Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Hamlin to Sit Next Few Races - Out of Chase Championship

Denny Hamlin out for a while; future bets still alive, but done....
Denny Hamlin, who sits 10th in the standings and has made the Chase for the Sprint Cup in each of his first seven seasons, will miss at least five races as he recovers from a compression fracture in his lower back suffered in a crash Sunday at Auto Club Speedway.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver visited neurosurgeon Dr. Jerry Petty on Tuesday, and Petty determined that Hamlin would not need surgery but would need an “estimated around six weeks time” to heal, according to a JGR news release.

No replacement was immediately announced, although JGR has former Chase competitors Brian Vickers and Elliott Sadler on its Nationwide Series roster. Vickers is already signed to run the next Cup race—April 7 at Martinsville Speedway—for Michael Waltrip Racing in the No. 55 car.

Sharing that MWR ride with Mark Martin, Vickers is considered one of the top candidates for that car full time in 2014, so it is in his best interest to remain in that seat at Martinsville.

Hamlin has not missed a Cup race since he stepped into the seat of the No. 11 car with seven races left in the 2005 season, a streak of 264 races that will come to an end next week.

After being released from the hospital Monday night, Hamlin had left open the possibility that he could drive at Martinsville, which is arguably his best track on the Cup circuit as he has four of his 22 series wins on the 0.526-mile paper clip-shaped oval.

The decision to sit Hamlin came after the visit with Petty, a NASCAR consultant who will have to clear Hamlin to race. The series is off this weekend, then has points events scheduled for the next seven weeks, meaning Hamlin will miss races at Martinsville, Texas, Kansas, Richmond and Talladega before possibly returning May 11 at Darlington.

Read More Here...Sporting News

Monday, March 25, 2013

Joey Logano Not Making Many Friends

Logano wants to be respected, but not pushed around. He's in a pickle.
FONTANA, Calif. The Joey Logano-Denny Hamlin battle on the last lap was only part of the drama surrounding the conclusion of Sunday’s Auto Club 400.

Logano was involved in another altercation immediately after the race and it had nothing to do with Hamlin or last weekend’s race at Bristol, Tenn.

While Logano was standing at his car on pit road, a visibly angry Tony Stewart approached and the two got involved in a physical altercation that eventually included a number of crew members from both teams and Tony Gibson, crew chief for driver Danica Patrick.

Eventually NASCAR officials separated all involved and cleared pit road. NASCAR will, however, review the incident to determine if any penalties are warranted. It was clear from TV replays, several punches were thrown.

Stewart was angry at Logano, who blocked him on the final restart on Lap 190 as Logano tried to take the lead from Kyle Busch.

Read More Here....Charlotte Observer




Read more here: http://www.thatsracin.com/2013/03/24/103214/tony-stewart-joey-logano-tangle.html#storylink=cpy

Hamlin Injures Back, Could Miss Next Race at Martinsville

Denny Hamlin has been diagnosed with a compression fracture in his lower back and his status for next week’s race at Martinsville Speedway is undetermined following a hard crash on the final lap of the Auto Club 400 Sunday.

Hamlin, 10th in the Sprint Cup standings after five races, spent Sunday night in a California hospital following the wreck, which occurred while racing Joey Logano for the lead. Hamlin’s car hit a concrete wall head-on on the inside of the track, causing his car to lift off the ground.

Read More....Sporting News

Kyle Busch Takes Advantage of Hamlin-Logano Dispute, Wins at Cal

FONTANA, Calif. — NASCAR had several members of the entertainment industry in attendance to watch the Sprint Cup race at Auto Club Speedway Sunday.

It brought in writers, producers and entertainment media in hopes that they would gather ideas for possible future storylines.

Maybe they could have written a script about Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin renewing their feud with a last-lap battle for the lead.

But could they have imagined the scuffle and near-fight between Logano and Tony Stewart? Or a thrilling race on a 2-mile track generally known for single-file racing and lackluster finishes?

