Johnson: Wish They All Could Be California
Not surprisingly, five-time champion Jimmie Johnson muscles into the top of practically every track’s statistical run down.
But at Auto Club Speedway, there’s none better. Not even close.
The highlight reel: a series-high five wins (including three of the last five); a series-high 846 laps led (227 more than second-best Matt Kenseth…for comparison’s sake, Sunday’s Auto Club 400 is 200 laps); a Driver Rating of 124.2, which makes ACS his best track in terms of the Loop Data statistic; and series-highs in top fives (11) and top 10s (12, a lead he shares with Matt Kenseth).
If Johnson wins again, he would be the fifth different winner in the first five races, a first since 2005.
From nearby El Cajon, Johnson clearly relishes a trip home.Johnson is one of eight California natives scheduled to race this weekend. The others…
Jeff Gordon (Vallejo, Calif.): Gordon has three victories at ACS, most recently in 2004. He is one of four drivers (Jeff Burton, Bobby Labonte and Joe Nemechek) to run all 21 ACS races.
Kevin Harvick (Bakersfield, Calif.): Improves to 15th in points after a sixth-place finish at Bristol. Harvick has 17 starts at ACS with a top finish of second, last February. AJ Allmendinger (Los Gatos, Calif.): Allmendinger’s best finish at ACS was 14th in 2008, where he led his only lap thus far at the two-mile track.
David Gilliland (Riverside, Calif.): Gilliland’s best finish at ACS was 17th in February, 2008. Last October, he led his first ACS lap in a 20th-place finish. Robby Gordon (Orange, Calif.): Has one top 10 at ACS – a ninth in 2004. He suffered DNFs in both races last season.
Casey Mears (Bakersfield, Calif.): Mears has two top 10s at ACS – an eighth in 2004 and a seventh in 2006.
Mike Skinner (Susanville, Calif.): Skinner has run two races in the No. 32 this season, with finishes of 24th at Phoenix and 29th at Las Vegas. His best ACS finish was seventh in 2000 after he won the Coors Light Pole.
RCR A Perfect Fit For Menard
Paul Menard’s first full seasons were with Dale Earnhardt, Inc. He finished 34th in 2007, and 26th in 2008.
A year later, with Yates Racing, he finished 31st. That was 2009.
A year after that, last season, Menard enjoyed the best finish of his career, 23rd. That was in Richard Petty Motorsports equipment.
Now, with his fourth team in as many seasons, Menard has gotten the break of his career. He joined Richard Childress Racing, an operation that houses six NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championships, and last year landed all three of its drivers – Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton and Clint Bowyer – in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
This year, shirking predictions of another subpar points finish, Menard might be the next RCR driver in the Chase.
He currently sits fifth – the best points position of his career, and the best of any RCR driver. He has been the top-finishing Richard Childress Racing driver in three of the four races this season.
And at Bristol, he led 35 laps, the highest single-race total of his career.
But this weekend presents another new challenge for Menard. In eight career Auto Club Speedway races, Menard has just one finish in the top 20 – an 18th last February.
Surprises – And Storylines – Throughout The Standings
From top to bottom, the points contain a multitude of storylines – some expected, others definitely surprising.
• Kurt Busch, the 2004 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion and Carl Edwards are separated by a single point. Busch is the only driver to post top-10 finishes in each of the four races. Edwards has a victory and a pair of second-place performances.
• Stewart-Haas Racing appears to have rebounded from last year’s so-so finish. Tony Stewart and teammate Ryan Newman – who missed last year’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup – rank a solid three-four in current points.
• Has Dale Earnhardt Jr. returned to form? Three consecutive top-15 finishes – two in the top 10 – send Earnhardt to ninth in points, four spots higher than he ranked after four races in 2010. Earnhardt and new crew chief Steve Letarte appear to be bonding quite well.
• Mark Martin made headlines in 2009 when he nearly won the championship finishing second to teammate Jimmie Johnson. At age 52, Martin is a tie-breaker away from a top-10 ranking.
• On the bounce-back trail but not there yet: Kevin Harvick. He was 22nd after Phoenix, and 20th and still without a top-10 after Las Vegas. A sixth-place run at Bristol in a smashed up car moves Harvick to 15th, a manageable 13 points out of 10th.
• Last season’s championship runner up Denny Hamlin has just one top-10 finish, limped to a 33rd-place finish at Bristol and fell out of the top 10 to 17th.
• And sand is quickly running through the hour glass for a number of preseason favorites, among them Greg Biffle, Clint Bowyer, Jamie McMurray, Jeff Burton and Joey Logano, all of whom are outside the top 20. Biffle, in 23rd, is the highest ranked of the five, and the only one with a top-10 finish.
A New Day: After Sunday, 2011 Points Decide Top 35
For the first five races, the 2010 owner points are used when awarding top 35 teams guaranteed status to each race.
Auto Club Speedway hosts race No. 5. After Sunday, the 2011 points will be used.
That presents some interesting angles all around the top-35 bubble. Casey Mears and his No. 13 Germain Racing Toyota has had to qualify on speed for the first five races, and now sits directly on the bubble, in 35th. Mears is one point ahead of Dave Blaney and the No. 36 Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet, in 36th.
A few marquee teams are perilously close to the bubble. Jeff Burton and the No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet sit 30th, 23 points ahead of the cut-off. Joey Logano and the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota are also 23 points up. Brian Vickers and the No. 83 Red Bull Racing Toyota are just 18 points ahead of the cut-off.
NSCS Etc.
The polls open Tuesday, March 23 at 12:01 a.m. for the Sprint Fan Vote, a last-chance for drivers to make the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race. Sprint customers can vote using the NASCAR Sprint Cup Mobile application on their Sprint or Nextel devices. Fans also may cast votes on to NASCAR.COM or visiting the Sprint Experience display, located in the midway at all NSCS races. … Both Auto Club Speedway races in 2010 featured Loop Data-era highs in passing. The first race saw a total of 3,849 green flag passes, the most since the inception of Loop Data in 2005. In October, there were 3,839 passes. Passing up front was also high. In the February event, there were 35 green flag passes for the lead all around the track. In October, there were 30. The 65 combined green flag passes for the lead last season at ACS was the highest two-race total since NASCAR started taking passing stats in 2005. … California Marine Matthew Hansen will serve as an honorary pit crew member of the No. 17 team this Sunday. The San Marcos resident was awarded naming rights to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Richmond International Raceway on April 30. The race will be titled Crown Royal Presents the Matthew & Daniel Hansen 400 in honor of Matthew and his fallen twin brother. … Milestones: Juan Pablo Montoya will be making his 150th start; Regan Smith his 100th start, Kasey Kahne goes for his 50th top five. Tony Stewart will be going for his 250th top 10. … Jeff Gordon will be a guest on The Ellen DeGeneres Show this Friday, March 25.
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