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Sonoma Raceway (originally known as Sears Point Raceway, Golden State International Raceway and Infineon Raceway) is a road course and dragstrip located at Sears Point in the southern Sonoma Mountains of Sonoma County, California. The road course features 12 turns on a hilly course with of total elevation change. It is host to one of the few NASCAR Cup Series races each year that are run on road courses. It has also played host to the IndyCar Series, the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series, and several other auto races and motorcycle races such as the American Federation of Motorcyclists series. Sonoma Raceway continues to host amateur, or club racing events with some open to the public. The largest such car club is the SCCA. The track is north of San Francisco and Oakland.
With the closure of Riverside International Raceway in Moreno Valley, California to make way for the Moreno Valley Mall after the 1988 racing season, NASCAR wanted a West Coast road course event to replace it, and chose the Sears Point facility. In 2002, Sears Point Raceway was renamed after a corporate sponsor, Infineon Technologies. Infineon did not renew its contract for the track's naming rights when the deal expired in May 2012.
In 1969 the track was sold to Filmways, a Los Angeles-based entertainment company for $4.5 million. In May 1970 the track was closed and became a tax shelter for Filmways after losses of $300,000 were reported. Hugh Harn of Belvedere and Parker Archer of Napa arranged to lease the track from Filmways in 1973. Bob Bondurant, owner and operator of the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving, and partner Bill Benck took over management and control of the leased raceway from Parker Archer and Hugh Harn in 1974. A few years later a group calling itself Black Mountain Inc., which included Bondurant, William J. Kolb of Del Mar and Howard Meister of Newport Beach, purchased the track from Filmways for a reported $1.5 million.
American Motorcycle Association national motocross races in the hills north of Turn 7 became popular with Bay Area fans, but were phased out by the end of the decade because of rising insurance costs.
In 1994 more than $1 million was spent on a beautification project and construction of a -high, four-sided electronic lap leader board in the center of the road course. In the following years a major $3 million renovation plan included VIP suites and a two-story driver's lounge/emergency medical facility. In 1995 Trans-Am and SportsCar races returned to Sears Point and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series was added to the major-events schedule. Owner "Skip" Berg sold the track to O. Bruton Smith, chairman of Speedway Motorsports, Inc. in November 1996.
Major renovations began at Sears Point Raceway in 1998 with the creation of "the Chute", an high-speed stretch. The first-ever running of the American Le Mans Series took place at Sears Point in July 1999. In 2000 Sears Point Raceway gained unanimous approval from the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors by a 5–0 vote to begin work on a $35 million Modernization Plan that included 64,000 Hillside Terrace seats, repaving of both the road course and drag strip and increased run-off around the entire track.
The raceway also has a dragstrip used for NHRA drag racing events. The drag strip was originally located on part of the front straightaway of the course. Track changes completed in 2002 separated the road course from the drag strip.
The Sonoma Historic Motorsports Festival, an annual classic car racing event, uses the full circuit.
NASCAR returned to using the full circuit in 2019 as a part of the tracks 50th anniversary. The full circuit was used in 2019 & 2021 (event was cancelled in 2020 due to the pandemic), but in 2022 they will return to the modified layout instead of running the original.
The track was closed in 2020 because of government regulations as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. All national events were removed from the schedule.
The Chute was built primarily for spectator visibility, to increase speeds, and improve competition for the stock cars, which are not necessarily groomed well for road course racing. However, it has been criticized for taking away a primary passing point, and some INDYCAR drivers believe eliminating the Chute and replacing it with a new hairpin at Turn 4A, then rejoining the track at Turn 5, would create a circuit with three passing zones (Turn 4, Turn 7, and Turn 11). Furthermore, the speeds of the current layout with the Chute have been slower than if the full configuration was used.
The layout is now used as a Club circuit with options, as at the end of 2018 season, NASCAR returned to the full circuit in 2019. In 2022, NASCAR returned to the Chute layout.
Before the 1994 NASCAR race, a makeshift auxiliary pit road was constructed inside the hairpin (turn 11) nicknamed Gilligan's Island. Cars that had the nine slowest qualifying speeds were relegated to these pit stalls. Pitting in this area was considered an inconvenience and a competitive disadvantage, more so than even the disadvantages one would experience pitting on the backstretch at a short track at the time.
