Toyota / Save Mart 350

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Toyota / Save Mart 350
Toyota / Save Mart 350
Venue: Sonoma Raceway
Main sponsor: Toyota and Save Mart
First race: 1989
Distance: 219 miles (352.2 km)
Number of laps: 110
Former names: Banquet Frozen Foods 300 ( 1989 - 1991 )

Save Mart 300K ( 1992 )

Save Mart Supermarkets 300K ( 1993 )

Save Mart Supermarkets 300 ( 1994 - 1997 )

Save Mart / collar 350 ( 1998 - 2000 )

Dodge / Save Mart 350 ( 2001 - 2006 )

The Toyota / Save Mart 350 is a race in the NASCAR Sprint Cup and will be held at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma , California . It is one of only two races per season that is not held on an oval course , but on a road course with twelve corners and a length of 1.99  miles (3.22 km). Because of this situation, so-called road course wrestlers are often used in the race , replacing the regular drivers in poorly placed teams.

The first race took place in 1991 and immediately caused a controversial finish. Ricky Rudd , who crossed the finish line first, was punished with a five-second time penalty for ramming Davey Allison, who had been leading until then, out of the way from behind with one lap to go. Due to this penalty, Rudd dropped to second place and Allison was declared the winner.

For the 1998 season, the route for the NASCAR race was changed. Instead of the entire length of 2.52 miles, a shortened connection with a length of 1.99 miles was driven, which omits turns five and six. This shortened connection was modified again in 2001 and has been 2.0 miles long since then.

From 1989 to 2001 the pit lane was so short that it only consisted of 34 boxes. During these years, some teams were therefore forced to share a box. Only after the cars were eliminated from the race, the boxes that had become free were assigned to the teams that had to share boxes. After a few years, a makeshift pit lane was set up inside the hairpin curve in front of the start and finish, in which the cars in starting positions 36 to 43 had their pits. Since this pit lane was much shorter than the regular pit lane, the cars that drove through it were stopped for 15 to 20 seconds so that they took as long as the cars in the regular pit lane. The pit lane inside the hairpin bend also meant further discomfort: During the race, the team members were trapped in the bend. All repairs had to be done here as there was no way to get to the garages. So no spare parts could be obtained from there. For the 2002 season, the regular pit lane was converted to accommodate all 43 cars. The command pit lane was then given up. At the same time as this modification, the home straight was also separated from the dragster acceleration track, which reduced the lap length to 1.99 miles.

winner

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jayski's Sears Point / Sonoma Raceway Past News