Read More....Sporting News

Auto Club 400 Results

Saturday, March 23, 2013

California Practice Notes: Good Luck catching the Toyota's

Matt Kenseth should be very good Sunday
Mark Martin was fastest in the final practice session at Auto Club Speedway Saturday -- the final chance for the 43 drivers and crews to maximize speed before Sunday's Auto Club 400. Martin not only had the fastest individual lap (183.351) during happy hour, but he was also fastest in five and 10-consecutive lap averages. Martin is a past winner at the roomy two-mile track, but it came in 1998, the second Cup race ever held at Fontana.

Toyotas led the way with the top three times during happy hour. Martin's MWR teammate Clint Bowyer was second fastest, followed by JGR's Matt Kenseth. Jimmie Johnson was the fastest Chevy with the fourth quickest lap, followed by Brad Keselowski's Ford in fifth.

Although Las Vegas and California are two completely different tracks, they are both downforce tracks, and a lot of what was learned at Las Vegas can be applied this week for the still-unknown Gen-6 car. Three-time Fontana winner Matt Kenseth stole the Las Vegas win two weeks ago and gets high marks this week because of it. It also helps that Kenseth is pretty fast as well.

Johnson hasn't struck fear into the rest of the field yet this season in his Gen-6 car, but his Fontana resume might do it alone. The El Cajon, Ca. native is a five-time winner at his home track with a track-best 5.4 average finish in 18 starts.

Overall, despite's Johnson's record, it looks like the Toyotas will be tough to beat on Sunday.
Read more here......Final Driver Ratings

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

2013 Auto Club 400 Chassis Selections

Kevin Harvick won in 2011 at Fontana
#1-Jamie McMurray: chassis not reported on race preview.

#2-Brad Keselowski: and the #2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion team will race chassis PRS-843 at Auto Club Speedway, a brand new chassis for 2013. The backup chassis is PRS-847, also a brand new chassis for 2013.

#5-Kasey Kahne: Crew chief Kenny Francis and the #5 team will unload Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 5-763 for Sunday's event at Fontana. Kahne last raced this car at the Charlotte test session in January. In 16 Cup starts at Fontana, Kahne has recorded one win, four top-five finishes and nine top-10s. He lined up from the pole position in 2004 for his first Cup start at the two-mile track and has gone on to earn nine more top-10 starting spots. Kahne enters Sunday's race with an average start of 10.2 and an average finish of 14.9 at the two-mile track.

#7-Dave Blaney chassis not reported on race preview.

#9-Marcos Ambrose: chassis not reported on race preview.

#10-Danica Patrick will pilot chassis No. 10-781, a new car that has only seen testing in a wind tunnel. The Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway, will mark Danica Patrick¡¦s 15th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start and her first at Fontana.

#11-Denny Hamlin: chassis not reported on race preview.

#14-Tony Stewart: Chassis No. 14-708 debuted in May 2012 in the Southern 500 at Darlington where Stewart rallied Chassis No. 14-708 from its 17th-place starting spot to finish third. Its second start came in June at Dover. It endured a much different outing, qualifying 29th and finishing 25th, 69 laps down after getting caught up in a 12-car accident on lap 10. With new sheetmetal all around, Chassis No. 14-708 returned to the concrete for its third career start in August for the night race at Bristol. There, the car rallied from being a lap down in 34th place early in the race to vying for the lead with Matt Kenseth on lap 333. Stewart and Kenseth banged fenders and crashed, whereupon Stewart threw his helmet with pinpoint accuracy at Kenseth's car. The resulting 27th-place finish was at least offset by the "10" Stewart received from the Bristol crowd. Chassis No. 14-708 made its fourth career start and second at Dover in September. Its struggles on concrete persisted, as it qualified 24th and finished three laps down in 20th. With 2013 Chevrolet SS bodywork covering it, Chassis No. 14-708 returns to racing this weekend at Auto Club Speedway.

