(KTXL) – Long before it was known as the Toyota/Save Mart 350, it went by the name “Banquet Frozen Foods 300.”
On June 11th, 1989, the NASCAR Cup Series made its debut at this particular road course, and a crowd of 62,000 people watched Ricky Rudd be the first to cross the finish line.
“I knew Rusty (Wallace) was going to give me a fit, he wore my back bumper out at Watkins Glen,” said Rudd. “And I knew it was coming, I knew where it was coming…he found the dirt and we found Victory Lane.”
It would be the first of two times in Sonoma that Ricky Rudd would find Victory Lane (the other was in 2002).
In 34 years of this race taking place, some of the biggest names in NASCAR have taken the checkered flag: Rusty Wallace, Dale Earnhardt, Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson.
And Jeff Gordon, who won it five times. He actually won the event three years in a row from 1998-2000.
“Yeah, we’re very lucky. It’s a very special place. Sonoma Raceway has been around for a long time,” said Brian Flynn, the raceway’s executive vice president and general manager. “What’s not to like about coming out to Sonoma Raceway? It’s a very historic road course, very technical, very challenging.
“And the teams just love coming out here and we can’t say enough about that.”
