There is plenty of excitement on NASCAR road courses; you just have to know where to look.
Infineon Raceway is listed as an 11-turn course, but that is a little misleading. The modern NASCAR circuit skips turns five and six, which comprise an inner loop. This part of the track was used when the series first started visiting Sonoma, but designers decided that the stock cars would perform better if a chute was added to connect turns four and seven.
They were right. The twisty segment that is currently avoided acted a lot like the current esses, only with drivers reaching much faster speeds. Not a lot of passing went on in this segment, but during the last five years, 11 percent of the total passes for position have come in turn seven. Another 10 percent come in the segment of turns two, three and four, which is an uphill climb following the start/finish line, but most of these passes are actually made in the final corner numbered "four A."
The grandstands at Infineon are located between turns 11 and one, which also provides a great view of turn 10, and there is a good reason for that. Thirty-two percent of the total passes for position come in the turn 11-12 complex—otherwise known as the hairpin and kink onto the front stretch. Another 27 percent of the passing occurs in turn 10, which comes at the end of a long sweeping left hand corner that is the culmination of the backstretch esses. That will continue to be the action spots on Sunday.
Some road racing specialists, however, have shown they can pass anywhere. Only two percent of the total passes have been made in the backstretch esses. Tony Stewart has been the king of turns eight and nine. Of the total 158 passes that have been made in that section during the last four years, Stewart has completed seven percent of them. The next most productive driver in this segment might surprise fantasy owners, however. Casey Mears has six percent of those passes to his credit and no one else has more than four.
Of course, Mears has had more opportunities to pass overall than most of the leaders. Drivers like Stewart, Jeff Gordon and Juan Montoya spend most of their time in the front of the pack and therefore don't have to overtake as many cars. With an average of 49.3 passes per race during the last four events (which is when NASCAR Statistical Services started tracking this stat), he has made the 10th most passes per race.
So who has had to pass the most cars? Among drivers with more than one start, Denny Hamlin leads the league. He's completed 64.7 passes per race in the three events he's run at Infineon. He's passed a lot of cars and that will get his fans up on their feet, but it hasn't always landed him at the very front of the pack. Hamlin finished 12th in 2006, was 10th in 2007, but only 27th last year.
Total Passes at Infineon
| Driver | Races | Total | Avg. per race | Avg. Fin | Turn 1 | Turn 2-4 |
| Regan Smith | 1 | 73 | 73.0 | 30.0 | 7 | 6 |
