Robby Gordon drifts at Sonoma Raceway - AI behind the wheels are some little Sodoma evils - Red Flag
1Sonoma Raceway (originally known as Sears Point Raceway from 1967 to 1980 and 1982 to 2002, Golden State International Raceway in 1981 and Infineon Raceway from 2002 to 2012) is a road course and dragstrip located at Sears Point in the southern Sonoma Mountains of Sonoma County, California.[1] The road course features 12 turns on a hilly course with 160 ft (49 m) of total elevation change.[3] 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 Camping World 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 Sports Car Club of America. The track is 30 mi (48 km) north of San Francisco and Oakland.
With the closure of Riverside International Raceway in Moreno Valley, California after the 1988 season, NASCAR wanted a West Coast road course event to replace it, and chose the Sears Point facility. Riverside Raceway was razed for the Moreno Valley Mall.
In 2002, Sears Point Raceway was renamed after a corporate sponsor, Infineon Technologies. On March 7, 2012, it was announced that Infineon would not renew their contract for naming rights when the deal expired in May 2012.
The standard, full length road course at Sonoma Raceway is a 2.520 mi (4.056 km) 12-turn course. This course was utilized by all competition through 1997. Most races, including the Grand Prix of Sonoma, use the full course. The course is noted for turns two and three, which are negative-camber ("off-camber") turns, with the inside of the turn higher than the outside. This provides a challenge for the driver, as turn two would normally have the drivers moving to the left side of the track.
The raceway also has a 440 yd (400 m) 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.
Ask Robby Gordon what he’s doing on the weekend – pretty much any weekend – and you can predict the answer: racing. Gordon is one of the busiest racecar drivers in the United States, and one of the most versatile. The six-time off-road champion is also a popular figure on the NASCAR circuit, and he’s a familiar face at the Indianapolis 500, too. With Gordon in competition more than forty weekends a year, you might not know where to find him on any given Sunday, but you can be sure of what he’ll be doing. Despite the hectic schedule, or maybe because of it, Gordon balances out a wide-open attitude in competition with a meticulous mentality in everyday life. Between his racing crews, his off-road store, and his fabrication facility, the tireless driver manages nearly fifty people, and he is respected as an absolute perfectionist. Yet even under all that responsibility, Robby Gordon never fails to take time for the fans.
Growing up in Bellflower, California, Gordon was drawn to anything with a motor. By age 8, he was racing motorbikes, and as soon as he turned 16, he jumped behind the wheel of a car. “Racing kept me out of trouble,” Gordon grins.
The new driver won the very first off-road race he entered, the Nevada 400. The years that followed brought Gordon a half dozen off-road championships, but as much as he loved the no-holds-barred spirit of those races, he was eager to try other events.
In 1990, Gordon moved to sports cars, and he quickly proved himself. He won five GTO races in 1991 and a Trans-Am race in 1992. By 1993, he was into Open Wheel, as well, driving an Indy car for none other than A.J. Foyt.
Success after success followed, with wins and podium finishes in CART and the International Race of Champions. Meanwhile, Gordon became increasingly involved in NASCAR’s Winston Cup. From 1991 on, he drove for various Winston Cup teams, until in 2000 he formed his own team, running seventeen events. After impressive performances in both 2001 Winston Cup road races, Gordon was signed to drive RCR’s Number 31 Lowe’s Chevrolet to finish out the season, and he snagged his first Winston Cup oval track top-10, plus a victory at New Hampshire. The decision to run all thirty-four Winston Cup races in 2002 was a no-brainer, and Number 31 roared to five top-10 finishes, including a third place at Watkins Glen. The 2003 season proved equally exciting, as Gordon outduelled Jeff Gordon for a stunning victory at Sonoma and became only the fourth driver to win both Winston Cup road races in a single year.
Not that Gordon gave up Indy cars or off-road. In fact, he was leading on the last lap of the 1999 Indianapolis 500 when his car ran out of gas, relegating him to sixth place. And he continued to challenge the field at Baja, as well as other events like Spain’s rally car Race of Champions.
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