2005 Dodge/Save Mart 350
The 2005 Dodge/Save Mart 350 was the 16th stock car race of the 2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season and the 17th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, June 26, 2005, in Sonoma, California, at the club layout in Infineon Raceway, a permanent road course layout. The race took the scheduled 110 laps to complete. At race's end, Tony Stewart of Joe Gibbs Racing would best Ricky Rudd of Wood Brothers Racing, passing him in the closing laps of the race to win his 20th career NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race and his first of the season. To fill out the podium, Kurt Busch of Roush Racing would finish third.
Background
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 long; the track was modified in 1998, adding the Chute, which bypassed turns 5 and 6, shortening the course to. The Chute was only used for NASCAR events such as this race, and was criticized by many drivers, who preferred the full layout. In 2001, it was replaced with a 70-degree turn, 4A, bringing the track to its current dimensions of.Entry list
Practice
First practice
The first practice session would take place on Friday, June 24, at 11:20 AM PST and would last for an hour Jeff Gordon of Hendrick Motorsports would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 1:16.158 and an average speed of.Second practice
The second practice session would take place on Saturday, June 25, at 9:30 AM PST and would last for 45 minutes. Jeff Gordon of Hendrick Motorsports would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 1:16.505 and an average speed of.Third and final practice
The third and final practice session would take place on Saturday, June 25, at 11:10 AM PST and would last for 45 minutes. Tony Stewart of Joe Gibbs Racing would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 1:15.937 and an average speed of.Qualifying
Qualifying would take place on Friday, June 24, at 3:10 PM PST. Drivers would each have one lap to set a time. Jeff Gordon of Hendrick Motorsports would win the pole and set a new track record, setting a lap of 1:15.950 and an average speed of.Two drivers would spin during qualifying: first, Elliott Sadler would spin in Turn 10, making him qualify on a provisional. Then, José Luis Ramírez would go off track and spin, causing him to miss the race.