Seven competitors are within 114 points of leader Mark Martin, meaning there’s a lot on the line for Sunday’s Pepsi 500 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana. While the track gets knocked for the quality of its racing, there’s no doubt this race will have a significant place in determining the outcome of the 2009 season’s championship. Adding to the intrigue is the fact there are numerous Chase racers who’ve tasted success on this track.
Let’s get to it, shall we?
TRACK FACTS
Auto Club Speedway debuted in NASCAR Winston Cup 
competition on June 22, 1997. Jeff Gordon was first to the finish line in this race, the fastest run to date in Fontana. Gordon ran a speed of 155.012 miles per hour in a time of 3 hours, 12 minutes and 32 seconds.
The track is 2 miles in length, making for a 250 lap race Sunday. There’s 14 degrees in the turns, 11 degrees banking on front stretch, 3 degrees on back stretch. The front stretch measures 3,100 feet, the back stretch- 2,500 feet. ACS is considered a cousin to Michigan Speedway.
The grandstand seating capacity is 92,000 people.
TOP PERFORMERS
The runner of the fastest race here, Jeff Gordon, last September’s winner Jimmie Johnson and the February race winner Matt Kenseth are the all-time wins leaders in Cup racing at Auto Club with 3 each.
Kurt Busch has won the most pole awards with three, while his younger brother Kyle owns the fastest qualifying lap, clocking a speed of 188.425 miles per hour in a time of 28.248 seconds on February 26, 2005, while driving in the number five Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet now piloted by Mark Martin.
The most lead changes occurred in last year’s Auto Club 500. There were 33. The fewest? 18 on May 3, 1998 when Martin won the California 500.
The fewest cautions waved in the June 22, 1997 event- 4 times. The most? 12 at last year’s rain-soaked February race.
A record 42 drivers finished the September 3, 2006 Son HD 500 won by Kasey Kahne. At the other extreme, there were 32 that finished the race at ACS on two occasions- the most recent being the February 25, 2005 Auto Club 500 won by Greg Biffle.
WHEN & WHERE TO TUNE IN
SPEED’s pre-race show starts at 12:30 PM Eastern, 9:30 AM Pacific. John Roberts, Jimmy "Mr. Excitement" Spencer and Kenny "The Hermanator" Wallace are your hosts.
ABC’s NASCAR Countdown gets underway at 2:30 PM Eastern, 11:30 AM Pacific. Allen Bestwick, Brad Daugherty, Rusty Wallace and Tim Brewer host here and on into the race.
The green flag will wave at about 3:31 PM Eastern, 12:30 PM Pacific. Dr. Jerry Punch, Andy Petree and Dale Jarrett call the race trackside, with Dave Burns, Shannon Spake, Jamie Little and Vince Welch reporting from the pits.
You may also catch the race on the radio, with coverage from MRN and XM Sirius Satellite radio.
WHO’S GOING TO WIN?
Usually, the question at Auto Club is one of whether it will be 
a show domination with Hendrick horsepower, or if it will be a Roush-fueled rumble. Factoring in the satellite teams, it’s probably a good way to bet.
As mentioned earlier, Gordon and Johnson have 6 wins between them- one-third of the Cup races run in Fontana. You could throw in Martin’s victory, but that actually occurred 11 years ago in a Roush Ford. On the other hand, Kyle Busch had a win here for HMS.
Speaking of Roush, in addition to these chasers, Greg Biffle’s been a winner and non-chaser Matt Kenseth a three-time winner. Other drivers in the championship hunt having won here also include Kasey Kahne and Kurt Busch.
Whether or not the confidence is warranted, I’m feeling pretty good about my handicapping mojo, having picked the winner the last two races. Last week, I selected Tony Stewart because I felt he was due.
Similarly, I feel the same way this week about Jeff Gordon. Last week, the 4-time champion made a hard charge at the end, but ran out of laps in trying to catch Stewart.
This week will be different. Not only does he have a strong history here, but being a California native, it would be something of a fitting occasion to have the race be the one where Gordon catches the legendary Cale Yarborough for his 83rd career win.
There will be good challenges from the likes of Biffle, Kenseth, Kahne, Johnson and Martin. As far as that goes, there’s no reason why Kurt Busch, Denny Hamlin, Juan Pablo Montoya and Ryan Newman won’t run well. The chasers, generally, speaking, are on a roll.
But this time……is Gordon’s time.
PHOTO CREDITS- Biffle and Gordon racing and Johnson racing at Fontana by Jeff Gross/ Getty Images for NASCAR. Edwards and Busch racing by Geoff Burke/ Getty Images.
