Auto Club Speedway - The Pepsi Max 400 (News & Notes)

[HacheMan]

The Pepsi Max 400
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stops at Auto Club Speedway's two-mile oval for the 30th race of the 2010 season, the Pepsi Max 400. Brian Brown took a look at past performances, season trends, and spoke with NASCAR contacts to predict how the field should finish on Sunday.


When: Sunday, October 10, 2010 at 3:16 p.m./et.


Weather: Sunny with a daytime high around 88; wind out of the NNE at 7 mph. There is a zero percent chance of precipitation.


The Track: Auto Club Speedway

ACS is a two-mile long D-shaped oval. It has intermediate (14 degree) banking on the corners which allows for drivers to run their cars nearly wide-open the entire way around the track.


Key to Race: RUN WITH THE BIG DOGS OR GO HOME

This is a race that used to be won or lost in the wind tunnel, but today's car is not as dependent on aerodynamic packages as the car driven a few years ago and driver skill plays a greater factor in winning or losing. Judging from the last few races at the track, Sunday should be very competitive with Roush-Fenway, Gibbs, and Hendrick bringing the cars to beat.


Qualifying Procedures:

45 cars will attempt to qualify for 43 spots. Cars not in the top 35 in the 2010 owner point standings will have to qualify based on speed. Starting positions 1-43 will be determined during qualifying on Friday, October 8 at 6:40 pm/et.


Fantasy Cheat Sheet:

Top 5

No. 48 Jimmie Johnson: It is tough not to pick the native Californian. Johnson has won four of the last six races at the track he considers his home turf.
No. 18 Kyle Busch: Busch has finished in the top 10 in eight of the past 10 races at Fontana. He is a great fantasy pick on Sunday.

No. 99 Carl Edwards: Edwards has finished seventh or better in 10 of his 12 Cup starts at Fontana. He won the February 2008 race at the track and is one of our favorites to win again this weekend.
No. 24 Jeff Gordon: Gordon has three career wins at Fontana and had one of the best cars on the track in last season's races. He is a great choice.
No. 17 Matt Kenseth: Kenseth won last year's winter race for his third career win at the track. He should finish in the top 10 again this weekend, but we don't see another win.


6 to 10

No. 16 Greg Biffle: Biffle has been a top 10 driver the past 11 races at ACS. He will be fast again.
No. 14 Tony Stewart: Stewart has never won in 18 career starts at Fontana. He is due for a win at the track.
No. 2 Kurt Busch: Busch has been strong at ACS during his career. He has a win and six top five finishes in 16 career starts at the track. He won't have a problem finishing inside the top 10.
No. 29 Kevin Harvick: Harvick has averaged a top 15 finish the past eight trips to Fontana. He will be fast again.
No. 5 Mark Martin: Martin has nine top 10 finishes in 18 career starts at Fontana. He will be strong again.


11 to 20

No. 9 Kasey Kahne: Kahne has been great at Fontana during his career. He has seven top 10 finishes, including a win, in 13 career starts at the track.
No. 11 Denny Hamlin: Hamlin has three top 10 finishes in nine career starts at Fontana. He is a great third driver on most fantasy teams this weekend.
No. 33 Clint Bowyer: Bowyer has never finished worse than 20th in nine career starts at Fontana. He is a great third driver on any fantasy team this weekend.
No. 31 Jeff Burton: Burton has run well in seven of the past eight races at Fontana. We think he is a lock to finish inside the top 15.
No. 20 Joey Logano: Logano has top 15 finishes in his past two trips to Fontana. This is a good weekend to sneak "Sliced Bread" onto your roster.
No. 42 Juan Pablo Montoya: Montoya has averaged just a 21st place finish at Fontana. He will just miss the top 15 this trip to California.
No. 00 David Reutimann: Rudy has been fast in three of the past four trips to Fontana. He is a decent sleeper pick this weekend.
No.56 Martin Truex Jr.: Truex looked great in two of the past six races at Fontana. He could crack the top 15 with a little luck.
No. 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Junior has struggled at Fontana lately. We recommend avoiding him this weekend.
No. 6 David Ragan: Ragan has finished inside the top 25 in all of his career starts at Fontana. He should be able to keep the streak alive.