#15-Clint Bowyer: Primary chassis No. 758 is new. It's the first new 2013 Gen6 specific chassis to be raced by MWR. The backup chassis (No. 724) raced to top-five finishes at Bristol (fourth) in March and Dover (fifth) in June. It also finished seventh at Bristol in August, tested at Charlotte in January 2013 and served as backup in Las Vegas.

#16-Greg Biffle: and the Matt Puccia led #16 3M Window Film Ford Fusion team will bring Primary Chassis RK-817, which was slated to run the 2012 season finale at Homestead, but an accident in practice took the winning chassis out of the race. RK-817 made its debut in 2012 at Indy with a third-place finish. After that 817 went on to win Michigan, then a 13th-place finish at Chicago, followed by a fourth-place run at Charlotte. The backup Chassis RK-809 last ran at Texas and finished 10th.

#17-Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: and the #17 NOS Racing team will be using RK-815 at Auto Club Speedway and last ran at Martinsville in 2012 and finished 18th as the #99 car. Chassis RK-815 is a chassis that the #99 team ran various times in 2012. It is the same chassis that Stenhouse and the #17 team tested with in Las Vegas. The backup Chassis RK-811 raced various times in 2012 by the #99 team, it's last race ay Phoenix in 2012, finishing 11th.

#18-Kyle Busch: chassis not reported on race preview.

#20-Matt Kenseth: chassis not reported on race preview.

#22-Joey Logano: and the #22 Auto Club of Southern California Ford Fusion team will race chassis PRS-846 at Auto Club Speedway, a brand new chassis for 2013. The backup chassis is PRS-844, also a brand new chassis for 2013.

#24-Jeff Gordon: chassis not reported on race preview.

#27-Paul Menard will pilot chassis No. 414 at Auto Club Speedway. This #27 CertainTeed/Menards Chevy SS is a new addition to the Richard Childress Racing stable this season. Menard has 10 starts at Auto Club Speedway. His best start of 15th and best finish of 16th both came in 2011. The Wisconsin native has completed 2,241 of 2,279 laps attempted (98.3%) at the two-mile oval, leading three of them.

#29-Kevin Harvick: will pilot chassis No. 378 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable in the Auto Club 400. Harvick last ran this Jimmy John's RCR machine to an eighth-place finish during the 2012 season-finale event at Homestead. Harvick will make his 20th-career Sprint Cup Series start at Auto Club Speedway on Sunday afternoon in front of a hometown crowd. The California native went to Victory Lane in 2011 and has earned four top-five and nine top-10 finishes. Throughout the years, Harvick has completed 98.4% (4,463 of 4,534) of the laps contested, with 60 laps led.

#31-Jeff Burton will race chassis No. 416 this weekend at Auto Club Speedway. This is a brand new #31 Caterpillar Chevy that will see its first on-track action during Friday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice session. Burton has 23 starts at Auto Club Speedway with one pole award (1999), six top-five finishes, seven top-10 finishes and led 127 laps. Johnson Machinery will be featured on the deck lid of the #31 Caterpillar Chevy this weekend at Auto Club Speedway.

#34-David Regan chassis not reported on race preview.

#35-Josh Wise chassis not reported on race preview.

#36-J.J. Yeley chassis not reported on race preview.

#38-David Gilliland chassis not reported on race preview.

#39-Ryan Newman will pilot Chassis No. 39-748 at Auto Club Speedway. This chassis debuted at Texas last November, where Newman was able to overcome his starting position of 36th and a loose right-front wheel that dropped him from the top-10 to 25th with just 110 laps remaining to record a 12th-place finish. Since then, Chassis No. 39-748 has been outfitted with a new front clip and a Chevrolet SS body and will see its first laps of the season this weekend at Fontana.

#42-Juan Pablo Montoya: chassis not reported on race preview.

#43-Aric Almirola:: The #43 Farmland team has prepared chassis No. 839 for California. The team built the chassis in the off-season and used it at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway test.

#47-Bobby Labonte chassis not reported on race preview.

