2008 SPRINT CUP RACE 16: Toyota / Save Mart 350 @ Infineon

The Sprint Cup Series headed to Infineon for the first of two road course races for the 2008 season. Kasey Kahne got his second pole of the year edging Jimmie Johnson for the top spot. Road racing brings out several drivers who are experts in road racing, dubbed "road ringers". Boris Said, Scott Pruett (three time Rolex winner), Ron Fellows and others are among those who make spotty appearances in the NASCAR schedule to run road courses. But in a race where you expect them to run well, few were around at the end to challenge. Boris Said had mechanical problems, Ron Fellows was involved in an accident, and Scott Pruett didn't have the racecar to contend. It turned out to be the NASCAR regulars stealing the spotlight from the part-timers. Kyle Busch continued to show his dominance in the 2008 season, winning several different types of races. Busch had won in Mexico City in the Nationwide Series race in the Spring and showed he could do it again by dominating the race. Sonoma was fairly uneventful until in the closing laps, Kevin Harvick made a mistake diving into a right hander too deep, locked up the brakes and slid into Jamie McMurray who also in turn got into Tony Stewart. They were running 2nd, 3rd, and 4th at that point. David Gilliland running fifth managed to slide by the three wrecking and move into second spot behind Kyle Busch. As Kyle took the green white checker, he got some distance on Gilliland and held him off to win his first Cup Series road course race and fifth win of the year. Gilliland did catch Busch at one to go but his chances of victory went away when he took the hairpin too fast. Three Chevys, two Dodges, two Fords, and two Toyotas got Top 10 finishes. And congrats to David Gilliland on a second place effort.

The Top 10:
1. #18 Kyle Busch (Toyota)
2. #38 David Gilliland (Ford)
3. #24 Jeff Gordon (Chevrolet)
4. #07 Clint Bowyer (Chevrolet)
5. #5 Casey Mears (Chevrolet)
6. #42 Juan Pablo Montoya (Dodge)
7. #12 Ryan Newman (Dodge)
8. #17 Matt Kenseth (Ford)
9. #99 Carl Edwards (Ford)
10. #20 Tony Stewart (Toyota)

The Cup Series was off to Loudon, NH next week.