21 to 30

No. 12 Brad Keselowski: Keselowski finished 21st in his first Cup start at Fontana and has averaged a 12th place finish in five career Nationwide Series starts at the track. He will have no problem being competitive this weekend.
No. 82 Scott Speed: Speed was awesome at Fontana this spring. He is an interesting sleeper pick.
No. 39 Ryan Newman: Newman has defined average in 10 starts at Fontana. This is a good weekend to take a pass on the Purdue Boilermaker.
No. 98 Paul Menard: Menard has cracked the top 27 in five of his seven career starts at Fontana. He should finish inside the top 27 again this weekend.
No. 1 Jamie McMurray: Mr. Daytona 500 has five top 10 finishes in 14 career starts at Fontana, but he hasn't cracked the top 10 in the past eight races at the track. His lack of recent success in his home-state bumps him out of our top 20.
No. 83 Reed Sorenson: Sorenson hasn't been terrible since taking over the No. 83 car. He will finish solidly inside the top 30.
No. 44 A.J. Allmendinger: Allmendinger has had mixed results at Fontana during his career. He is a little too risky of a choice for our blood.
No. 77 Sam Hornish Jr.: Hornish has driven well the past four trips to Fontana. He isn't a bad sleeper pick this weekend.
No. 47 Marcos Ambrose: Ambrose has struggled to crack the top 20 at ACS during his career. We don't think he will have enough speed to be anything but a fourth driver in fantasy leagues this weekend.
No. 19 Elliott Sadler: Fontana hasn't been good to Sadler since 2005. We wouldn't use him as anything but a fifth fantasy driver.


31 to 35

No. 13 Casey Mears: Mears has been very average at Fontana. He is only worth using for those of you in the deepest leagues.
No. 09 Bobby Labonte: Labonte has cracked the top 30 in the past eight races at Fontana. We expect he will struggle to make it nine consecutive top 30 finishes this weekend.
No. 7 Robby Gordon or Kevin Conway: Conway is expected to start Sunday's race, but an official announcement hasn't been made.
No. 38 David Gilliland: California native Gilliland has done well in his previous trips to Fontana. He is a deep, deep, deep sleeper for those of you desperate for a driver no one else in your league will use.
No. 34 Travis Kvapil: Start-and-park driver.


Field Fillers

No. 78 Regan Smith
No. 26 Patrick Carpentier
No. 71 Andy Lally
No. 36 J.J. Yeley
No. 66 Jason Leffler
No. 87 Joe Nemechek
No. 37 Dave Blaney
No. 46 Michael McDowell
No. 55 Mike Bliss
No. 64 Landon Cassill


Brownie's Picks

Top Four:

1. Jimmie Johnson
2. Kyle Busch
3. Carl Edwards
4. Jeff Gordon

Sleepers:

1. Joey Logano
2. Scott Speed

Bust of the Week:

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

 

[HacheMan]

Fontana: Pepsi Max 400
Track history: From World War II until the end of 1983, this Fontana, California site was home of Kaiser Steel. After Kaiser went bankrupt, the site was left to deteriorate into rusting rubble. In November 1993, Roger Penske and Kaiser Ventures Inc. started discussions on cleaning up the site for a possible superspeedway. On Nov. 22, 1995, after getting race dates from NASCAR and CART, a work force that numbered in the thousands began demolition and construction. More than 21,000 tons of hazardous waste was removed. Then a million more tons of rubble was removed. The final cost of the 2-mile California Speedway was around $120 million. Since then, they have added road courses and a drag strip to the racing complex. The facility hosts NASCAR, IRL, Motorcycle Racing, NHRA and Grand American sports car racing. It is also the home of six different racing schools. In 1998, 15,777 seats were added raising the grandstand capacity to 86,232. The following year, 28 skyboxes were added to the rim of the grandstands, which currently hold about 92,000 fans. There is still plenty of room for expansion at this 568-acre facility. In August 2007, the speedway showcased its multi-million dollar Midway redesign which included Wolfgang Puck's Apex restaurant, a town center and new concert stage. In 2008, ACS added the Camping World Back Lot, a 286-site campground that gives campers the full Hollywood "back lot experience." Campers have various activities, including studio-sponsored movie nights, comfortable common areas, and food stands with a cinematic theme.

