Before you jump all over me, the reason I'm not a fan of the road courses is because of the ringers. If it were a true test of the drivers in the series and not an attempt to gain points by the owners, I might enjoy it more. As it is, with Ron Fellows, Boris Said and other "road course ringers" in the race, we don't see a true representation of how the race might be run.
That being said, it's a fun track to race around.
Infineon Raceway, formerly known as Sears Point has been revamped several times, starting out at 2.52 miles. The course is different for the different series that run there. The most recent restructuring in 1998 added seats, water runoffs, grandstands, pit areas and a "chute" on the track resulting in its current layout which measures not quite 2 miles. Ricky Rudd won the inaugural race at the track in 1989 and Jeff Gordon holds the race record on the track, set in 2005. He also holds the record for the most wins by an active driver, at five. Fans can view the race from all areas of the track, as additional temporary seating is added for the NASCAR race. Last year, Kyle Busch won the race, his first road course win in the Cup series.
The race isn't necessarily a fuel race, rather, but it could be. It often ends up being about the last ten or so laps. Often, those last ten laps create the kind of confrontations that create rivalries that never seem to end. Although Ricky Rudd won the inaugural race, he also lost the 1991 race because of a penalty. NASCAR ruled that he deliberately ran into the back of Davey Allison, spinning him, and penalized him. He was black flagged and penalized 1 full second, effectively handing the win to Davey Allison.
So who to pick this weekend for your fantasy leagues? Well, Tony Stewart is a past winner, as are Mark Martin and Juan Pablo Montoya. Of course, the afforementioned Jeff Gordon is always a factor at Infineon, although as has been mentioned with monotonous regularity lately, his back problems could end up being more than just problems with this back. A win at Infineon would silence the nay-sayers. My pick, however, will be Tony Stewart. He's hotter than hades right now, and with his open wheel history he will definitely be a factor. Mark Martin is also pretty consistent now and could be a major factor even though he hasn't been on the track since 2006. One thing I don't look for is the Road Course Ringers to win. Yes, they will be up front, but I don't believe any of them will actually win the race.
The Nationwide cars and the Trucks are in Milwaukee this weekend, with the trucks racing this evening and the N'wide cars tomorrow. This will mean lots of travelling for the drivers running full schedules in both the Cup and the Nationwide series, and a break for the Truck teams as they won't have to deal with Kyle Busch.
TNT has the Cup race, while ESPN2 has the Nationwide race and SPEED is carrying the Truck race.
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