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 #DriverTeamMakeSponsor0Mike BlissHaas CNC RacingChevroletNetZero, Best Buy01Joe NemechekMB2 MotorsportsChevroletU. S. Army2Rusty WallacePenske RacingDodgeMiller Lite, Snap-on 85th Anniversary02Brandon AshAsh MotorsportsFordWatsonville Auto Body4Mike Wallace*Morgan–McClure MotorsportsChevroletLucas Oil5Kyle BuschHendrick MotorsportsChevroletKellogg's6Mark MartinRoush RacingFordViagra7Robby GordonRobby Gordon MotorsportsChevroletHarrah's07Dave BlaneyRichard Childress RacingChevroletJack Daniel's8Dale Earnhardt Jr.Dale Earnhardt, Inc.ChevroletBudweiser9Kasey KahneEvernham MotorsportsDodgeDodge Dealers, UAW10Scott RiggsMBV MotorsportsChevroletValvoline11Terry LabonteJoe Gibbs RacingChevroletFedEx Freight12Ryan NewmanPenske RacingDodgeAlltel15Michael WaltripDale Earnhardt, Inc.ChevroletNAPA Auto Parts16Greg BiffleRoush RacingFordPost-it Notes, U. S. National Guard17Matt KensethRoush RacingFordDeWalt18Bobby LabonteJoe Gibbs RacingChevroletInterstate Batteries19Jeremy MayfieldEvernham MotorsportsDodgeDodge Dealers, UAW20Tony StewartJoe Gibbs RacingChevroletThe Home Depot21Ricky RuddWood Brothers RacingFordU. S. Air Force, Motorcraft22Scott WimmerBill Davis RacingDodgeCaterpillar24Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevroletDuPont25Brian VickersHendrick MotorsportsChevroletGMAC, ditech.com27Tom HubertKirk Shelmerdine RacingFordFreddie B's, Napa Valley Ford29Kevin HarvickRichard Childress RacingChevroletGM Goodwrench31Jeff BurtonRichard Childress RacingChevroletCingular Wireless32Ron FellowsPPI MotorsportsChevroletTide33Brian SimoRichard Childress RacingChevroletKorbel California Champagnes36Boris SaidMB Sutton MotorsportsChevroletCentrix Financial37Kevin LepageR&J RacingDodgeR&J Racing38Elliott SadlerRobert Yates RacingFordM&M's39Scott PruettChip Ganassi Racing with Felix SabatesDodgeTexaco, Havoline40Sterling MarlinChip Ganassi Racing with Felix SabatesDodgeCoors Light41Casey MearsChip Ganassi Racing with Felix SabatesDodgeTarget42Jamie McMurrayChip Ganassi Racing with Felix SabatesDodgeTexaco, Havoline43Jeff GreenPetty EnterprisesDodgeCheerios, Betty Crocker45Kyle PettyPetty EnterprisesDodgeBrawny, Georgia-Pacific48Jimmie JohnsonHendrick MotorsportsChevroletLowe's49Ken SchraderBAM RacingDodgeSchwan's Home Service52José Luis RamírezRick Ware RacingDodgePro30.com66Johnny Borneman IIIPeak Fitness RacingFordRevi Pit Crew Wear71P. J. Jones*Robby Gordon MotorsportsChevroletHarrah's77Travis KvapilPenske RacingDodgeKodak, Jasper Engines & Transmissions87Chris CookNEMCO MotorsportsChevroletchristinemariemotorsports.com88Dale JarrettRobert Yates RacingFordUPS, Herbie: Fully Loaded92Stanton BarrettFront Row MotorsportsChevroletFront Row Motorsports97Kurt BuschRoush RacingFordCrown Royal99Carl EdwardsRoush RacingFordOffice DepotOfficial entry list *The #71 would withdraw for the race. Mike Wallace, originally intended to drive the #4, would be switched to P. J. Jones, originally slated to drive the #71.