Up until this weekend, all 20 Sprint Cup races held at this track have been 500 mile events. Fontana has hosted 2 NSCS races each year since the fall event was added to the schedule in 2004. This will be a 400 mile race and the final fall Fontana Cup race. Starting in 2011, the track will go back to hosting only one NSCS race (a 500-miler) in March.

June 22, 1997: Joe Nemechek put the No. 42 Felix Sabates owned Chevrolet Monte Carlo on the pole for the 1997 California 500 Presented by NAPA with a qualifying lap of 183.015 mph. Jeff Gordon, driving the Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 Chevrolet at an average race speed of 155.012 mph, took the inaugural win.

October 11, 2009: The 2009 Pepsi 500 was brought to the green flag by Denny Hamlin in the No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota. He led 21 laps and ran in the top 5 during the first 200 laps of 250 lap event. After getting tagged and sent into the fence, he came away with a 37th place DNF. Jimmie Johnson's No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet had the field covered that day. He started 3rd, let the most laps (126) and took the win over teammate, Jeff Gordon (No. 24).

February 21, 2010: Teammates Jamie McMurray (No. 1) and Juan Pablo Montoya (No. 42) made it an Earnhardt Ganassi Racing front row at the start of the 2010 Auto Club 500. Montoya passed pole-sitter McMurray before the end of lap 1. McMurray never led a lap and finished 17th. Montoya lost the engine in the 42 on lap 140 and placed 37th. Jimmie Johnson (No. 48), who started 7th, led the most laps (101 of 250) and earned his 5th Fontana win. It was Johnson's 4th victory in the last six races at ACS. Kevin Harvick (No. 29) finished runner-up by 1.5 seconds.

Your fantasy game won't allow you to pick all track favorites so Mid-Pack Attack is here to help. A mid-packer may not win the race but has as good a shot at a top 15 finish as track favorites Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth. There were 45 cars on the preliminary entry list for this weekend's Cup race. Here are our picks for Sunday's Pepsi Max 400 in Fontana, California.
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Mid-Pack picks

Joey Logano has been outstanding at ACS in the Nationwide Series. In four NNS starts at the 2-mile oval, he has four top-7 starts (including 2 poles) and four top-6 finishes (including a win last October). Running with the big guys in the Sprint Cup Series, Logano has made a steady improvement at this track. His two races here in 2009 resulted in a 26th in February and a 14th last October. In February of this year, he started 19th and finished 5th which he said "was like a win for us at this track". This is a good place to fill in your roster with the No. 20 driver.

Sam Hornish Jr. had excellent results at Fontana in the Indy Car Series. In four starts he had 2 wins, a 4th and a 5th. He started all four open-wheel races in the top ten as well. In five Sprint Cup races at the California speedway, his most recent two starts ended in 12th and 16th place finishes. In the February race, Hornish might have posted a better finish if he didn't have to serve a pass-thru penalty for entering pit road too fast. He ran in the top 5 a good part of the first half of the race and had settled into the top 10 before the penalty. Give the No. 77 a look for your fourth or fifth driver.

One of Kasey Kahne's 11 NSCS wins was earned at Auto Club Speedway. In his first start at the two-mile track (2004) he scored the pole. Besides his victory in the 2006 fall race, he has scored three top-5 and seven top-10 finishes in 13 Fontana Cup races. His overall average finish is a 16.2 for those events. In the Nationwide Series, he has an average finish of 6.1 (including a win) in seven starts. He started 4th here in February's Cup race, but after getting under Montoya's No. 42 and losing 'aero', Kahne's No. 9 went spinning into the grass suffering some fender damage (finished 34th). Hopefully, he'll do better this weekend. We're looking for a top 15 from Kahne on Sunday.

Speaking of Juan Pablo Montoya and the No. 42, in 2009 he finished 11th in the February race. He led 78 laps in the October 2009 race but came up short at the end (3rd). As noted above, he started the February 2010 event on the front row and took the lead on the first lap. He led the first 29 laps but then it went downhill. Montoya brushed the wall on lap 30, got a pit road speeding penalty on lap 94 and, finally on lap 140, the engine expired on the 42 (placed 37th). Like Hornish, he did well here in open-wheel racing. In two CART starts, he had Fontana finishes of 4th and 10th. We think Montoya has some unfinished Sprint Cup business at ACS.