SONOMA, Calif. -- Infineon Raceway was honored as Promoter of the Year by the IRL IndyCar® Series on Monday night during a league awards ceremony in Hollywood.
The awards ceremony, which took place at Paramount Pictures Studio, featured a number of awards presentations, highlighted by Dan Wheldon (Andretti Green Racing), who was officially crowned the 2005 IRL IndyCar® Series champion.
Infineon Raceway, which hosted the first event on a permanent road course in the 10-year history of the IRL in August, was recognized for its efforts in promoting the Argent Mortgage Indy Grand Prix. Infineon Raceway was one of 17 facilities eligible for the prestigious award.
The featured event during the many race-week festivities was the Chocolate Mini Grand Prix, which boasted IRL drivers Danica Patrick and Buddy Rice piloting their Argent Mortgage IndyCars around the streets at historic Ghirardelli Square under a full San Francisco Police Department escort.
Steve Page, president and general manager of Infineon Raceway, accepted the award on Monday night in Hollywood.
“Our staff put a tremendous amount of creative energy into building this new event and it's terrific to see this recognition of their efforts,” Page said. “We appreciate all of the promotional support we received from the league, the racing teams and all of the drivers.”
The IRL IndyCar® Series will return to Infineon Raceway in 2006 (Aug. 25-27), with Tony Kanaan (Andretti Green Racing) looking for his second consecutive victory on the twisting 12-turn, 2.26-mile road course. The weekend will also feature the exciting debut of the Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series in the Sonoma Valley, as well as a doubleheader of the Menards Infiniti Pro Series. For ticket information, call 800-870-RACE or visit www.infineonraceway.com.