| David Stremme | 1 | 67 | 67.0 | 32.0 | 6 | 2 |
| Denny Hamlin | 3 | 194 | 64.7 | 16.3 | 20 | 12 |
| Michael Waltrip | 3 | 184 | 61.3 | 23.3 | 28 | 22 |
| Brian Vickers | 3 | 174 | 58.0 | 20.7 | 12 | 14 |
| David Ragan | 2 | 115 | 57.5 | 26.5 | 10 | 7 |
| Bobby Labonte | 4 | 229 | 57.3 | 31.3 | 36 | 22 |
| J.J. Yeley | 2 | 114 | 57.0 | 27.0 | 16 | 8 |
| Clint Bowyer | 3 | 165 | 55.0 | 8.0 | 26 | 9 |
| Jeremy Mayfield | 2 | 107 | 53.5 | 14.5 | 20 | 10 |
| Travis Kvapil | 2 | 103 | 51.5 | 21.5 | 23 | 7 |
| Casey Mears | 4 | 197 | 49.3 | 18.0 | 38 | 15 |
| Tony Stewart | 4 | 189 | 47.3 | 11.3 | 30 | 41 |
| Kevin Harvick | 4 | 187 | 46.8 | 23.3 | 54 | 17 |
| Matt Kenseth | 4 | 187 | 46.8 | 17.5 | 27 | 21 |
| Ron Fellows | 4 | 185 | 46.3 | 22.3 | 22 | 16 |
| Joe Nemechek | 4 | 184 | 46.0 | 28.0 | 35 | 17 |
| Terry Labonte | 4 | 183 | 45.8 | 16.8 | 28 | 11 |
| Reed Sorenson | 2 | 91 | 45.5 | 34.5 | 11 | 7 |
| Martin Truex Jr. | 3 | 133 | 44.3 | 18.3 | 27 | 23 |
| Carl Edwards | 4 | 176 | 44.0 | 17.8 | 27 | 20 |
| Chris Cook | 1 | 44 | 44.0 | 28.0 | 10 | 4 |
| Jeff Gordon | 4 | 172 | 43.0 | 11.0 | 21 | 14 |
| Dave Blaney | 4 | 171 | 42.8 | 29.8 | 29 | 26 |
| Greg Biffle | 4 | 170 | 42.5 | 8.5 | 34 | 21 |
| David Gilliland | 3 | 127 | 42.3 | 19.7 | 19 | 8 |
| Elliott Sadler | 4 | 169 | 42.3 | 11.8 | 33 | 16 |
| Robby Gordon | 4 | 169 | 42.3 | 27.0 | 42 | 26 |
| Bill Elliott | 1 | 42 | 42.0 | 19.0 | 5 | 0 |
| Juan Montoya | 2 | 84 | 42.0 | 3.5 | 18 | 13 |
| Michael McDowell | 1 | 40 | 40.0 | 21.0 | 6 | 4 |
| Jeff Burton | 4 | 159 | 39.8 | 13.3 | 34 | 13 |
| Kasey Kahne | 4 | 158 | 39.5 | 32.0 | 29 | 8 |
| Kyle Busch | 4 | 157 | 39.3 | 15.0 | 37 | 18 |
| Patrick Carpentier | 1 | 39 | 39.0 | 23.0 | 7 | 2 |
| Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 4 | 152 | 38.0 | 23.3 | 39 | 12 |
| Jimmie Johnson | 4 | 151 | 37.8 | 19.5 | 25 | 21 |
| Boris Said | 4 | 145 | 36.3 | 19.0 | 14 | 14 |
| Jamie McMurray | 4 | 140 | 35.0 | 21.5 | 29 | 21 |
| Ryan Newman | 4 | 138 | 34.5 | 9.5 | 23 | 10 |
| Paul Menard | 1 | 33 | 33.0 | 34.0 | 3 | 5 |
| Scott Riggs | 2 | 65 | 32.5 | 25.5 | 18 | 10 |
| Mark Martin | 2 | 64 | 32.0 | 14.0 | 8 | 11 |
| Sam Hornish Jr. | 1 | 30 | 30.0 | 31.0 | 5 | 0 |
| Kurt Busch | 4 | 114 | 28.5 | 15.5 | 22 | 6 |
| Aric Almirola | 1 | 27 | 27.0 | 28.0 | 8 | 0 |
| Brian Simo | 2 | 54 | 27.0 | 26.5 | 8 | 2 |
| Marcos Ambrose | 1 | 25 | 25.0 | 42.0 | 2 | 3 |
| AJ Allmendinger | 1 | 24 | 24.0 | 37.0 | 2 | 2 |
| Sterling Marlin | 3 | 59 | 19.7 | 37.0 | 12 | 8 |
| David Reutimann | 1 | 19 | 19.0 | 40.0 | 5 | 1 |
| Max Papis | 1 | 19 | 19.0 | 35.0 | 3 | 1 |
| Tom Hubert | 2 | 34 | 17.0 | 43.0 | 9 | 6 |
| Mike Bliss | 1 | 12 | 12.0 | 39.0 | 4 | 1 |
| Brandon Ash | 1 | 6 | 6.0 | 38.0 | 1 | 3 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Total |
| 6,249 |
|
| 1,067 | 617 |
Percentage
|
|
|
|
| 17% | 10% |
| Driver |
| Turn 7 | Turn 8 | Turn 9 | Turn 10 | Turn 11-12 |
| Regan Smith |
| 6 | 1 | 0 | 22 | 31 |
| David Stremme |
