NASCAR Pre-race: FOX - 2:30pm/et

Television Race Coverage: FOX, 3:00pm/et

In the Booth: Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip, Larry McReynolds

Pit Reporters: Dick Berggren, Steve Byrnes, Matt Yocum, Krista Voda

Hollywood Hotel: Chris Myers and Jeff Hammond

SPEED's NASCAR Raceday Pre-Race Show: 12:30pm/et with John Roberts, Kyle Petty, Kenny Wallace

Scheduled Race Re-Air Dates/Times:
Wednesday, March 30 at 12:00pm/et on SPEED

TV Listings, Links and Info:
Jayski's TV Listings Page
NASCAR on TV
Race Fan TV

This Week - Motor Racing Network (MRN) and Sirius XM Satellite Radio

motorracingnetwork.com

sirius.com

Track Specifications:
Track/Race Length: 2.0 mile D-shaped oval, 200 laps, 400 miles
Superspeedway: 2.0-mile oval 75 feet wide with a 15 foot apron
Banking: turns: 14°; frontstretch 11°; backstretch 3°
Front Stretch: 3,100feet
Back Stretch: 2,500feet
Pit Road: 2,200 feet long with 44 individual pit stalls
Pit Road Speed: 55mph
Pace Car Speed: 60mph
Approx: 1,800 Infield RV spaces
Grandstand seating capacity: 92,000
Seating Chart
Opened: 1997

Race Festivities/Officials:
Grand Marshal: Actor Christian Slater
Command to start engines: Christian Slater
Honorary Starter/Wave Green Flag: Boxing legend Sugar Ray Leonard
Invocation: Jeff Hamilton, Motor Racing Outreach
National Anthem: Richard Marx
Military Flyover: F-18 Hornets, Test & Evaluation Squadron, China Lake, California

Websites:
Auto Club Speedway
ESPN's NASCAR Track Guide: Auto Club Speedway
ISC Motorsports
Auto Club Speedway - Twitter
Auto Club Speedway - Facebook
Auto Club Speedway - MySpace

October 2010: see my Auto Club Race Info page

February 2010: see my Auto Club Race Info page

For news, stats, records and more about this race track, see: Jayski's Auto Club Speedway Track News/Rumors/Links page