Since the length of the auxiliary pit road was significantly shorter than the main pit road, the cars that pitted there were held from 15 to 20 seconds to make up for the time that would have been spent if the cars had traveled the entire main pit road.
Pitting on Gilligan's Island had several other inconveniences. The location (the staging area for drag races) was landlocked by the race course, and crew members were unable to leave once the race began. Teams sent only the primary pit crew to Gilligan's Island, and once they were there, they could not access the garage area or their transporters to collect spare parts/tools. The only repairs that could be made were routine tire changes and refueling, as well as only minor repairs. Other auxiliary pit crew members, who were not part of the main crew, were staged in the garage area, and would have to service the car if it required major repairs. If a team pitting on Gilligan's Island dropped out of the race, the crew was unable to pack up their supplies and prepare to leave (a common practice at other tracks) until the race was over.
Before the 2002 NASCAR track renovations were completed which extended the main pit road, up to the start-finish straight, which removed the need for Gilligan's Island and it has not reappeared in any NASCAR race at the track since.
Another factor in removing the hairpin is the fact that the turn is only visible from the garages or the bleachers behind the esses. This is due to grandstands built along the front straight that serve also as the drag strip's grandstands.
The official FIA Grade 2 variant, the Grand Prix layout, was used by INDYCAR from 2012 to 2018 and others. This version uses the end of the dragstrip (instead of the Keyhole) to create a Magny Cours-style hairpin that joints the drag strip to Turn 7 to open an overtaking opportunity. The circuit also modified Turn 9A (the chicane similar to Spa's new Bus Stop) by widening it by to allow for more room. A new Turn 11B has been made, moving further past the drag strip tower (Motorcycle Turn 11), being lengthened by to create a passing zone (it is located just before the race logos painted in Turn 11), and is located where the drag strip staging area is located.
During the World Touring Car races, the course used most of the Grand Prix layout except for the full Turn 11 hairpin.
==Layout configurations==
| 1:21.004|4.05 km (Full) | ||||||
| 4.05 km (Full) | ||||||
| 4.05 km (Full) | ||||||
| 4.05 km (Full) | ||||||
| 4.05 km (Full) | ||||||
| 4.05 km (Full) | ||||||
| 3.838 km (Indy) | ||||||
| 3.838 km (Indy) | ||||||
| 4.032 km (WTCC) | ||||||
| 4.032 km (WTCC) | ||||||
| 3.57 km (Motorcycle) | ||||||
| km (PWC) | ||||||
| Electric Vehicle Track Record | Matt Cresci | Tesla Model 3 Performance | June 26, 2022 | 84.968 mph (136.76 km/h) | 1:46.769 | 4.05 km (Full) |
| 3.838 km |
NOTE: NASCAR records based on full course.
| Most wins | 5 | Jeff Gordon |
| Most top-5s | 14 | Jeff Gordon |
| Most top-10s | 18 | Jeff Gordon |
| Most starts | 22 | Jeff Gordon |
| Most poles | 5 | Jeff Gordon Kyle Larson |
| Most laps completed | 2,390 | Kevin Harvick |
| Most laps led | 457 | Jeff Gordon |
| start (active) | 3.7 | Kyle Larson |
| finish (active) | 12.1 | Chase Elliott |
| 2005 Grand Prix of Sonoma |
| 2003 Grand Prix of Sonoma |
| 2005 Grand Prix of Sonoma |
| 2008 Armed Forces 250 |
| 2005 Grand Prix of Sonoma |
| 2025 Sonoma Trans-Am round |
| 2025 Sonoma Trans-Am round |
| 2005 Grand Prix of Sonoma |
| 2023 Sonoma GT World Challenge America round |
| 2019 Toyota/Save Mart 350 |
| 2022 Sonoma GT4 America round |
| 2020 Sonoma TC America round |
