NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES 3/18/15

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES

Freaky Fast

Jimmy John’s isn’t kidding.

Kevin Harvick is fast.

Freaky fast.

After back-to-back wins at Las Vegas and Phoenix, the defending NASCAR Sprint Cup champion has reeled off seven consecutive top-two finishes since his runner-up showing at Texas on Nov. 2, 2014, including four victories. His streak is the longest since “The King” himself, Richard Petty, pulled off 11 consecutive top twos in 1975.

History helps paint the picture of Harvick’s dominance, but his loop statistics do an even better job of showing just how good Harvick has been throughout his extraordinary run.

During his streak, Harvick has posted a 134.5 driver rating, 23 points higher than the next-best competitor (Joey Logano, 111.5). Additionally, his 3.618 average running position is almost three places higher than Logano’s next highest 6.353 total.

His 802 laps led and 460 fastest laps run more than double the next-highest totals (Jimmie Johnson, 367 laps led; Jeff Gordon 184 fastest laps run).

The No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing driver will look to further his streak in Sunday’s Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX).  He owns one victory and a second-place finish in 21 starts at his hometown track.

Right now, Harvick looks unstoppable.

But remember, it’s a long season. Thirty-two races remain.

Auto (Club) Pilot: Johnson Attempts to Continue Success at Fontana

For the second consecutive week, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to a track where an active driver holds its wins record.

Last week, it was Kevin Harvick at Phoenix. This week it’s six-time NSCS champion Jimmie Johnson, who heads to Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California hoping to collect his sixth victory at the two-mile oval.  Auto Club is one of four tracks where Johnson boasts at least five victories (Dover, 9; Martinsville, 8; Charlotte, 7). It also stands as one of five tracks where he owns the track wins record (Dover, 9; Charlotte, 7; Las Vegas, 4; Texas, 4).

Johnson’s last Los Angeles area victory came in spring of 2010, but the No. 48 Chevrolet driver also claims  12 top fives (60%) and 14 top 10s (70%) in 20 starts at Auto Club.

Going Back to Cali: A Number of Drivers Head Home for West Coast Finale

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is going going, back back to Cali Cali.

Ten drivers return to their home state of California for Sunday’s Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California: Jimmie Johnson (El Cajon), Jeff Gordon (Vallejo), AJ Allmendinger (Los Gatos), Kyle Larson (Elk Grove), Casey Mears (Bakersfield), David Gilliland (Riverside), Cole Whitt (Alpine), Kevin Harvick (Bakersfield), Josh Wise (Riverside) and Matt DiBenedetto (Grass Valley).

Jimmie Johnson has been the most “notorious” at the Southern California track with a course-record five checkered flags. A new victor is guaranteed as Kyle Busch – winner of the last two Auto Club races remains out due to injury.

Toyota Time?

Toyota drivers get to showcase their talents on their manufacturers’ United States turf when the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series travels to Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California for the Auto Club 400. Toyota has won the last two races at the two-mile track behind the efforts of Kyle Busch. Wheelmen Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin, Clint Bowyer, David Ragan and Brian Vickers are all poised to take their Toyotas to Victory Lane. Toyota Racing Development (TRD), USA is located in Costa Mesa – about an hour away from the race track.

Gordon Fontana Finale

Born in Vallejo, California, Jeff Gordon may be racing in the southern part of his home state for the last time in this weekend’s Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California.

Gordon claims three victories at Auto Club – including its inaugural race in 1997 – but hasn’t won there since 2004. He will try to build on his first top-10 finish of the season at Phoenix last week, as well as add  to his NSCS-leading two Coors Light Pole Awards.

The track isn’t the only place Gordon has experienced SoCal success. His off-track endeavors also have a Hollywood flare: “Steel Chariots,” “Looney Tunes: Back in Action,” “Taxi,” “Herbie: Fully Loaded” and “Cars 2” (as the voice of Jeff Gorvette). Gordon has starred on the small screen in episodes of “Arli$$,” “Spin City,” “The Drew Carey Show,” “Speed Racer: The Next Generation,” and “The Simpsons.” Comfortable as an entertainer, Gordon hosted an episode of “Saturday Night Live” in 2003 and also co-hosted “Live! with Regis and Kelly multiple times.

Truex Jr. Poised for Big Season

Showing no signs of slowing down from his hot start to the season, Martin Truex Jr. rallied to a seventh-place result at Phoenix, posting his fourth consecutive top-10 finish to open 2015. Truex’s string of top 10s is his longest since 2012 when he recorded separate streaks of five (career high) and four.  That season, the New Jersey native tallied a personal-best 19 top 10s and made his second career Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup appearance.

Coincidentally, Auto Club Speedway was part of Truex’s five-race top-10 streak. He will be visiting the two-mile oval this weekend as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series visits Fontana, California for the Auto Club 400.  Truex enters the fifth race on the season slate third in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings, trailing second-place Joey Logano by five points and leader Kevin Harvick by 27 points. The No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet driver ranks tied for second in average finish (5.8) and fifth in driver rating (103.8), yet still costs less than $20 on NASCAR.com’s Fantasy Live. HINT: Pick him up while you can.

Newman’s Own

Ryan Newman has started the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season the same way he finished the last one – on a nice little run.

Newman closed the 2014 season with three top fives in the last five races, including a runner-up finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway to capture second place in the final NSCS standings. He has carried that momentum into his 14th full-time NSCS campaign with third-place finishes in his last two races and three top 10s just four races into 2015.

The early speed is a welcome sight for the 37-year-old Chevrolet driver. Last year, he did not log a top five until June 28 at Kentucky Speedway – the 17th event of the season. He has not won a race since his Indianapolis victory on July 28, 2013.

NASCAR  Boasts Long SoCal History

When Bill France Sr. founded NASCAR, he envisioned a stock car series that stretched from coast-to-coast. He worked immediately to make it happen.

In 1951, the NASCAR Grand National Division (today’s Sprint Cup Series) visited Carrell Speedway in Gardena, California three times. The first race, held on April 8, was the first NASCAR venture west of the Mississippi.  Marshall Teague took the checkered flag in his Fabulous Hudson Hornet, the same car he had driven to victory on the famed Daytona beach-road course two months earlier.

From 1958-88, Riverside International Raceway was a West Coast highlight of the NASCAR schedule.  The race was often the first of the calendar year and from 1970-81 was the NASCAR premier series season opener. The list of Riverside race winners reads like a ‘Who’s Who’ of motorsports, with NASCAR Hall of Famers Bobby Allison (6), Richard Petty (4), Darrell Waltrip (4), David Pearson (3), Cale Yarborough (3), Rusty Wallace (2) and Bill Elliott (1) winning 24 of the 48 races held at the 2.62-mile road course.

In 1971, NASCAR scheduled its first 500-mile oval race in Southern California at the new Ontario Motor Speedway.  The 2.5-mile track was built as the “Indianapolis of the West,” complete with a rectangular shape and low banking.  Its inaugural race, the 1,000th in premier series history, was won by racing legend A.J. Foyt, who had won three Indianapolis 500s at that point.