February 2010 Race Winner: #48-Jimmie Johnson, 141.911, started 7th

October 2010 Race Winner: #14-Tony Stewart, 131.953, started 22nd

Track Race Record: #24-Jeff Gordon, June 1997, 155.012mph

Slowest Race Record: #38-Elliott Sadler, Sept 2004, 128.324mph

Oldest Winner: Rusty Wallace, 44 years, 8 months, 15 days, 4/29/2001

Youngest Winner: Kyle Busch, 20 years, 4 months, 2 days, 9/4/2005

Worst Starting Spot to Win: Matt Kenseth, 2/26/2006, started 31st

February 2010 Pole Sitter: #1-Jamie McMurray, 183.744, finished 17th

October 2010 Pole Sitter: #1-Jamie McMurray, 185.285, finished 17th

Track Qualifying Record: #5-Kyle Busch, Feb 2005, 188.425mph

Oldest Pole Winner: Mike Skinner, 42 years, 10 months, 2 days, 4/30/2000

Youngest Pole Winner: Kyle Busch, 19 years, 9 months, 25 days, 2/27/2005

The numbers for the Auto Club 400 at Fontana:
2 -races won from the front row at Auto Club Speedway; one from the pole
4 -number of drivers that have competed in all 21 races at ACS (Jeff Burton, Jeff Gordon, Bobby Labonte and Joe Nemechek)
4 -fewest cautions for a Sprint Cup race at (6/22/97)
8 -number of jet dryers available for track drying during race weekend
9 -most wins by a car owner in previous 21 races (Rick Hendrick)
12 -most cautions (2/24/08)
13 -different winners in previous 21 races
14 -different pole winners
18 -fewest lead changes (twice, most recent 2/26/06)
22 -fewest caution laps (twice, most recent 4/30/00)
33 -most lead changes (2/24/08)
51 -most caution laps (9/5/04)
120 -minutes, the amount of time it takes to dry the 2-mile track after a significant rainfall
188.245 -mph, track qualifying record (Kyle Busch, 1/25/05)
1995 -year track construction began on site of the former Kaiser Steel Mill and completed in 1996
1997 -year first Sprint Cup race held at the track (6/22/97)
2008 -year facility name changed from California Speedway to Auto Club Speedway
BONUS: Although only two tracks currently host NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races, 15 California tracks have hosted a total of 129 Sprint Cup races over the years. Riverside International Raceway had the most - 48 - with the last event in 1988. Only Riverside, Ontario Motor Speedway (nine) and the two tracks currently on the Sprint Cup schedule - Auto Club Speedway (21) and Infineon Raceway (22) - have hosted more than six Cup races.
(Darnell Communications/Dodge)(3-26-2011)

At Auto Club Speedway::
· Groundbreaking for California Speedway, as Auto Club Speedway was originally known, took place in November 1995.
· The first race at Auto Club Speedway was a NASCAR K&N Pro Series, West race won by Ken Schrader on June 21, 1997.
· The first NASCAR Sprint Cup race was held on June 22, 1997 and won by Jeff Gordon.
· September 2004 was the first night race at Auto Club Speedway and that also was the first year both the NASCAR Sprint Cup and NASCAR Nationwide Series ran two races in a season there.
· The track name was changed to Auto Club Speedway in February 2008.
· There have been 21 NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Auto Club Speedway since the track opened in 1997.
· Four drivers have competed in all 21 races: Jeff Burton, Jeff Gordon, Bobby Labonte and Joe Nemechek.
· Joe Nemechek won the pole for the inaugural race in 1997.
· There have been 14 different pole winners, led by Kurt Busch (three). Brian Vickers, Jamie McMurray and Jeff Gordon each have two poles.
· Thirteen different drivers have posted victories. Jimmie Johnson leads all drivers with five wins. Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth each have won three races.
· Hendrick Motorsports has won nine races, more than any other team.
· Ten of the 21 races were won from starting positions outside the top 10; only one has been won from the pole (Jimmie Johnson in 2008). The most prolific starting position is third, with three victories.
· Matt Kenseth won the 2006 spring race from the 31st starting position, the deepest in the field that a race winner has started.
· Two active drivers have averaged a top-10 finish: Jimmie Johnson (5.3) and Carl Edwards (9.2).
· Kyle Busch won his first NASCAR Sprint Cup pole (2/05) and first race (9/05) at Auto Club Speedway.
· Jimmie Johnson won his first NASCAR Sprint Cup race at ASC on April 28, 2002.(NASCAR)(3-22-2011)

For more track records, past starting spots that have won and more on Jayski's Auto Club Speedway Track News/Stats/Links page

Practices:
Friday, March 25, 3:00 - 4:30pm/et, TV-SPEED
Saturday, March 26, 2:30 - 3:15pm/et, TV-SPEED

Happy Hour 'Final' practice: Saturday, March 26, 2:50 - 3:50pm/et, TV-SPEED

Qualifying Draw: none, qualifying order is set by practice speeds, if rained out, then by points

Qualifying: 2 laps for positions 1-42, Friday, March 25 at 7:10 pm/et, TV-SPEED, re-air at 10:30pm/et;
AND live via radio at MRN Radio only on NASCAR.com.

