"NASCAR at Infineon Raceway (formely... " a Sears Point Travel Page by Karnubawax

Sears Point is the name given to a hunk of land at the far north end of the San Francisco Bay. There's nothing - and I mean NOTHING - there, except for Infineon Raceway. It was called Sears Point Raceway up until a few years ago, when the German company Infineon bought the name.

Infineon is the showcase auto racing facility in Northern California. Besides hosting the NASCAR Nextel Cup on the last weekend in June, they also host the NHRA Fram/Autolite divison, the American LeMans Series, the Wine Country Classic (vintage car races), and several other events.

Many NASCAR elitists (now THERE'S an oxymoron for 'ya!) rail against road courses - saying they have no place in the Cup series, whch is virtually all oval racing. To some extent, I have to agree with them. I think there is room in the Cup series for road races, and I think Watkins Glen (in upstate New York) is a great place for the Nextel Cup. But, in my opinion, Infineon is too narrow, too windy, and too flat for good Cup racing. Or, to be more accurate, the Cup cars are too big, too heavy, and too dependent on aerodynamics.

Wah, wah, wah! Enough moaninig! It may not be Daytona, but it's still NASCAR, and if you live in Northern California it's the only race you got! Infineon does provide some aspects of racing that you can't get at oval tracks. Like local yellows - where you have a caution on only one part of the track. When was the last time you saw 2 cars spin out on 2 different corners and the race stayed green?!? Pitting under green is sometimes better than pitting under yellow!

All of the tips on ths page will have something to do with the racetrack, because, like I said, there is nothing else here. Except rolling hills on one side of the highway and swamp on the other.

Let me bottom-line it... Infineon provides a much different experience than your average NASCAR race. If you're looking for the kind of racing you see week in and week out on TV, then save your money and invest in a weekend trip to Fontana or Las Vegas. Seriously.

While there are many good things about Infineon the one major negative is the traffic. All NASCAR tracks have terrible traffic gettng to and from the race, but, in my experience, Infineon is BY FAR the worst. It is not at all uncommon for the trip just from your parking spot to the gate to take over an hour and a half and that's NOT an exaggeration. The thing is - these guys have been doing it long enough now that there really is no excuse. The shuttle bus service is pathetic - some years it runs well and some years it's like they just forgot completely. Me personally, I've been the last 4 years and I probably won't go next year.

If you go, read my transportation tips! Hopefully they'll save you a lot of headache.