2011 Toyota/Save Mart 350
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| Race details[1][2] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 16 of 36 in the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series | |||
 The 2011 Toyota/Save Mart 350 program cover, featuring Marcos Ambrose at the front. Artwork by David Grandin. | |||
| Date | June 26, 2011 | ||
| Official name | Toyota/Save Mart 350 | ||
| Location | Infineon Raceway Sonoma, California | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 1.99 miles (3.2 km) | ||
| Distance | 110 laps, 220 mi (350 km) | ||
| Weather | Sunny with a high around 81; wind out of the SW at 13 mph. | ||
| Average speed | 75.432 miles per hour (121.396 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Joe Gibbs Racing | ||
| Time | 1:16.82 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Kurt Busch | Penske Racing | |
| Laps | 75 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 22 | Kurt Busch | Penske Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | Turner Network Television | ||
| Announcers | Adam Alexander, Wally Dallenbach Jr. and Kyle Petty | ||
The 2011 Toyota/Save Mart 350 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held on June 26, 2011, at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California. Contested over 110 laps, it was the sixteenth race of the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season and the first of two road course competitions on the schedule. The race was won by Kurt Busch for the Penske Racing team. Jeff Gordon finished second, and Carl Edwards clinched third.
There were five cautions and 13 lead changes among 9 different drivers throughout the course of the race, Kurt Busch's first win of the season. The result moved Kurt Busch to the fourth position in the Drivers' Championship. He remained 34 points behind first place driver Edwards and three ahead of Kyle Busch in seventh. In the Manufacturers' Championship, Chevrolet was leading with 108 points, 15 points ahead Ford and 24 ahead of Toyota. Dodge was fourth on 67 points with 20 races remaining in the season.
Background
Prior to the race, Carl Edwards led the Drivers' Championship with 532 points, and Kevin Harvick stood in second with 512 points. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was third in the Drivers' Championship with 505 points in a Chevrolet, Kyle Busch was fourth with 503 points, and Jimmie Johnson was in fifth also with 503 points.[3] In the Manufacturers' Championship, Chevrolet was leading with 102 points, 13 points ahead of Ford. Toyota, with 81 points, was 23 ahead of Dodge in the battle for third.[4]
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Infineon Raceway is one of two road courses to hold NASCAR races, the other being Watkins Glen International. The standard road course at Infineon Raceway is a 12-turn course that is 2.52 miles (4.06 km) long;[5] the track was modified in 1998, adding the Chute, which bypassed turns 5 and 6, shortening the course to 1.95 miles (3.14 km).[5] The Chute was only used for NASCAR events such as this race, and was criticized by many drivers, who preferred the full layout.[6] In 2001, it was replaced with a 70-degree turn, 4A, bringing the track to its current dimensions of 1.99 miles (3.20 km).[7]
*Driver changed to Michael McDowell.
Practice and qualifying
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Three practice sessions were held before the Sunday race—one on Friday, and two on Saturday. The first session lasted 90 minutes. The Saturday afternoon session lasted 45 minutes, and the evening session lasted 75 minutes.[8] In the first practice session, Kurt Busch was the quickest, leading Denny Hamlin, Kasey Kahne, Kevin Harvick, and Martin Truex Jr., who were in second, third, fourth, and fifth, respectively.[9] During qualifying, forty-four cars were entered, but only forty-three were able to race because of NASCAR's qualifying procedure.[10] Joey Logano clinched his second career pole position, with a time of 1:16.82.[11] He was joined on the front row of the grid by Jamie McMurray.[11] Paul Menard qualified third, Hamlin took fourth, and Ryan Newman started fifth.[11] The driver that failed to qualify was Tony Ave.[11]
In the second practice session, McMurray was the fastest with a fastest lap time of 1:17.62, less than two-tenths of a second quicker than second-placed Kurt Busch.[12] Clint Bowyer took third place, ahead of fourth-placed Kyle Busch and A. J. Allmendinger.[12] The Saturday evening session was held around the same time of day the race would start.[13] Brad Keselowski was the quickest, posting a time of 1:18.10, narrowly faster than both McMurray in second and Kurt Busch in third.[13] Juan Pablo Montoya and Bowyer, rounded out the top five positions.[13]
