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Twenty years ago, the day before the first NASCAR Cup Series race at what was then called Sears Point Raceway, there could have been a conversation like this between drivers Dale Earnhart and Richard Petty:
Earnhardt: “Wow, this is different. Blind turns, hills and, geez, I don’t think I’ve ever used the brake this much.”
Petty: “There’s going to be some banging out there. Three wide? I don’t think we can even go two wide. And what’s with Turn 11? If we go any slower, we’re going to have to restart the cars.”
Once, when asked what he thought of the Infineon course, racer Jimmy Spencer said he’d like it more if it were blown up.
When NASCAR decided to hold a Cup race at Infineon, a road course in California wasn’t a foreign idea. Infineon actually replaced a road course in Riverside, one that held NASCAR races for 35 years, until 1988. That’s according to Ken Clapp, who once headed West Coast operations for NASCAR and now is a consultant for the organization.
The modernization of the track, with more than $100 million of upgrades that included grandstand seating, new garages and the moving of massive amounts of dirt, was completed in 2002.
Until then, NASCAR’s best had to figure out for themselves how to drive a 3,500-pound car up and down a hilly course with left and right turns and little room for error.
“When I first drove there, I had a blast,” said retired Cup driver Rusty Wallace, now a racing commentator.
The final four laps of the race featured an exciting battle between eventual winner Ricky Rudd and Wallace, the runnerup. Then, like now, a two-car duel at the end included plenty of door and backend banging.
Wallace won the next year, following a pace car under caution. In 1996, he passed Jeff Gordon late to win for a second time at the raceway.
Hershel McGriff, the 81-year-old who raced Saturday in the Bennett Lane Winery 200, also competed in the first Cup race at Infineon in 1989.
The track was longer then and included some tricky “S” turns called the carousel at the top of the course. On a track often criticized for not offering enough passing opportunities, the carousel was a place where the more skilled road course racers could improve their standing.
“I really liked that part of the track,” McGriff said. “The carousel was kind of a sweeping turn to Turn 7. Now it’s straight over the hill, and you come out blind on Turn 3. When they took away the carousel, they took away a chance to pass. I loved that carousel.”
Rudd won $62,000 for capturing the first Cup race in 1989. This year’s winner will take home more than $300,000, and the last-place finisher should receive around $70,000.
Other drivers in that first race included Bill Elliott, Dale Jarrett, Sterling Marlin, Darrell Waltrip, Ken Schroeder, Mark Martin, Dick Trickle, Ernie Irvan, Hut Stricklin, Terry Labonte, Harry Gant, Neil Bonnett, Michael Waltrip, Davey Allison, Morgan Shepherd and Lake Speed.
