NASCAR - Sprint Cup - Auto Club 400 Preview
From The Sports Network
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| DATE: Sunday, March 25th |
| SITE: Auto Club Speedway (1997) -- Fontana, California |
| TRACK: two-mile oval - 3,100 feet (Frontstretch); 2,500 feet (Backstretch) |
| CAPACITY: 84,000 (Grandstand Seating) |
| ANNUAL: 16th |
| TELEVISION: FOX |
| ANNOUNCERS: Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip, Larry McReynolds |
| RADIO: Motor Racing Network (MRN)/SIRIUS NASCAR Radio |
| START TIME: 3 p.m. (ET)/Green Flag: 3:15 p.m. (ET) |
| DEFENDING CHAMPION: Kevin Harvick |
| RUNNER-UP: Jimmie Johnson |
| POLE WINNER: Juan Pablo Montoya (Finished 10th) |
| LAPS: 200 |
| MILES: 400 |
| QUALIFYING RECORD: Kyle Busch, 2005 (188.425 m.p.h.) |
| RACE RECORD: Jeff Gordon, 1997 (155.012 m.p.h.) |
| TOTAL PURSE: $5,716,005 (2011 figures) |
| PAYOUTS: 1st Place - $331,961; 2nd Place - $240,7861; 3rd Place - $214,816 |
| 2011 Finish |
| Finish | Driver | Start | Finish | Driver | Start |
| 1 | Kevin Harvick | 24 | 6 | Carl Edwards | 18 |
| 2 | Jimmie Johnson | 16 | 7 | Clint Bowyer | 17 |
| 3 | Kyle Busch | 8 | 8 | Brian Vickers | 19 |
| 4 | Matt Kenseth | 11 | 9 | Kasey Kahne | 22 |
| 5 | Ryan Newman | 9 | 10 | Juan Pablo Montoya | 1 |
| 2011 Auto Club 400 Facts and Figures |
| AVERAGE SPEED: 150.849 m.p.h. |
| TIME OF RACE: 2 hours, 39 minutes, 6 seconds |
| MARGIN OF VICTORY: 0.144 second |
| CAUTION FLAGS: 4 for 16 laps |
| LEAD CHANGES: 28 among 10 drivers |
| POLE WINNER: Juan Pablo Montoya (184.653 m.p.h.) |
| Past Auto Club 400 Winners (Starting Position) Car -- Speed |
| 2011 -- Kevin Harvick (24th) -- Chevrolet -- 150.849 m.p.h. |
| 2010 -- Jimmie Johnson (7th) -- Chevrolet -- 141.911 m.p.h. |
| 2009 -- Matt Kenseth (24th) -- Ford -- 135.839 m.p.h. |
| 2008 -- Carl Edwards (9th) -- Ford -- 132.704 m.p.h. |
| 2007 -- Matt Kenseth (25th) -- Ford -- 138.451 m.p.h. |
| 2006 -- Matt Kenseth (31st) -- Ford -- 147.852 m.p.h. |
| 2005 -- Greg Biffle (5th) -- Ford -- 139.697 m.p.h. |
| 2004 -- Jeff Gordon (16th) -- Chevrolet -- 137.268 m.p.h. |
| 2003 -- Kurt Busch (16th) -- Ford -- 140.111 m.p.h. |
| 2002 -- Jimmie Johnson (4th) -- Chevrolet -- 150.088 m.p.h. |
| 2001 -- Rusty Wallace (19th) -- Ford -- 143.118 m.p.h. |
| 2000 -- Jeremy Mayfield (24th) -- Ford -- 149.378 m.p.h. |
| 1999 -- Jeff Gordon (5th) -- Chevrolet -- 150.276 m.p.h. |
| 1998 -- Mark Martin (3rd) -- Ford -- 140.220 m.p.h. |
| 1997 -- Jeff Gordon (3rd) -- Chevrolet -- 155.012 m.p.h. (race record) |
| NOTE: Formerly called California 500 by NAPA (1997-1999), NAPA Auto Parts 500 |
| (2000-02), Auto Club 500 (2003-10). Race changed from 500 to 400 miles |
| in 2011. |
| Last Race Results |
| RACE: Food City 500 (March 18th) |
| SITE: Bristol Motor Speedway -- Bristol, Tennessee |
| MILES: 266.5 |
| LAPS: 500 |
| WINNER: Brad Keselowski |
| RUNNER-UP: Matt Kenseth |
| THIRD: Martin Truex Jr. |
| FOURTH: Clint Bowyer |
| FIFTH: Brian Vickers |
| POLE WINNER: Greg Biffle (Finished 13th) |
| TIME OF RACE: 2 hours, 51 minutes, 52 seconds |
| AVERAGE SPEED: 93.037 m.p.h. |
| MARGIN OF VICTORY: 0.714 second |
| CAUTION FLAGS: 5 for 49 laps |
| LEAD CHANGES: 13 among 7 drivers |