Kevin Harvick wins at Auto Club Speedway: #29-Kevin Harvick won the Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway for his 1st win of 2010 and the 15th of his career. He came from 3rd place with 3 laps remaining and passed #48-Jimmie Johnson for the win coming off turn 4 on the final lap. Johnson held on for second. #18-Busch, who led 151 laps on the day finished 3rd, followed by #17-Kenseth, #39-Newman, #99-Edwards, #33-Bowyer, #83-Vickers, #4-Kahne, and pole sitter #42-Montoya. Points leader going in to the race, #22-Busch finished 17th.
There were 18 lead changes among 10 drivers; 4 cautions for 16 yellow flag laps and the attendance is listed as 88,000 up from last year's 72,000 at the February race and 70,000 at the October race.
Scheduled Race Re-Air on SPEED, Wednesday, March 30 at 12:00pm/et.
See race results, awards, laps led and more on Jayski's Auto Club Race Results/Awards page. (3-27-2011)

Auto Club Speedway News & Notes:
" Kevin Harvick won the 15th annual Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway on Sunday, the15th Sprint Cup Series victory of his career in his 363rd start. He climbed into a tie for 48th on NASCAR's all-time wins list with Ernie Irvan. Harvick last won at Michigan in August 2010, 17 races ago. Harvick is the fifth different race winner in 2011, joining Trevor Bayne, Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch. This was Harvic's first series Auto Club Speedway victory in 18 races. Harvick led only the final lap, the first last-lap pass in 22 races at ACS.
" Harvick is the 14th different race winner at Auto Club Speedway. He started 24th, the 11th time the race winner has won from a starting position 16th or lower at ACS. Seven of the 22 ACS races were won from starting positions of 22nd or worse.
" Harvick's victory was the 95th series win for Richard Childress Racing, but its first in the series at Auto Club Speedway. RCR has only three tracks remaining on which it has not won (Las Vegas , Kansas and Homestead). It was the team's first series victory in 2011.
" Harvick's victory was second of the season for Chevrolet and the manufacturer's 14th Auto Club Speedway series victory, the most by any car maker.
" Jimmie Johnson (finished second) scored his 10th top-two finish in 17 ACS races.
" Kyle Busch (third) led 151 of the 200 laps, the most in the race. He posted his first top-10 finish in his last four races at ACS. Busch has led 6,001 career laps in 227 series races.
" Matt Kenseth (fourth) posted his best finish and first top-10 in 2011. Kenseth has scored top-5 finishes in eight of his 19 ACS races.
" Edwards (sixth) climbed from second to first in the points standings, the first repeat points leader in five races this season. Edwards led after Daytona, Kyle Busch led after Phoenix, Tony Stewart led after Las Vegas and Kurt Busch led after Bristol.
" Ryan Newman (fifth) scored his fourth straight top-10 finish, extending a streak that began at Phoenix.
" Clint Bowyer (seventh) scored his first top-10 finish in 2011.
" Juan Pablo Montoya, who started from the pole, finished 10th in his 150th career series start.
" Dale Earnhardt Jr. (12th) has not scored a top-10 finish in his last seven California races.
" Stewart (13th) ended a four-race streak of top-10 finishes at ACS.
" Kurt Busch (17th) ended a four-race streak of top-10 finishes, marking his worst finish in 2011.
" Mark Martin (20th) ended a three-race streak of top-10 finishes at ACS.
" Regan Smith finished 27th in his 100th career series start. (ESPN.com)(3-28-2011)

Race Fast Facts - Auto Club Speedway:
Kevin Harvick won the 15th Annual Auto Club 400, his 15th victory in 363 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.
This is his first victory and third top-10 finish in 2011. He led just one lap - the last
This is his first victory and eighth top-10 finish in 18 races at Auto Club Speedway. This is his first national series victory at this track. This also is the first Sprint Cup victory at the track for Richard Childress Racing.
Jimmie Johnson (second) posted his 13th top-10 finish in 17 races at Auto Club Speedway. It is his third top-10 finish in 2011.
Kyle Busch (third) posted his ninth top-10 finish in 14 races at Auto Club Speedway.
Andy Lally (32nd) was the highest finishing rookie.
Carl Edwards leads the point standings by 9 points over Ryan Newman. (NASCAR Statistics)(3-27-2011)

