You, the Internet, have until Thursday night to vote in the polls on which drivers should start for the People's Pitstop in Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup race. To help you make your decision (and here's a hint -- Casey Mears would not be a strong candidate), we have some information about this season's first road trip, so to speak.
Track basics: Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California, is the first of two road courses on the Sprint Cup schedule. This course is nearly 2 miles long and contains 10 turns, many of which violate the NASCAR cliche of "drive fast and turn left."
By the way, the "350" in this race's name refers to kilometers, not miles. For those of you who don't feel like converting, this race is 217 miles, or 113 laps.
Recent winners: Kasey Kahne (2009), Kyle Busch (2008), Juan Pablo Montoya (2007).
Who wins here a lot? It probably won't surprise longtime NASCAR fans that Jeff Gordon leads active Sprint Cup drivers with five victories in California's wine country. (Yes, that's "wine," not "whine.") What might surprise you is that second place belongs to Tony Stewart, with two. No other active driver has more than one win here.
What's with the new faces? Every year, NASCAR teams get nervous that their drivers may not have what it takes to qualify on a course where they have to turn left and right. That's why, in addition to the "road course specialists" trying to make the field of their own accord, you'll see several hired guns getting into the cars of some established NASCAR teams. The goal: Keep the oval driver in the top 35 (with the guaranteed race spot it ensures). Yes, this means you'll see and hear a lot about Boris Said over the next few days. No, that doesn't mean he's any closer to getting a full-time NASCAR ride. Sorry, Said-heads.
If you're eager to learn more about the fantasy aspects of this track, you can click here to download Yahoo Sports' excellent preview. And don't forget to vote.
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