Joe Soriano
O.J. LewisNASCAR Toyota/SaveMart 350 at Infineon Raceway - Sonoma, California Starting Grid and Preview
June 22nd 2008 06:03
Boris Said and his hair should finish well at Infineon on Sunday.
Roll Out the Ringers
This week the NASCAR spring Cup Series makes a stop in Sonoma, California for the first road course race of the season at Infineon Raceway. This brings all of the “Road Ringers” out of the woodwork as it always do. As is usually the case Boris Said leads the pack of ringers again this time. Said qualified 14th for Sunday’s race which will take place in the near 100 degree temps in Sonoma. The other ringers qualified as follows (or Fellows, whichever the case might be); Ron Fellows will roll off from the 22nd spot driving the DEI car usually driven by Regan Smith; Scott Pruett will be behind the wheel of he #41 car of Reed Sorenson, and will start 27th.
Now, how did the regulars do on the first track of the season where they have to make both left and right hand turns? Well Kasey Kahne went out third to qualify, and took the pole. He managed to stay there too. Kahne has been on fire in recent weeks. Since being voted into the All-Star race and winning it he has won two points races (at Lowe’s, and Pocono), as well as finishing second last week in Michigan.
“On fire” is a term a lot of NASCAR regulars have been using to explain just how hot it is in the cockpits of their cars. Enough complained about the heat that NASCAR has announced they will be randomly testing drivers after each race for carbon monoxide poisoning, as well as working on other things to cool the drivers down. As I said earlier, the temps in Sonoma should be somewhere in the 90s on Sunday, and that is the air temperature. The temps on the track, and in the car will be much higher.
Jimmie Johnson will start second, with Kurt Busch in the third spot on the starting grid. Yes, that is right, I said Kurt and not Kyle. Kyle Busch had trouble in his first attempt at qualifying and had to give it a second shot, he will start from the 30th spot. The top five was rounded out by Bobby Labonte, and five-time Sonoma winner Jeff Gordon. Last year’s winner Juan Pablo Montoya will start 21st. One other note, one of the race favorites whenever they come to Infineon, Tony Stewart, will start in 39th. That is the worst starting spot he has had all season.
Drivers that failed to qualify: Brian Simo, J.J. Yeley, Scott Riggs, Dario Franchitti, and Brandon Ash
My predictions:
Robby Gordon who starts eighth will cause trouble. Probably early and often. In the end, he normally would be crashed out, but for some reason on the road courses he manages to be running at the end and just crashing many other cars out of the race. He will probably end up with a top six or seven finish.
Boris Said will remain as the best chance a ringer has of winning, as he winds up in the top three.
Two of the following three drivers should be battling for the lead late in the race (along with Said); Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, and Kasey Kahne.
My pick for winner: Tony Stewart, it is going to be close though.
| Pos | Driver | Car # | Make | Qual. Speed |
| 1 | Kasey Kahne | 9 | Dodge | 92.15 |
| 2 | Jimmie Johnson | 48 | Chevrolet | 92.04 |
| 3 | Kurt Busch | 2 | Dodge | 92.01 |
| 4 | Bobby Labonte | 43 | Dodge | 91.94 |
| 5 | Jeff Gordon | 24 | Chevrolet | 91.92 |
| 6 | Elliott Sadler | 19 | Dodge | 91.84 |
| 7 | Marcos Ambrose | 21 | Ford | 91.82 |
| 8 | Robby Gordon | 7 | Dodge | 91.73 |
| 9 | Ryan Newman | 12 | Dodge | 91.52 |
| 10 | Greg Biffle | 16 | Ford | 91.45 |
| 11 | Terry Labonte | 45 | Dodge | 91.45 |
| 12 | Carl Edwards | 99 | Ford | 91.28 |
| 13 | Denny Hamlin | 11 | Toyota | 91.21 |
| 14 | Boris Said | 160 | Ford | 91.18 |
| 15 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 88 | Chevrolet | 91.16 |
| 16 | Dave Blaney | 22 | Toyota | 91.16 |
| 17 | Sam Hornish Jr. | 77 | Dodge | 91.15 |
| 18 | Jamie McMurray | 26 | Ford | 91.14 |
| 19 | Clint Bowyer | 7 | Chevrolet | 91.14 |
| 20 | Jeff Burton | 31 | Chevrolet | 91.06 |
| 21 | Juan Pablo Montoy | 42 | Dodge | 91.03 |
| 22 | Ron Fellows | 1 | Chevrolet | 91.01 |
| 23 | Casey Mears | 5 | Chevrolet | 90.98 |
| 24 | Joe Nemechek | 78 | Chevrolet | 90.96 |
| 25 | Martin Truex Jr. | 1 | Chevrolet | 90.95 |
| 26 | Brian Vickers | 83 | Toyota | 90.93 |
| 27 | Scott Pruett | 41 | Dodge | 90.9 |
| 28 | Max Papis | 66 | Chevrolet | 90.87 |
| 29 | Paul Menard | 15 | Chevrolet | 90.8 |
| 30 | Kyle Busch | 18 | Toyota | 90.79 |
| 31 | David Gilliland | 38 | Ford | 90.79 |
| 32 | Kevin Harvick | 29 | Chevrolet | 90.77 |
| 33 | Matt Kenseth | 17 | Ford | 90.76 |
| 34 | Michael McDowell | 0 | Toyota | 90.69 |
| 35 | Michael Waltrip | 55 | Toyota | 90.65 |
| 36 | AJ Allmendinger | 84 | Toyota | 90.51 |
| 37 | Patrick Carpentier | 10 | Dodge | 90.38 |
| 38 | David Ragan | 6 | Ford | 90.36 |
| 39 | Tony Stewart | 20 | Toyota | 90.3 |
| 40 | Aric Almirola | 8 | Chevrolet | 90.23 |
| 41 | Travis Kvapil | 28 | Ford | 89.9 |
| 42 | David Reutimann | 44 | Toyota | 88.82 |
| 43 | Brian Simo | 34 | Chevrolet | DNQ |
| 44 | J.J. Yeley | 96 | Toyota | DNQ |
| 45 | Scott Riggs | 70 | Chevrolet | DNQ |
| 46 | Dario Franchitti | 40 | Dodge | DNQ |
| 47 | Brandon Ash | 102 | Dodge | DNQ |
| 107 |
| Vote |
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