| LAP LEADERS: G. Biffle 1-41; A. Allmendinger 42-95; B. Vickers 96-116; D. |
| Earnhardt Jr. 117; B. Vickers 118-216; B. Keselowski 217-254; M. |
| Kenseth 255-256; J. Gordon 257; B. Vickers 258-262; B. Keselowski |
| 263-341; D. Earnhardt Jr. 342; B. Keselowski 343-346; M. Kenseth |
| 347-389; B. Keselowski 390-500. |
| Auto Club 400 Entry List |
| Car | Driver, Hometown | Car/Name |
| 1 | Jamie McMurray (Joplin, MO) | Chevrolet/Bass Pro Shops |
| 2 | Brad Keselowski (Rochester Hills, MI) | Dodge/Miller Lite |
| 5 | Kasey Kahne (Enumclaw, WA) | Chevrolet/Quaker State |
| 7 | Robby Gordon (Orange, CA) | Dodge/Speed Energy |
| 9 | Marcos Ambrose (Launceston, Australia) | Ford/DeWalt |
| 10 | David Reutimann (Zephyrhills, FL) | Chevrolet/Tommy Baldwin Racing |
| 11 | Denny Hamlin (Chesterfield, VA) | Toyota/FedEx Express |
| 13 | Casey Mears (Bakersfield, CA) | Ford/GEICO |
| 14 | Tony Stewart (Columbus, IN) | Chevrolet/Office Depot/Mobil 1 |
| 15 | Clint Bowyer (Emporia, KS) | Toyota/5-Hour Energy |
| 16 | Greg Biffle (Vancouver, WA) | Ford/3M |
| 17 | Matt Kenseth (Cambridge, WI) | Ford/Roush Fenway Racing |
| 18 | Kyle Busch (Las Vegas, NV) | Toyota/Interstate Batteries |
| 19 | Mike Bliss (Milwaukie, OR) | Toyota/TBA |
| 20 | Joey Logano (Middletown, CT) | Toyota/Dollar General |
| 22 | A.J. Allmendinger (Los Gatos, CA) | Dodge/ Southern California AAA |
| 23 | Scott Riggs (Bahama, NC) | Chevrolet/North Texas Pipe |
| 24 | Jeff Gordon (Vallejo, CA) | Chevrolet/Drive to End Hunger |
| 26 | Josh Wise (Riverside, CA) | Ford/1-800-Loan Mart |
| 27 | Paul Menard (Eau Claire, WI) | Chevrolet/Menards/Certainteed |
| 29 * | Kevin Harvick (Bakersfield, CA) | Chevrolet/Jimmy Johns |
| 30 | David Stremme (South Bend, IN) | Toyota/Inception Motorsports |
| 31 | Jeff Burton (South Boston, VA) | Chevrolet/Caterpillar |
| 32 | Ken Schrader (Fenton, MO) | Ford/1 Less Than 2 |
| 33 | Brendan Gaughan (Las Vegas, NV) | Chevrolet/South Point Casino |
| 34 | David Ragan (Unadilla, GA) | Ford/TBA |
| 36 | Dave Blaney (Hartford, OH) | Chevrolet/Tommy Baldwin Racing |
| 37 | Timmy Hill (Port Tobacco, MD) | Ford/poynt.com |
| 38 | David Gilliland (Riverside, CA) | Ford/TBA |
| 39 | Ryan Newman (South Bend, IN) | Chevrolet/U.S. Army |
| 42 | Juan Pablo Montoya (Bogota, Colombia) | Chevrolet/Target |
| 43 | Aric Almirola (Tampa, FL) | Ford/Medallion Financial |
| 47 | Bobby Labonte (Corpus Christi, TX) | Toyota/Charter |
| 48 | Jimmie Johnson (El Cajon, CA) | Chevrolet/Lowe's/J.J. Foundation |
| 49 | J.J. Yeley (Phoenix, AZ) | Toyota/America Israel Racing |
| 51 | Kurt Busch (Las Vegas, NV) | Chevrolet/Phoenix Construction |
| 55 | Mark Martin (Batesville, AR) | Toyota/Aaron's |
| 56 | Martin Truex Jr. (Mayetta, NJ) | Toyota/NAPA Auto Parts |
| 74 | Stacy Compton (Hurt, VA) | Chevrolet/Turn One Racing |
| 78 | Regan Smith (Cato, NY) | Chevrolet/Furniture Row |
| 83 | Landon Cassill (Cedar Rapids, IA) | Toyota/Burger King/Dr. Pepper |
| 87 | Joe Nemechek (Lakeland, FL) | Toyota/AM FM Energy Wood Pellet |
| 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Kannapolis, NC) | Chevrolet/Diet Mt. Dew/Nat Guard |
| 93 | Travis Kvapil (Janesville, WI) | Toyota/Burger King/Dr. Pepper |
| 98 | Michael McDowell (Glendale, AZ) | Ford/Curb Records |