| 2023 Sonoma Toyota GR Cup North America round |
| 2025 Sonoma Ferrari Challenge North America round |
| 2024 Sonoma GT World Challenge America round |
| 2024 Sonoma GT America round |
| 2024 Sonoma GT4 America round |
| 2023 Sonoma Porsche Sprint Challenge USA West round |
| 2024 Sonoma Toyota GR Cup North America round |
| 2012 Sonoma Auto GP round |
| 2025 Sonoma GT World Challenge America round |
| 2025 Sonoma McLaren Trophy America round |
| 2021 Sonoma Ferrari Challenge North America round |
| 2025 Sonoma GT4 America round |
| 2013 FIA WTCC Race of the United States |
| 2025 Sonoma Toyota GR Cup North America round |
| 2017 GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma |
| 2014 Grand Prix of Sonoma |
| 2014 Sonoma Pro Mazda round |
| 2014 Sonoma US F2000 round |
| 2017 Sonoma Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA round |
| 2024 Toyota/Save Mart 350 |
| 2024 Zip Buy Now, Pay Later 250 |
| 2024 General Tire 200 |
| 2022 DoorDash 250 |
| MotoAmerica |
| MotoAmerica |
| 2008 Peak Antifreeze Indy Grand Prix |
| 2011 Sonoma Star Mazda round |
| 2007 Motorola Indy 300 |
| 2005 Sonoma Star Mazda round |
| 2000 Grand Prix of Sonoma |
| 1999 Grand Prix of Sonoma |
| 2001 Grand Prix of Sonoma |
| 1998 Kragen/Exide 151 |
| 1990 Sears Point 300 Kilometers |
| 1983 Sears Point Can-Am round |
| 1996 California Grand Prix |
| 1983 Sears Point Formula Atlantic round |
| 1990 Sears Point 300 Kilometers |
| 1995 Apple Computer Inc. California Grand Prix |
| 1989 Sears Point 200 km |
| 1997 California Grand Prix Sears Point |
| 1981 Datsun Camel GT Sears Point |
| 1970 Continental 49'er Trophy |
| 1988 Lincoln-Mercury California Grand Prix |
| 1977 Executive Motorhome Challenge Series Sears Point |
| 1995 Apple Computer Inc. California Grand Prix |
| 1997 Kragen/Exide 151 |
| 1981 Datsun Camel GT Sears Point |
| 1995 Sears Point IMSA Bridgestone Supercar round |
| 1969 | Mark Donohue | Chevrolet Camaro | Don Pike | Porsche 911 |
| 1978 | Gene Bothello | Chevrolet Corvette | Greg Pickett | Chevrolet Corvette |
| 1981 | Tom Gloy | Ford Mustang | ||
| 1982 | Tom Gloy | Toyota F150 | ||
| 1983 | Willy Ribbs | Chevrolet El Cement | ||
| 1984 | Greg Pickett | Mercury Capri | ||
| 1985 | Willy Ribbs | Mercury Capri | ||
| 1985 | Willy Ribbs | Mercury Capri | ||
| 1985 | Elliott Forbes-Robinson | Buick Somerset | ||
| 1986 | Wally Dallenbach Jr. | Chevrolet Camaro | ||
| 1986 | Wally Dallenbach Jr. | Chevrolet Camaro | ||
| 1986 | Wally Dallenbach Jr. | Chevrolet Camaro | ||
| 1987 | Scott Pruett | Merkur XR4Ti | ||
| 1988 | Willy Ribbs | Chevrolet Camaro | ||
| 1989 | Darin Brassfield | Chevrolet Corvette | ||
| 1990 | Darin Brassfield | Oldsmobile Cutlass | ||
| 1991 | Darin Brassfield | Oldsmobile Cutlass | ||
| 1992 | Darin Brassfield | Chevrolet Camaro | ||
| 1993 | Scott Sharp | Chevrolet Camaro | ||
| 1995 | Dorsey Schroeder | Ford Mustang | ||
| 2001 | Brian Simo | Qvale Mangusta |
Sonoma has been featured in many racing video games, beginning with Papyrus's NASCAR Racing for the PC, released in 1994 and has been a frequent addition to NASCAR based games and more recently road course variations have appeared. Bill Elliott's NASCAR Challenge included the course released in 1991. It appeared in Gran Turismo 4, and as Infineon Raceway, and more recently in Project CARS 2 and recent Forza Motorsport titles. It has also been digitally scanned and used in iRacing.
Scenes from a Toyota/Save Mart 350 NASCAR race were used in the softcore porn series Hotel Erotica in Season 1 Episode 3 The Fast and the Curious
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