California 500
Take a look at some of the field, starting with the Top 10, for this weekend's NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Auto Club 500 at California Speedway.
This race marks the debut for the new impound procedure and Gear ratio/reduced spoiler rules for the 2005 season.
California will be one of twelve tracks that will use the new impound procedure this year. Teams will now have two one hour-practice sessions on Friday leading up to Saturday's qualifying session. The second practice on Friday will be called "Final Practice" eliminating Saturday's traditional "Happy Hour" session. After qualifying the teams will have their cars impounded and no work will be allowed until Sunday morning.
1. Jeff Gordon (Points: 185): Fresh off his third Daytona 500 victory Gordon heads to California Speedway where he has won a series-high three times and has a total of five top-fives. Last year in the inaugural Labor Day race Gordon posted his worst finish (37th) after the engine let go in the DuPont Chevrolet. Gordon currently holds the best average finish (9.3) among all drivers who have participated in every event (nine races) at California. He's led the most career laps (412) and is the only Cup Series driver to break into the $1 million mark from race winnings at the track.
Quotable: "To me, this weekend's a true tale of who is going to be strong throughout the year."
2. Kurt Busch (Points: 170): Busch has one victory (2003) and one runner-up finish (2002) at California. Last year he finished 23rd and 11th respectively at Fontana. Busch's average finish in five races is 10.0.
Quotable: "Being from this side of the Mississippi you always want to run well at the West Coast venues. This is a track where we were able to pick up a win a couple of years ago, and now Fontana is a track that becomes critical in locking yourself in for the Chase as it is one of the final two opportunities to lock yourself in the top 10 when we come back."
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Points: 170): Earnhardt Jr. scored his career-best finish at California in 2001 (third) after crashing the primary car on Friday and changing the engine on Saturday. During the race Earnhardt ran out of fuel on lap 107 and was able to battle back from a lap down. Junior's only other top-10 came in 2003 after he brought the Budweiser Chevrolet home sixth after starting a career-best eighth at the 2-mile speedway. He currently holds an 18.3 finishing average at Fontana with two finishes outside the top-30 (36th, 34th). Earnhardt will be racing chassis No. 207 in the Auto Club 500. Teammate Michael Waltrip drove this car last year in the March Atlanta race and finished 23rd. If the car performs well this weekend it could possibly return at Las Vegas in two weeks. Earnhardt also has one Busch Series win at California (1998).
Quotable: "I thought we had a pretty good test at California, but it was hard to get a good read because it was so windy when we were out there. We struggled at Fontana and Las Vegas last year, so we havve really focused on those two tracks during the off-season."
4. Scott Riggs (Points: 160): After finishing a career-best fourth in the Daytona 500, Riggs now heads to the site of his first Busch Series win (2002). Last year during Riggs' NEXTEL Cup rookie season he scored a 25th and seventh-place finish at California. His seventh-place effort in the fall race was his second best of last year (Behind a fifth-place at Dover). He also had good qualifying runs at the 2-mile oval with a fourth and ninth-place performance.
Quotable: "We had a great test session out there in California and we think we can have another good finish there," he said. "These next two races (California and Las Vegas) are really going to tell a lot about this new rules package and how it's going to affect the race cars."
5. Jimmie Johnson (Points: 160): This weekend Johnson returns to the site of his first NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series win, which was scored back on April 28, 2002. To go along with the win and a runner-up last year, Johnson, who has an 8.3 average finish at California, has four races under his belt at the 2-mile speedway. He will debut chassis No. 4888.
Quotable: "We've got to play the new element with the impounding in California and that's something new for all the teams. When it comes time to race, I'll feel very confident and strong. I'd love to win again in my home state."
6. Tony Stewart (Points: 156): Stewart, who will be making his 214th career Cup start, has two fourth-place finishes (1999, 2000) at California. Last year he finished 16th and 18th respectively. Stewart dominated the 2003 event, leading three times for 100 laps, before a connecting rod broke within the engine, giving him a 41st-place finish - his only DNF at California. Stewart will be behind the wheel of chassis No. 75, which has seen a lot of action since 2003 and most recently at Homestead where it finished fourth. The car was tested at California and Las Vegas and will make its first start of 2005 and the eighth of its career.
Quotable: "Until we get around other cars in race conditions, we're really not going to know how much of an affect the reduced spoiler height and the new tire compound will have. It didn't seem like it was a huge change for us."
7. Mark Martin (Points: 150): Martin will look to continue his streak of 23 straight races of running at the finish at Fontana where he has posted four top-10s, including a win in the 1998 event. Last season he finished 11th in the spring race and third in the Labor Day event. Martin, who has a 15.4 finishing average at Fontana, will be driving chassis number RK-231 this weekend. This is the same car that scored top-five runs at Dover, California 2, Michigan 2 and Las Vegas. Martin has led a total of 259 laps at California Speedway, including 65 laps last fall.
Quotable: "I've been excited about this part of the schedule since it came out. We survived Daytona and made it out with a solid finish and now we are headed into the style of racing that better suits my style."
8. Sterling Marlin (Points: 142): Marlin has a 19.7 finishing average at California with three top-10s in nine races. His best finish was in 2002 (seventh). Marlin will race chassis No. 401 for the first time this season. The car was tested out west before Daytona.
Quotable: "For some reason it didn't take California long to get like Kansas and Chicago, to get the groove worked in. The first couple of races and we were already three wide through the corners. It's a handling track. You've got to be right on the edge of being loose all day to make the cars go fast."