2011 Sprint Cup Driver Championship Points Standings:
[after Auto Club Speedway, race 5 of 36]:
rank, car#, driver, points, behind
1) #99-Carl Edwards 187 [1 win]
2. Ryan Newman178 -9
3) #22-Kurt Busch 177 -10
4) #18-Kyle Busch 176 -11 [1 win]
5) #48-Jimmie Johnson 173 -14
6) #14-Tony Stewart 170 -17
7) #27-Paul Menard 164 -23
8) #42-Juan Pablo Montoya 161 -26
9) #29-Kevin Harvick 157 -30 [1 win]
10) #17-Matt Kenseth 157 -30
11) #4-Kasey Kahne 157 -30
12) #88-Dale Earnhardt Jr. 156 -31
See drivers championship points standings on Jayski's Drivers Points Standings page.(3-27-2011)

Top-35 in Owner Points: with 2011 points to be used at Martinsville:
30) #1-McMurray/EGR, 97, +36
31) #20-Logano/JGR, 93, +32
32) #78-Smith/FRR, 92, +31
33) #32-Schrader/FAS Lane, 77, +16
34) #7-RGordon/RGM, 69, +8
35) #13-Mears/Germain, 67, 6 points ahead of 36th
these teams / drivers will need to qualify by speed:
36) #71-Lally/TRG, 61, -6 out of top 35
37) #36-Blaney/TBR, 58, -9
38) #37-Raines/Front Row, 58, -9
39) #38-Kvapil/Front Row, 55, -12
For the owner points standings, see my Owners Points Standings page.(3-27-2011)

Penalty Report - Auto Club:
Car#, Lap, Reason, Penalty
#32, Pre-Race to the rear, tail end
#20, Pre-Race to the rear, tail end
#36, Pre-Race to the rear, tail end
#46, Pre-Race to the rear, tail end
#31, 68, Speed-Entering pits, pass thru
#34, 103, Pitting before pit road is open, tail end
#32, 155, Speed-Entering pits, pass thru
#34, 172, Pitting before pit road is open, tail end
#20, 191, Jumping the restart, pass thru
(NASCAR Statistics)(3-27-2011)

Lucky Dogs - Who got a lap back on each caution at Auto Club: (and their finish)
Caution 1: #78-Smith, 27th
Caution 2: #11-Hamlin, 39th
Caution 3: #09-Cassill, 24th
Caution 4: #22-Busch, 17th
(3-27-2011)

Pit Road Times
Auto Club Speedway
Auto Club 400
Provided by NASCAR Statistics
Sun, March 27, 2011 @ 06:33 PM Eastern

Race Coverage of the Auto Club 400 Sprint Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway is scheduled for Sunday, March 27, 2011.
Television (TV): FOX at 3:00 pm/et; pre-race show at 2:30 pm/et; green flag approx 3:16pm/et
Radio: Motor Racing Network (MRN) and Sirius XM Satellite NASCAR Radio 128
Scheduled Race Re-Airs:
SPEED, Wednesday, March 30 at 12:00pm/et

Pit Stall Selections: The selections of pit stalls for the Auto Club 400 Sprint Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway have been made.
Pole sitter #42-Montoya chose pit stall 1 [as do most pole sitters].
Outside pole sitter #11-Hamlin took pit stall 12A, the next stall with an opening in front of it.
#20-Logano, who starts 3rd took the 26th pit stall, the next stall with an opening in front of it.
The 43rd and final pit stall was taken by #17-Kenseth, who starts 11th.
To see where the drivers/teams pit stall is, see the pit selection chart on the Pit Stall Selection chart.(3-26-2011)

NASCAR Green-White-Checkered Race Procedure: NASCAR allows a maximum of three restart attempts prior to the White Flag under NASCAR's Green-White-Checkered flag finish. If the leader has taken the White Flag and the caution flag is displayed, the field is frozen and the race will not be restarted. Previously, there was only one restart attempt. The procedure applies to all three national series. See rule and notes on the Green-White-Checker rule page.(2-11-2010)

Wave-around rule: The wave-around rule dictates that cars under penalty at the time of the caution are ineligible for the wave around.(10-11-2009)