Practice
First practice The first practice session would take place on Friday, June 24, at 11:20a.m. 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 . Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed124Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet1:16.15894.068236Boris SaidMB Sutton MotorsportsChevrolet1:16.16694.05837Robby GordonRobby Gordon MotorsportsChevrolet1:16.20894.006Full first practice results
Second practice The second practice session would take place on Saturday, June 25, at 9:30a.m. 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 . Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed124Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet1:16.50593.641220Tony StewartJoe Gibbs RacingChevrolet1:16.61493.508336Boris SaidMB Sutton MotorsportsChevrolet1:16.61493.508Full second practice results
Third and final practice The third and final practice session would take place on Saturday, June 25, at 11:10a.m. 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 . Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed120Tony StewartJoe Gibbs RacingChevrolet1:15.93794.34127Robby GordonRobby Gordon MotorsportsChevrolet1:15.97594.294321Ricky RuddWood Brothers RacingFord1:16.38293.792Full final practice results
Qualifying Qualifying would take place on Friday, June 24, at 3:10p.m. 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.
Full qualifying results Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed124Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet1:15.95094.325248Jimmie JohnsonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet1:16.07994.16536Mark MartinRoush RacingFord1:16.20394.012436Boris SaidMB Sutton MotorsportsChevrolet1:16.23393.97557Robby GordonRobby Gordon MotorsportsChevrolet1:16.30693.885697Kurt BuschRoush RacingFord1:16.46593.690720Tony StewartJoe Gibbs RacingChevrolet1:16.56093.574811Terry LabonteJoe Gibbs RacingChevrolet1:16.78893.296939Scott PruettChip Ganassi Racing with Felix SabatesDodge1:16.81093.269108Dale Earnhardt Jr.Dale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet1:16.88093.1841112Ryan NewmanPenske RacingDodge1:16.89793.1641201Joe NemechekMB2 MotorsportsChevrolet1:16.90793.151135Kyle BuschHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet1:16.93493.119142Rusty WallacePenske RacingDodge1:16.93893.1141531Jeff BurtonRichard Childress RacingChevrolet1:16.99093.0511610Scott RiggsMBV MotorsportsChevrolet1:17.02093.0151742Jamie McMurrayChip Ganassi Racing with Felix SabatesDodge1:17.02493.0101825Brian VickersHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet1:17.04592.9851949Ken SchraderBAM RacingDodge1:17.19392.8062021Ricky RuddWood Brothers RacingFord1:17.21192.7852129Kevin HarvickRichard Childress RacingChevrolet1:17.30492.6732233Brian SimoRichard Childress RacingChevrolet1:17.32592.6482399Carl EdwardsRoush RacingFord1:17.39692.5632417Matt KensethRoush RacingFord1:17.62692.2892545Kyle PettyPetty EnterprisesDodge1:17.68692.217269Kasey KahneEvernham MotorsportsDodge1:17.71692.1822722Scott WimmerBill Davis RacingDodge1:17.77792.1092887Chris CookNEMCO MotorsportsChevrolet1:17.77992.1072907Dave BlaneyRichard Childress RacingChevrolet1:17.78392.1023088Dale JarrettRobert Yates RacingFord1:17.85692.016310Mike BlissHaas CNC RacingChevrolet1:17.89691.9693219Jeremy MayfieldEvernham MotorsportsDodge1:17.97991.8713318Bobby LabonteJoe Gibbs RacingChevrolet1:18.03491.8063415Michael WaltripDale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet1:18.06191.7743527Tom HubertKirk Shelmerdine RacingFord1:18.12391.7023641Casey MearsChip Ganassi Racing with Felix SabatesDodge1:18.15291.6683740Sterling MarlinChip Ganassi Racing with Felix SabatesDodge1:18.20391.6083843Jeff GreenPetty EnterprisesDodge1:18.40491.3733977Travis KvapilPenske RacingDodge1:18.51891.240Provisionals404P. J. JonesMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet1:19.46190.1574116Greg BiffleRoush RacingFord1:20.24589.2774238Elliott SadlerRobert Yates RacingFord2:00.66159.373Last car to qualify on time4332Ron FellowsPPI MotorsportsChevrolet1:18.12691.698Failed to qualify4402Brandon AshAsh MotorsportsFord1:18.15891.6604537Kevin LepageR&J RacingDodge1:19:24990.3994692Stanton BarrettFront Row MotorsportsChevrolet1:19.37990.2514766Johnny Borneman IIIPeak Fitness RacingFord1:20.78088.6854852José Luis RamírezRick Ware RacingDodge1:35.59574.941WD71P. J. JonesRobby Gordon MotorsportsChevrolet——Official qualifying results
Race results