9. Kevin Lepage (Points: 138): Lepage heads to California on a high note after starting eighth and finishing ninth in the Daytona 500. The finish was his first top-10 since a 10th at Talladega in October of 2001. Lepage has competed in three races at California with his best finish (18th) coming in 1999 and best start (13th) in 1998.
10. Rusty Wallace (Points: 134): Wallace, who has a 13.8 average finish in nine races, has one win and five top-10s at California. Wallace will race a car (chassis No. PRS-086) that he tested at Las Vegas and California earlier this month. He has completed 97% (2,183/2,250) of the laps contested at the 2-mile speedway and has collected $898,248 in winnings there.
Quotable:"After all the pre-season testing and hoopla the teams go through and then spending two weeks with the stress and emotions peaking at Daytona, this weekend's race at Fontana could be the most pivotal deal of the whole season."
Others to Watch
11. Elliott Sadler (Points: 130): Sadler posted his first top-20 finish at California in seven races when he drove the M&M's Ford to victory in the second race last year. Sadler's 24.6 finishing average is last among all drivers with a win at the 2-mile speedway. He finished 22nd in the spring race in 2004.
15. Dale Jarrett (Points: 118): Jarrett has captured five top-10 finishes at California with his best coming in 1999 (fifth). Jarrett's 18.0 finishing average is hampered by a 41st-place finish (engine) in 1998 and a 37th-place finish (accident) in 2003. He has led at least one lap in four different races at California for a total of 102 laps. Jarrett will race chassis No. 16, which is the same car that finished 10th at Bristol 2 and 11th at Vegas.
19. Ryan Newman (Points: 108): Newman will make his fifth California Speedway start and his 118th career Cup Series start this Sunday. In his previous four starts at the speedway, Newman has posted two top-five finishes. He currently holds the track qualifying record at 187.432 mph (38.414 sec.), which was set in 2002. Newman will race chassis PRS-61 this weekend. The last time this car ran was at Kansas Speedway where he was running in the top-five before making contact with the turn two wall. PRS-61 has been tested at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
22. Jeremy Mayfield (Points: 99): Mayfield earned his second career Cup victory at California in 2000 after battling an overheating car. Mayfield was able to deal with the heat and ignition problems in the closing laps to win the race with a laboring engine. His win was one of four top-10 finishes he compiled from 1999-2001.
23. Kasey Kahne (Points: 97): Kahne will drive a brand new car (chassis No. 106) that was tested at California, Vegas and Atlanta in the Auto Club 500. Kahne has a 7.5 average finish in his two races at the 2-mile speedway. Last spring he qualified on the pole and ran in the top-five before running out of gas on the final lap. In the second race Kahne started fifth and finished second. He will race the Mountain Dew colors on his No. 9 Dodge this weekend.
24. Greg Biffle (Points: 88): Biffle, who swept both Busch races last year at California, led 28 laps in the 2004 spring race before mechanical problems stuck the No. 16 Ford. Biffle will debut a new car (chassis RK 275) and primary sponsor (Post-It) this weekend. He has 25.0 finishing average at Fontana with his best performance (13th) coming in 2002. However, Biffle did win at Michigan last season in a car that is very similar to this weekend's chassis.
26. Kevin Harvick (Points: 84): The Fontana 2-mile oval is a track in which Harvick needs to improve at, as it's the sight of where he fell out of the "Chase for the NEXTEL Cup" last year. In four out of five races Harvick has failed to finish in the top-25. His best performance (9th) and only top-10 came last spring. Harvick will race a brand new car (chassis No. 134) that was tested at Las Vegas and California a couple weeks ago.
28. Jeff Burton (Points: 81): Could a little Disney magic will put Burton back in victory lane? After mechanical problems in the Daytona 500, Burton spent a few days at Disney World with wife Kim and their children Paige and Harrison. Burton currently holds a 17.4 average finish at California topped by a runner-up in 1999 and a fifth in 2000. He will race chassis No. 124 this weekend, which is the same car that ran at Texas 1 and Atlanta 1 before being re-skinned during the off-season for testing.
42. Matt Kenseth (Points: 37): Kenseth will look to bounce back from his 42nd-place finish because of engine failure last weekend with a strong run at California. Kenseth has captured three top-10 finishes at Fontana with his best effort (third) coming in 2000. He will carry the blue and red USG Sheetrock colors for the first time on his No. 17 this weekend in the Auto Club 500. Kenseth, who has a 12.5 finishing average at California, has led a total of 135 laps at the 2-mile speedway.
43. Bobby Labonte (Points: 34): Labonte is also looking to turn around a rough start after his engine also went south last weekend at Daytona. Labonte has had some success at California with two runner-up finishes (2000, 2003) and a total of four top-five's. Labonte, who has one pole at Fontana (2001), will race chassis No. 87 in the Auto Club 500. The car has seen a lot of action with its best finish (second) coming in the 2004 Darlington spring race.
Elliott and Labonte Return Racing limited schedules, Bill Elliott and Terry Labonte will make their 2005 debut at California.
Elliott, who will make his 738th career start, started third and finished 25th after he battled handling problems throughout the race last Labor Day weekend at California. He will race chassis No. 104, with sponsorship from Stanley Tools, this weekend. The car was tested at Fontana last month, but has never been raced.