Jayski's - 2011 Sprint Cup Race Results Page(pole and race winner with speed and starting/finishing position, links to race results, drivers & owners points, pit stall selections, qualifying results/starting lineup, practice speeds and chase stats as well as link to race track and race information page for each race)

Happy hour practice for the Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway is over, the top five and some notes:
#6-Ragan 180.973
#14-Stewart 180.800
#99-Edwards 180.691
#5-Martin 180.659
#24-Gordon 180.320
slowest: #60-Bodine 174.613 & #37-Raines 173.369
See fastest speeds, average speeds, laps run on the Auto Club Practice Speeds Page.(3-26-2011)

First Saturday practice for the Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway is over, the top five and some notes:
#29-Harvick 181.146
#11-Hamlin 180.841
#99-Edwards 180.591
#18-Busch 180.307
#24-Gordon 180.212
slowest: #34-Gilliland 174.723 & #37-Raines 171.940.
See fastest speeds, average speeds, laps run on the Auto Club Practice Speeds Page.(3-26-2011)

Montoya wins Auto Club pole: #42-Juan Pablo Montoya won the Coors Light pole for the Auto Club 400 Sprint Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway with a speed of 184.653mph. It is his 1st pole of the season and the 6th of his career. #11-Hamlin starts 2nd followed by #20-Logano, #78-Smith, #14-Stewart, #6-Ragan, #31-Burton, #18-Busch, #39-Newman, and #5-Martin.
The go-or-go homers who made the race (8): #13-Mears, #09-Cassill, #26-Blaney, #66-McDowell, #32-Schrader, #87-Nemechek, #60-Bodine, and #46-Yeley.
The go-or-go homers who failed to qualify for the race (0): none
See the starting lineup, qualifying speeds and notes on my Auto Club Starting Lineup/Qualifying Results page. (3-25-2011)

Qualifying Fast Facts - Auto Club:
Juan Pablo Montoya won the Coors Light Pole Award for the 15th Annual Auto Club 400 with a lap of 38.992 seconds, 184.653 mph.
This is his sixth pole in 150 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races. His last pole was at Talladega Superspeedway in October 2010.
This is his first pole and first top-10 start in 2011.
This is his first pole in nine races at Auto Club Speedway. He has four consecutive top-5 starts including second for last year's spring race.
Denny Hamlin (second) posted his first top-10 start of 2011 and his fifth in 11 races at Auto Club Speedway.
Joey Logano (third) posted his third top-10 start at Auto Club Speedway. It is his third in five races this season.
Andy Lally (38th) was the fastest qualifying rookie.
(NASCAR Statistics)(3-25-2011)

Fastest Qualifier by Manufacturer::
Chevy: #42-Montoya, 184.653, starts 1st
Dodge: #2-Keselowski, 182.510, starts 21st
Ford: #6-Ragan, 183.692, starts 6th
Toyota: #11-Hamlin, 184.270, starts 2nd

Coverage of Qualifying for the Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway is scheduled for Friday, March 25, 2011 at 8:10pm/et.
Television (TV): SPEED, 8:00pm/et
Radio: Motor Racing Network (MRN) and Sirius XM Satellite NASCAR Radio 128, via nascar.com only
Jayski.com: Jayski's Auto lLub Qualifying Page
Qualifying Re-Air: on SPEED at 11:30pm/et

Qualifying Order for the Auto Club 400 Sprint Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway is posted. 43 cars/drivers are listed. Go-or-go homers will qualify at the end of the session, once the top-35 drivers are done.
The first of the top-35 drivers scheduled to go out is #37-Raines.
The final top-35 driver scheduled to go out is #00-Reutimann.
The first go-or-go homer scheduled to qualify [36th] is #60-Bodine with the final driver scheduled to qualify being #09-Cassill.
Qualifying order is set by practice speeds, with the top 35 drivers going out from slowest to fastest, then the non-top 35 drivers go out, slowest to fastest from practice.
See the full qualifying order on the Auto Club Qualifying Page.(3-25-2011)

