What’s This? All the skinny on this week’s race and location- jammed packed full of facts on the venue, the records and bonus material.
What?- The Auto Club 500.
Where?- Auto Club Speedway, Fontana, CA (my birthplace)
When?- Sunday, February 22, 2009. Green flag at 6:00 PM Eastern, 3:00 PM Pacific.
TV Broadcast- FOX Network, featuring Hosts Chris Myers and Jeff Hammond. Mike Joy, Larry Mc Reynolds and Darrell Waltrip call the race from the booth. Broadcast kicks off at 5:00 PM Eastern, 2:00 PM Pacific.
TRACK DIMENSIONS
Track Length: 2 miles (250 laps= 500 miles)
Banking: 14 degrees in the turns, 11 degrees on front stretch, 3 degrees on back stretch.
Front Stretch- 3,100 feet
Back Stretch- 2,500 feet
TRACK RECORDS
Californian Jeff Gordon won the first event here on June 22, 1997. Last year, Carl
Edwards won the first of two Cup events at Fontana, Jimmie Johnson captured the checkered on Labor Day weekend, en route to a dominant stretch of driving that helped Johnson win his second consecutive title.
First Race- June 22, 1997- the California 500.
First Winner- California’s own Jeff Gordon.
Gordon and teammate Jimmie Johnson have the most Cup wins at Auto Club with 3 each.
Kurt Busch, the driver of the “Blue Duece” has captured the most Cup poles with 3.
The fastest qualifier? That would also be the elder Busch, with a speed of 188.425 miles per hour, clocking a time of 38.248 seconds.
The fastest race? Jeff Gordon did that in the track’s inaugural race on June 22, 1997 with an average speed of 155.012 miles per hour in a time of 3 hours, 13 minutes and 32 seconds.
The Most Lead Changes occurred in last year’s Auto Club 500. There were 32. The fewest? That happened twice, the most recent in September of 2006 at Sony HD 500- the lead changed hands 18 times.
The Fewest Cautions? 4 at the June 22, 1997 event. The Most? 12 at last year’s rain-soaked February race.
28 drivers finished on the lead lap twice, the most at Fontana. The most recent occurrence at the September, 2005 Sony HD 500. The fewest? 9- on two occasions, the most recent being the May, 1999 California 500.
TRACK BUZZ
Most of it centers on two items:
1) Matt Kenseth passing Elliott Sadler, with a push from Kevin Harvick to win the Daytona 500. Critics have tried to diminish the wind, due to the abbreviated race. Folks- this is the 4th time this has happened. I remind you of all the havoc the rain management caused at California last February. Now the 2003 champion goes from a track where he picked up an unlikely win to a place where he and his Roush teammates have rocked. Kenseth won here in 2006 and 2007. Roush drivers have won 6 times at Auto Club. So watch for Kenseth, 2008 winner Carl Edwards, Jamie Mc Murray, 2005 winner Greg Biffle and the up and coming
2) The most noise is coming from the controversial collision between Brian Vickers and Dale Earnhardt Jr. in Sunday’s race. These two have a history, and it isn’t good. I will spare you further commentary, because frankly, I’ve heard enough. We’ll just have to see if that big rough and tumble rivalry some fans have been looking for comes out of this.
Anyone who wonders why NASCAR made the call it did on Sunday need only look at last year’s race on this track to see why we shouldn’t let lousy track conditions determine the outcome of the race. You may remember- Junior wrecked here early, Sam Hornish, Casey Mears and Denny Hamlin all got collected in early trouble.
If anyone knows a “Sun Dance”- I suggest you use it.
For all of you whose driver didn’t do so well- take comfort. Daytona is often no indicator of good things to come. It’s safe to say the Hendrick cars and the Roush cars will be good. It’s still early, and we’re still finding who will be in the 2009 mix.
What I find encouraging is that there are 48 cars trying to get in the field. Given all the bad news this Winter, I think many were worried we wouldn’t have a full field and that California would look like a ghost town. Now- if only the fans show up.
NASCAR TERMINOLOGY-
Become a NASCAR expert by learning how to conversantly use these terms.
Deck lid- No this is not Richard Petty’s big hat. For all you folks in Rio Linda, the deck lid as a stock car term for something your car has…….a trunk.
Sway or anti-roll bar- This is used to resist or counteract the rolling force of the car body through the turns.
Axle- We’re not talking about the lead singer from Guns ‘N’ Roses. The axle is a rotating shaft that connects the rear differential gears to the rear wheels.
PHOTO CREDITS- Auto Club photo by eekles, Edwards by rebilasphoto, Biffle by Walter G. Arce. More work by these photogrpaphers may be found at flickr.com.
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