Max Angelelli (No. 10 SunTrust Racing Pontiac Dallara): “I have a very interesting reason for thinking that we will have a very good weekend in Sonoma. Infineon is a race track that never brought to us a good result, so far. Now, I have looked back at all the race tracks we have gone to this season where we always seemed to have good results in the past, and where we expected to have good results this year because of that, and we have come away disappointed. So, if Sonoma has not brought us good results, and if we go there thinking it will be very difficult again for us this weekend, then I think this time we will have a good result. That makes sense, doesn’t it? Seriously, we are still working hard and fighting our way through various things that need to be worked out with our new car. It’s been hard and it’s been a difficult season, as everybody knows. A lot of times, it seems we are still fighting an uphill battle. But I know I have to be positive. I am positive. It’s just that we keep saying ‘you’ll see, you’ll see, you’ll see.’ Hopefully, this weekend we can have that great result where we can finally say, ‘you see?”
Christian Fittipaldi (No. 16 Cheever Racing Pontiac Coyote): “We have new suspension bits for Infineon. I’m excited especially because the car ran very good last year. Hopefully we can get more mechanical grip out of the car. If possible, then we should be able to reduce downforce making it quicker on the straights.”
Tracy Krohn (No. 75 Krohn Racing Pontiac Lola): “Infineon, as a driver, is always so fun because of the elevation changes. You have to put the car the proper apex to exit at several blind corners. Infineon, as a spectator, is one of those rare road courses where, at certain vantage points, you can see most of the track. Our goal is to show the rest of the paddock what the Proto-Auto DP Lolas are capable of doing. We are committed to excellence and feel that the car we deliver will be at the top of the podium for a long time to come. We want to deliver the message that when we begin selling these cars to other teams, it will be a very positive situation in that we will have an “open paddock” regarding parts and developmental pieces we discover for the car. We want the cars to be equal and may the best drivers and teams win through their efforts and hard work!”
Ricardo Zonta (No. 76 Krohn Racing Pontiac Lola): “Yes, it will be nice returning to a track Nic and I have driven together again. It makes it a lot easier for us - both in setting up the car and for the race. I know and am a little better prepared for what happens in the race at this circuit. We should be able to use this as an advantage. I only have one thought - it is winning!”
Memo Gidley (No. 77 Doran Racing Ford Dallara): “I have many reasons to like racing at Infineon. It’s a good track, and it’s been around a long time. It’s really challenging with a lot of blind corners, and I really enjoy driving on it. Also, it’s about six minutes, 32 seconds from my home. I like being able to sleep in my own house and more importantly, being able to have a lot of friends and family who don’t normally come to races come out to this one. That makes it a lot of fun and I look forward to it. I’ve been coming here since I started racing, hanging around and hoping to impress someone to get me a ride. I’ve had a lot of success in other cars here, so I’m hoping to translate that into the Daytona Prototype this year.”
Marc Goossens (No. 91 Riley-Matthews Motorsports Pontiac Riley): “I really like the track because of the elevation changes and therefore the difference to other tracks in the way the corners are laid out. There is a high speed part to the track and on the other side the slower turns make it a challenge to either attack the corners and braking zones or to finesse and be really clean in other corners in order to be fast. Again here it’s the compromise in setup for the different type of corners. We were not very lucky in the race last year, but we were definitely able to show the speed of our car. Hopefully things come our way again and we are aiming for a good result in California.”
Jon Fogarty (No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Pontiac Riley): “Watkins Glen was a great event, that track seems to be good to us. We anticipated that both there and Daytona would be difficult events and we were able to come through with seconds in both races. There has been a lot of heartbreak this year, so anytime a race goes according to plan we are happy and when things go according to plan we always seem to do well, imagine that. It has been up-and-down and the only consistent thing has been the inconsistency in our finishing positions. We just need to relax and do our thing and finish the year with some solid results and remind ourselves that we know how to win championships.”
“It should be a great track for us as it is mostly a handling circuit- but that hasn’t always meant good results, so I am going to say it should be difficult just like Daytona and Watkins. All kidding aside we have been strong here in our previous two visits and I think this year should be no different. I really would like to get the pole, it has been a long time and my opportunities are starting to run out.”
“My first race ever in a car was at Sonoma back in 1994. It was when Skip Barber had a school there and we were in Formula Fords. I don’t remember where I finished, but I think I led for awhile. My first non school type of race was in a Formula Vee, and we ran in mixed wet dry conditions and I won, that was the first race of the 1995 Formula Vee SCCA San Francisco regional championship, which I ended up winning.
“I can’t recall my first trip to Infineon, but I know I went to quite a few of my brothers races when I was in Junior High. He was racing Vees and then Formula Mazda. I had fun, but at that point I was more into rally racing and pitching cars sideways as often as possible, so watching the tidy lines of formula cars wasn’t super exiting to me.”
“Infineon is a great track. It has so many linked corners that require a lot of thought to get right. You need to be aggressive, but it is not always where you think. Technical is the best description, but it offers just about everything to challenge the driver and engineer. I feel fortunate to have run a lot of laps there, it was the first track I ever drove on so I thought they were all as difficult. Now I am glad I am not having to learn it when in the middle of a championship.”
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