Friday practice for the Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway is over, the top five and some notes:
#00-Reutimann 186.143
#11-Hamlin 184.886
#16-Biffle 184.658
#2-Keselowski 184.625
#1-McMurray 183.983
slowest: #60-Bodine 177.000 & #37-Raines 175.743
incident: #18-Busch wrecked off turn 4 after hitting some water on the track and will have to go to a backup car.
notes: the beginning of practice was delayed for 2 hours after morning rain and "weepers" in turn 1 & 2 had to be dried. The practice lasted 45 minutes.
qualifying order: qualifying order will be set how a driver practices, the top 35 first, slowest first to fastest, then the go-or-go homers after, slowest to fastest.
See fastest speeds, average speeds, laps run on the Auto Club Practice Speeds Page.(3-25-2011)

Practice rank for the non top-35 drivers:
if things stay the same, these eight drivers would make the race:
#09-Landon Cassill, 23rd
#13-Casey Mears, 37th
#32-Mike Skinner, 38th
#36-Dave Blaney, 33rd
#46-J.J. Yeley, 34th
#60-Landon Cassill, 41st
#66-Michael McDowell, 42nd
#87-Joe Nemechek, 40th

The Entry List for the Auto Club 400 Sprint Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway is posted, 43 teams/drivers [for 43 spots] are listed, including:
Not in top 35 of owners points:
#09-Landon Cassill(26th in 2011 owners pts/4 attempts)
#13-Casey Mears (35/4)
#32-Ken Schrader (33/4)
#36-Dave Blaney (36/4)
#46-J.J. Yeley (41/4)
#60-Todd Bodine (44/4)
#66-Michael McDowell (45/4)
#87-Joe Nemechek (42/4)
In the event that all practices and qualifying are all rained out or cancelled:
the eight who would make it [8]: #'s 09,32,13,36,46,87,60,66
missing the race would be [0]: #'s no driver would miss the race
See the full entry list at my Jayski's Auto Club Entry List.(3-21/25-2011)

2011 Sprint Cup Driver Championship Points Standings:
[after Bristol, race 4 of 36]:
rank, car#, driver, points, behind
1) #22-Kurt Busch 150
2) #99-Carl Edwards [1 win] 149 -1
3) #14-Tony Stewart 138 -12
4) #39-Ryan Newman 138 -12
5) #27-Paul Menard 136 -14
6) #18-Kyle Busch [1 win] 133 -17
7) #48-Jimmie Johnson 130 -20
8) #42-Juan Pablo Montoya 126 -24
9) #88-Dale Earnhardt Jr. 124 -26
10) #56-Martin Truex Jr. 123 -27
11) #5-Mark Martin 123 -27
12) #4-Kasey Kahne 122 -28
See drivers championship points standings on Jayski's Drivers Points Standings page.(3-20-2011)

Top-35 in Owner Points with one race to go before 2011 points are used, currently 2010 owners points are used thru the 5th race of the season:
30) #31-Burton/RCR, 74, +23
31) #20-Logano/JGR, 74, +23
32) #83-Vickers/Red Bull, 69, +18
33) #32-Schrader/FAS Lane, 66, +15
34) #7-RGordon/RGM, 59, +8
35) #13-Mears/Germain, 52, 1 point ahead of 36th
these teams / drivers would need to qualify by speed after race 5:
36) #36-Blaney/TBR, 51, -1 out of top 35
37) #37-Raines/Front Row, 50, -2
38) #71-Lally/TRG, 49, -3
39) #38-Kvapil/Front Row, 46, -6
For the first five races of 2011, team are locked in their owners points position by the 2010 final owners points
For the owner points standings, see my Owners Points Standings page.(3-20-2011)