| 99 | Carl Edwards (Columbia, MO) | Ford/Subway |
| Leading Contenders (Finish the last nine years) |
| Driver | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 |
| Kevin Harvick | 29th | 9th | 6th | 29th | 17th | 8th | 38th | 2nd | Won |
| Jimmie Johnson | 16th | 2nd | 2nd | 2nd | 3rd | 2nd | 9th | Won | 2nd |
| Kyle Busch | --- | --- | 23rd | 10th | 9th | 4th | 3rd | 14th | 3rd |
| Matt Kenseth | 9th | 4th | 26th | Won | Won | 5th | Won | 7th | 4th |
| Ryan Newman | 42nd | 3rd | 9th | 20th | 12th | 10th | 28th | 36th | 5th |
| Carl Edwards | --- | --- | 5th | 3rd | 29th | Won | 7th | 13th | 6th |
| Clint Bowyer | --- | --- | --- | 14th | 6th | 19th | 19th | 8th | 7th |
| Kasey Kahne | --- | 13th | 40th | 4th | 38th | 9th | 12th | 34th | 9th |
| Juan Pablo Montoya | --- | --- | --- | --- | 26th | 20th | 11th | 37th | 10th |
| Greg Biffle | 18th | 33rd | Won | 42nd | 15th | 15th | 4th | 10th | 11th |
| Dale Earnhardt Jr | 6th | 19th | 32nd | 11th | 40th | 40th | 39th | 32nd | 12th |
| Tony Stewart | 41st | 16th | 17th | 43rd | 8th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 13th |
| A.J. Allmendinger | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | 29th | 25th | 14th |
| Jeff Burton | 19th | 26th | 19th | 5th | 4th | 12th | 32nd | 3rd | 15th |
| Paul Menard | --- | --- | --- | --- | 20th | 27th | 37th | 18th | 16th |
| Kurt Busch | Won | 23rd | 3rd | 16th | 7th | 13th | 5th | 6th | 17th |
| Jeff Gordon | 11th | Won | 30th | 13th | 2nd | 3rd | 2nd | 20th | 18th |
| Mark Martin | 17th | 11th | 7th | 9th | 5th | 16th | 40th | 4th | 20th |
| Martin Truex Jr | --- | --- | --- | 15th | 42nd | 6th | 27th | 39th | 21st |
| Jamie McMurray | 5th | 15th | 4th | 6th | 37th | 22nd | 16th | 17th | 23rd |
| Joey Logano | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | 26th | 5th | 25th |
| Brad Keselowski | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | 21st | 26th |
| Marcos Ambrose | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | 22nd | 35th | 28th |
| Denny Hamlin | --- | --- | --- | 12th | 11th | 41st | 6th | 29th | 39th |
| Mover of the Week |
| Jeff Burton - Started in 33rd position and finished 6th |
| Sports Network Selections |
| Pick to Win - Jimmie Johnson |
| Darkhorse - Greg Biffle |
| Last Week's Pick to Win (Kyle Busch) - Finished 32nd |
| Last Week's Darkhorse (Paul Menard) - Finished 10th |
| NOTES: |
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Off to a solid start this year with two top-10's in four starts, Kevin
Harvick is set to defend his Auto Club 400 title from a year ago, and one lap
is all it took.
There were 18 lead changes among 10 drivers during the 200-lap race. Kyle Busch
dominated, leading five times for 151 laps and Jimmie Johnson led for laps 198
and 199, but it was Harvick who outdueled them both down the stretch to take
the checkered flag for his 15th career win.
In 18 starts at Auto Club Speedway, Harvick finally gained his first win to go
along with his eight top-10 finishes. In doing so, Harvick turned the tables on
Johnson, who had clipped him the previous season. This time around, Harvick
made the pass on the final lap and won by 0.144 seconds, the closest finish in
Auto Club Speedway history.
