rudd, Tony Stewart and Rusty Wallace (all with two) are the other multiple-race winners.
·         Jeff Gordon is also the only driver with consecutive wins, winning in 1998, 1999 and 2000.
·         Five of 23 races have been won by the pole winner, including three times by Jeff Gordon. His victory from the pole in 2004 is the most recent.
·         The lowest starting position by a race winner was 32nd, by Juan Pablo Montoya; it also was his first career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win.
·         Boris Said posted his first career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series pole.
·         Jeff Gordon is the all-time leader in road-course victories, with nine. Tony Stewart is second, with seven.
·         Youngest NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sonoma winner: Kyle Busch (06/26/2008 – 21 years, 1 month, 2 days).·         Oldest NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sonoma winner: Ricky Rudd (06/23/2002 – 45 years, 9 months, 11 days).

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