Chassis selections for California: see the list of many teams and what chassis were selected by the team to run at Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend on the Bristol Race Info page - Chassis selection area:
#1-Jamie McMurray: Crew Chief Kevin "Bono" Manion and the #1 Bass Pro Shops / Tracker Boats team are bringing chassis #1016 to Auto Club Speedway this weekend. This is the same chassis that gave McMurray his second pole at Fontana in 2010.
#2-Brad Keselowski: The #2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger team will use chassis PRS-743 during Sunday's Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway (ACS). This is a brand new chassis to the #2 team.
#6-David Ragan: Primary: RK-744 Brand new chassis; Backup: RK-695 Last ran Phoenix in 2010 as the No. 99 - finished first
#9-Marcos Ambrose: The #9 RPM team has prepared chassis No. 743 for the 400-mile race at Auto Club Speedway. This DEWALT Ford Fusion is brand new.
#14-Tony Stewart: Chassis No. 14-564: This car debuted at Texas in November 2009, where it delivered a strong performance by qualifying fourth and finishing sixth. The 2009 season finale at Homestead-Miami marked the car's second career start. There, it qualified fifth and led twice for 43 laps before two separate on-track incidents with Juan Pablo Montoya relegated it to a 22nd-place finish. It saw action during the offseason when it was used for a Goodyear tire test at Texas Jan. 19-20. Chassis No. 14-564 returned to competition in February at Auto Club Speedway where in the second race of the 2010 campaign, it started 16th and finished ninth. It returned to Texas in April for its fourth career start, where it qualified on the pole and led five times for 74 laps before a late-race accident relegated it to an undeserved 32nd-place finish. It was repaired and fitted with a new body for the series' June stop at Michigan, where it qualified 17th and finished a solid fifth. It sat idle until it returned to Michigan for the series' August visit to the 2-mile oval, qualifying fourth and leading three times for 36 laps before finishing sixth. The October race at Fontana marked Chassis No. 14-564's seventh career start and second at Fontana, and there it delivered Stewart's 39th career Sprint Cup win and his first at Fontana. Stewart led three times for 27 laps - all in the last 51 tours around the 2-mile oval - to score his second win of 2010. The same car returned to action in November at Texas, where it qualified 11th and 500 miles later finished 11th. With a new body honed in the wind tunnel, Chassis No. 14-564 gets its first start of 2011 and the ninth of its career at Fontana.
#17-Matt Kenseth: Primary: RK-707 (last raced at Texas Nov. 2010)
#20-Joey Logano: The #20 Home Depot Team is taking chassis #287 for Logano this weekend for the Auto Club 400. The team raced this chassis to a seventh-place finish at Charlotte Motor Speedway in October and to a fourth-place finish at Texas in November. The back-up chassis is chassis #284 which Logano drove last year at Auto Club Speedway to an 11th-place finish and at Phoenix in November to third.
#22-Kurt Busch The Penske Racing "Double-Deuce" Dodge Charger carrying the Auto Club colors this weekend is the "PRS-746" chassis. This is a brand new car and could be considered as a "carbon copy" of the "PRS-744" that Busch raced three weeks ago at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The "PRS-738" (car last raced at Phoenix) will serve as the backup this weekend at Fontana.
#27-Paul Menard will pilot Chassis #347 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable. This #27 Chevy is a brand new addition to the RCR fleet, and will see its first laps on the race track during Friday's practice session at the Fontana, Calif.-based race track.
#29-Kevin Harvick: will race chassis #299 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable. Harvick drove this Chevy to a second-place finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2010.
#31-Jeff Burton will pilot chassis #348 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable. This is a brand new Caterpillar Chevy that will be put through its first paces of competition this weekend.
#33-Clint Bowyer: will pilot chassis #333 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable. This is a brand new #33 Chevy that will turn its first laps on the track in Fontana this weekend.
#36-Dave Blaney: Blaney will pilot chassis No. 910, which is a brand new chassis that was built in the off-season.
#42-Juan Pablo Montoya: Brian Pattie and the #42 Target team are bringing chassis #1103 Auto Club Speedway this weekend. This is a brand new chassis.
#43-A.J. Allmendinger: The #43 Richard Petty Motorsports team has prepared chassis No. 742 for this weekend's event at Auto Club Speedway. This is a brand new Best Buy Ford.
#99-Carl Edwards: RK-739 - New chassis.
(from team PR's/sites if reported)(3-25-2011)