| 2 | 3 | 0 | 25 | 29 |
| Denny Hamlin |
| 27 | 3 | 2 | 70 | 60 |
| Michael Waltrip |
| 23 | 1 | 6 | 38 | 66 |
| Brian Vickers |
| 28 | 2 | 1 | 37 | 80 |
| David Ragan |
| 7 | 4 | 2 | 36 | 49 |
| Bobby Labonte |
| 31 | 2 | 2 | 61 | 75 |
| J.J. Yeley |
| 15 | 1 | 4 | 32 | 38 |
| Clint Bowyer |
| 30 | 1 | 2 | 47 | 50 |
| Jeremy Mayfield |
| 7 | 2 | 1 | 27 | 40 |
| Travis Kvapil |
| 5 | 0 | 1 | 37 | 30 |
| Casey Mears |
| 15 | 6 | 3 | 51 | 69 |
| Tony Stewart |
| 23 | 5 | 6 | 43 | 41 |
| Kevin Harvick |
| 25 | 1 | 0 | 29 | 61 |
| Matt Kenseth |
| 26 | 4 | 2 | 53 | 54 |
| Ron Fellows |
| 18 | 5 | 0 | 73 | 51 |
| Joe Nemechek |
| 14 | 2 | 2 | 50 | 64 |
| Terry Labonte |
| 14 | 1 | 3 | 54 | 72 |
| Reed Sorenson |
| 3 | 2 | 1 | 32 | 35 |
| Martin Truex Jr. |
| 9 | 0 | 3 | 31 | 40 |
| Carl Edwards |
| 20 | 2 | 3 | 59 | 45 |
| Chris Cook |
| 3 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 15 |
| Jeff Gordon |
| 31 | 0 | 3 | 49 | 54 |
| Dave Blaney |
| 20 | 0 | 1 | 40 | 55 |
| Greg Biffle |
| 14 | 0 | 3 | 48 | 50 |
| David Gilliland |
| 11 | 2 | 1 | 47 | 39 |
| Elliott Sadler |
| 18 | 3 | 0 | 45 | 54 |
| Robby Gordon |
| 18 | 2 | 2 | 31 | 48 |
| Bill Elliott |
| 6 | 1 | 1 | 20 | 9 |
| Juan Montoya |
| 12 | 5 | 0 | 15 | 21 |
| Michael McDowell |
| 4 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 18 |
| Jeff Burton |
| 15 | 2 | 1 | 42 | 52 |
| Kasey Kahne |
| 8 | 0 | 1 | 58 | 54 |
| Kyle Busch |
| 18 | 3 | 2 | 47 | 32 |
| Patrick Carpentier |
| 2 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 19 |
| Dale Earnhardt Jr. |
| 24 | 2 | 2 | 22 | 51 |
| Jimmie Johnson |
| 17 | 2 | 3 | 38 | 45 |
| Boris Said |
| 24 | 0 | 1 | 44 | 48 |
| Jamie McMurray |
| 20 | 1 | 1 | 27 | 41 |
| Ryan Newman |
| 16 | 0 | 1 | 43 | 45 |
| Paul Menard |
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 13 |
| Scott Riggs |
| 2 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 24 |
| Mark Martin |
| 12 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 16 |
| Sam Hornish Jr. |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 16 |
| Kurt Busch |
| 23 | 1 | 2 | 25 | 35 |
| Aric Almirola |
| 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 11 |
| Brian Simo |
| 9 | 2 | 1 | 16 | 16 |
| Marcos Ambrose |
| 6 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 10 |
| AJ Allmendinger |
| 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 12 |
| Sterling Marlin |
| 13 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 11 |
| David Reutimann |
| 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 7 |
| Max Papis |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 9 |
| Tom Hubert |
| 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 9 |
| Mike Bliss |
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Brandon Ash |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Total |
| 705 | 80 | 78 | 1,678 | 2,024 |
Percentage
|
| 11% | 1% | 1% | 27% | 32% |
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