NASCAR rail: Toyota/Save Mart 350 at a glance

Toyota/Save Mart 350 at a glance

WHERE: Infineon Raceway, Sonoma, California

WHEN: TV Start 3:30 p.m. ET

BROADCAST: TNT, live on Sirius satellite radio, channel 128

THE LOWDOWN: Some drivers approach a road course as a necessary evil-an obstacle to overcome-but a race at Infineon or Watkins Glen pays just as many points as one at Daytona. Many NASCAR purists don't like road racing, but 43 3,500-pound cars wielded by drivers with widely varying levels of talent can produce one of the most entertaining races of the season. There is nearly always a fresh face lurking in the top 10 by the day's end.

Last 5 WINNERS:

2007: Juan Pablo Montoya

2006: Jeff Gordon

2005: Tony Stewart

2004: Jeff Gordon

2003: Robby Gordon

LAST WEEK'S WINNER: DALE EARNHARDT JR.

After coming tantalizingly close on a number of occasions and winning two non-points paying races at Daytona during Speedweeks, Earnhardt finally answered the question of when he would get his first victory for Hendrick Motorsports. In the end it took good fuel mileage and raw power to hold off Kasey Kahne, but Junior kept himself in contention all afternoon, spending 195 of 203 laps inside the top 10 at Michigan.

1. Kyle Busch

Career average finish at Infineon: 19.7 in three starts

Normally Busch would not be considered a threat to win on the road courses, but after claiming the top prize in Mexico City this spring, he can't be forgotten on this West Coast road course.

2. Jeff Burton

Career average finish at Infineon: 13.3 in three starts

Most drivers can't tell the difference between NASCAR's two road tracks, but Burton is better at Infineon than the Glen. Two of his last three Calif. starts were top-10s, while two in N.Y. were in the 40s.

3. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Career average finish at Infineon: 27.0 in three starts

Earnhardt has a handful of road course top-10s, but they have all come at Watkins Glen. At Infineon, he's only come close twice with 11th-place finishes in 2003 and 2004. Last year, he finished 13th.

4. Carl Edwards

Career average finish at Infineon: 20.7 in three starts

Last year, Edwards ran strong at Infineon until he had to pit his fuel-starved Ford three laps from the end. Otherwise, he's swept the top 10 on road courses in the last two years.

5. Jimmie Johnson

Career average finish at Infineon: 21.0 in three starts

Johnson is another driver one doesn't automatically consider on the road courses, but he has an average finish of 10.4 on these tracks in his last five attempts-topped by a third last year at the Glen.

6. Denny Hamlin

Career average finish at Infineon: 11.0 in two starts

Hamlin is progressing on the road courses. He finished 12th at Infineon as a rookie and improved to 10th in his next two outings. Last summer, he came home second at the Glen to teammate Tony Stewart.

7. Kasey Kahne

Career average finish at Infineon: 11.0 in two starts

After winning two of the last four races and finishing second at Michigan, Kahne's momentum is about to stall. His career average finish on NASCAR's road courses is a measly 25.6.

8. Greg Biffle

Career average finish at Infineon: 7.7 in three starts

Biffle actually has the best three-year average finish at Infineon among the point leaders and last year he swept the top 10 on both road courses combined.

9. Jeff Gordon

Career average finish at Infineon: 13.7 in three starts

Gordon is going to be happy to get away from the unrestricted, intermediate speedways for a week. He is the all-time leading winner on road courses, with nine victories to his credit.

10. Kevin Harvick

Career average finish at Infineon: 21.0 in three starts

Harvick has two Infineon victories in the books: He won a GN West race there in 1998 and a Southwest tour race in 2003. Tack on a Cup win at the Glen in 2007, and you have a heck of a road racer.

11. Tony Stewart

Career average finish at Infineon: 11.7 in three starts

Gordon may have more career victories, but Stewart has been much more successful in recent years. His last seven road races netted four victories, a second and a sixth.

12. Clint Bowyer

Career average finish at Infineon: 10.0 in two starts

Bowyer struggled at Michigan and clings to a 12-point advantage over the 13th-place driver. He's not great on the road courses, but with a worst of only 16th in four starts, he's not that bad either.

Road course victories

(active drivers are shaded in green)

Driver Road Course Wins

Jeff Gordon 9

Bobby Allison 6

Richard Petty 6

Ricky Rudd 6

Tony Stewart 6

Rusty Wallace 6

Dan Gurney 5

Tim Richmond 5

Darrell Waltrip 5

Mark Martin 4

David Pearson 4

Geoff Bodine 3

Tim Flock 3

Ernie Irvan 3

Cale Yarborough 3

Ray Elder 2

Robby Gordon 2

Parnelli Jones 2

Terry Labonte 2

Marvin Panch 2

Fireball Roberts 2

Marshall Teague 2

Billy Wade 2

Davey Allison 1

Buck Baker 1

Bill Blair 1

Red Byron 1

Lloyd Dane 1

Darel Dieringer 1

Mark Donohue 1

Dale Earnhardt 1

Bill Elliott 1

A.J. Foyt 1

Paul Goldsmith 1

Eddie Gray 1

Kevin Harvick 1

Al Keller 1

Harold Kite 1

Juan Pablo Montoya 1

Cotton Owens 1

Steve Park 1

Benny Parsons 1

Kyle Petty 1

Lee Petty 1

Jack Smith 1

Chuck Stevenson 1

Rex White 1

Laps in the top-10

Infineon and Watkins Glen, last three years

Driver Top-10 laps Possible Laps

Tony Stewart 472 602

Kurt Busch 381 602

Jeff Gordon 341 602

Ryan Newman 326 602

Jimmie Johnson 311 602

Robby Gordon 297 602

Kevin Harvick 268 602

Jeff Burton 221 602

Jamie McMurray 215 602

Carl Edwards 184 602

Mark Martin 179 402

Greg Biffle 167 602

Kyle Busch 155 602

Elliott Sadler 144 602

Dale Earnhardt Jr. 134 602

Denny Hamlin 134 400

Juan Pablo Montoya 112 200

Kasey Kahne 86 602

Terry Labonte 84 602

Matt Kenseth 65 602

Joe Nemechek 65 512

Bobby Labonte 63 602

Martin Truex Jr. 63 400

Reed Sorenson 58 400

Casey Mears 54 602

Driver Rating

Infineon, last three years

Rank Driver Average Driver Rating

1. Juan Pablo Montoya 115.3

2. Tony Stewart 113.9

3. Kurt Busch 109.3

4. Ryan Newman 104.3

5. Boris Said 103.9

6. Jeff Gordon 102.1

7. Jeff Burton 100.6

8. Greg Biffle 93.6

9. Robby Gordon 91.9

10. Kyle Busch 90.6

11. Mark Martin 90.2

12. Jamie McMurray 87.9

13. Elliott Sadler 83.9

14. Kevin Harvick 80.0

15. Carl Edwards 79.8

16. Denny Hamlin 79.3

17. Clint Bowyer 75.3

18. Matt Kenseth 74.5

19. Terry Labonte 74.1

20. Jeremy Mayfield 70.5

21. Jimmie Johnson 68.4

22. Bill Elliott 66.6

22. Martin Truex Jr. 66.6

24. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 66.1

25. Kasey Kahne 61.0