Harvick finished last season with four wins and 19 top-10 finishes, but placed
12th in the points race. This year, he's second, just nine points back.
It took eight years, but Jimmie Johnson finally repeated his 2002 performance
at Auto Club Speedway by defeating Kevin Harvick for his 48th career Sprint Cup
title in 2010. Johnson, who had posted six straight top-10 finishes prior to
the win, including four seconds, dominated the field, leading eight times for a
whopping 101 laps in posting a 1.523 second victory. Johnson took the lead for
good with 24 laps remaining. Seeking his fourth win in the past five years,
Matt Kenseth placed seventh after starting 20th on the grid. Pole sitter Jamie
McMurray finished 17th.
Kenseth won this race for the third time in four years back in 2009, as he
raced to victory. Kenseth reclaimed the lead with 39 laps remaining and held
on to defeat Jeff Gordon by 1.463 seconds. Kenseth, who started 24th, led
three times for 84 laps, as he posted his 18th career Sprint Cup title. Pole
sitter Brian Vickers never led the race and finished 10th.
Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson and Gordon battled over the final 40 laps, but it
was Edwards who came out on top in the spring 2008 race at California, as he
won under caution for his eighth career Sprint Cup title. Edwards, who started
ninth, took the lead on lap 211. However, Gordon moved in front on lap 221.
Pole sitter Johnson, who led on nine occasions for a race-high 76 laps,
reclaimed the advantage just one lap later. But Edwards took over again on lap
238 and then held it for the win, despite the accident on turn 4 of the final
lap. The race, which started late Sunday, was completed the next day due to
inclement weather.
Dominating. That's the only word that can describe Kenseth in 2007 at
California. Kenseth, who became the first back-to-back winner of this race, led
seven times for a whopping 133 laps to capture his 15th career Sprint Cup
title. Gordon, the pole sitter, finished less than a second behind Kenseth.
Gordon led just two laps.
Gordon is a three-time winner of this race, including the inaugural year in
1997. After three straight top-10 finishes, Gordon has failed to crack the
top-15 the past two seasons.
In 2006, Kenseth crossed the finish line just 0.338 of a second ahead of
Johnson for his 11th career Sprint Cup title and first of that year. Kenseth,
who led four times for a total of 40 laps, reclaimed the lead on lap 219 of
the 251-lap event and held on for the win. Greg Biffle, who led for a race-
high 168 laps, finished 42nd due to engine problems, while pole sitter Kurt
Busch finished 16th.
After winning in 2002, Johnson has recorded a 16th place finish in 2003, three
consecutive runner-up finishes, a third in 2007, 2nd again in 2008 and 2010,
ninth in 2009 and a win in 2010 at his home track. The El Cajon, CA-native has
an average finish of 5.1 in 17 races there. In all, Johnson has five wins and
13 top-10 finishes. His starting position is 9.0, the only driver to have a
starting position inside the top-10.
Auto Club Speedway, formerly California Speedway, has the distinction of
laying claim to the world's fastest two-mile oval. During the 2001 Marlboro
500 Presented by Toyota CART Championship Series qualifying, Marlboro Team
Penske driver Gil de Ferran set a new speed record with an average lap of
241.428 m.p.h. That speed topped Mauricio Gugelmin's mark of 240.942 m.p.h.
set here in 1997. The speedway is 52 miles east of Los Angeles and 60 miles
west of Palm Springs. During the 1997 season the speedway accommodated 80,000
fans with an eventual seating capacity of 107,000. The total cost of the
project was approximately $120 million.
The pole sitter has never captured this race in the 15-year history; however,
Johnson won the 2008 fall event at California from the pole. The number three
position has won this race twice ,while the 31st position is the furthest any
driver has started and won there (2006). When Rusty Wallace captured this
event in 2001, he became the oldest winner at California at 44 years, 8 months
and 15 days. Four drivers have competed in all 21 races: Jeff Burton, Jeff
Gordon, Bobby Labonte and Joe Nemechek. Eleven of the 22 races were won from
starting positions outside the top 10; only one has been won from the pole
(Jimmie Johnson in 2008). The most prolific starting position are third and
24th, with three victories each.
The next Sprint Cup Series race is the April 1 Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500 at
Martinsville Speedway. Kevin Harvick won last year's race there.
03/20 18:11:24 ET
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As of March 20, 2012, at 06:11 PM ET
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