#48-Jimmie Johnson: will drive a new chassis, No. 784, at Auto Club Speedway. Chassis No. 720 serves as the backup, a car that won twice in 2012.

.#55-Mark Martin: will drive MWR chassis 759 at Auto Club Speedway and the backup will be chassis 720.

#56-Martin Truex Jr.: chassis not reported on race preview.

#78-Kurt Busch chassis not reported on race preview.

#88-Dale Earnhardt Jr.:crew chief Steve Letarte and the #88 crew will unload Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 88-716 for this weekend's 400-mile event at Auto Club Speedway. Earnhardt most recently raced this chassis to a 10th-place finish last year at Homestead-Miami Speedway. In 20 Sprint Cup starts at Auto Club Speedway, Earnhardt has scored four top-five finishes and five top-10s. He recorded a career-best runner-up finish at the Fontana, Calif., racetrack in September 2006. Last year, he notched a third-place result, his best in a Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

#99-Carl Edwards the #99 Subway team will roll out RK-821 which last ran at Texas Motor Speedway in the Fall and finished 4th. The backup chassis is RK-831, a new chassis brought to Las Vegas as backup. Subway returns to the spotlight for the first time since the victory in Phoenix. This will be the second of Subway's six paint schemes for the 2013 season.

 - compiled by Jayski.com

2013 Auto Club 400 at California "Auto Club" Speedway: Race Notes

Jeff Gordon won the first race in Fontana on June 22, 1997.
At Auto Club Speedway:
History
· 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 (ACS) in February 2008.
Notebook
· There have been 23 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Auto Club Speedway, the track hosted one NSCS race a season from 1997-2003, then two races per season from 2004-2010. In 2011 Auto Club Speedway returned to a single race season.
· 125 drivers have competed in at least one NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Auto Club; 105 in more than one.
· Three drivers have participated in all 23 races: Jeff Burton, Jeff Gordon and Bobby Labonte.
· Joe Nemechek won the inaugural pole with a speed of 183.015 mph (39.341 secs.)
· 15 drivers have poles at ACS, led by Kurt Busch with three.
· Kurt Busch (2006) and Jamie McMurray (2010) are the only two drivers to win consecutive poles at Auto Club Speedway.
· Youngest ACS pole winner: Kyle Busch (2/27/2005 – 19 years, 9 months, 25 days).
· Oldest ACS pole winner: Mike Skinner (4/30/2000 – 42 years, 10 months, 2 days).
· 14 different drivers have won at ACS, led by Jimmie Johnson (five). Three other drivers have multiple wins at Auto Club Speedway: Jeff Gordon and 2012 Daytona 500 champion Matt Kenseth each have three wins, Tony Stewart has two.
· Hendrick Motorsports leads the series in wins at Auto Club Speedway with nine, followed by Roush Fenway Racing with seven.
· California-native Jimmie Johnson became the first and only driver to win from the pole at Auto Club Speedway in 2008.
· Only two ACS races have been won from the front row both by five-time series champion Jimmie Johnson, fall of 2008 (pole); and the fall of 2007 (second-place).
· 12 of the 23 NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Auto Club Speedway have been won from a top-10 starting position.
· Seven of the 23 races have been won from a starting position outside the top 20.
· The deepest in the field that a race winner has started was 31st, by Matt Kenseth in the spring of 2006.
· Youngest ACS winner: Kyle Busch (09/04/2005 – 20 years, 4 months, 2 days).
· Oldest ACS winner: Rusty Wallace (04/29/2001 – 44 years, 8 months, 15 days).
· Jimmie Johnson leads the series in runner-up finishes at Auto Club Speedway with five; followed by his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon with four.
· Jimmie Johnson lead the series in top-five finishes at Auto club Speedway with 12; followed by Jeff Gordon (10) and Matt Kenseth (eight).
· Jimmie Johnson leads the series in top-10 finishes with 14; followed by Matt Kenseth (13), Carl Edwards (12) and Tony Stewart (12).
· Jimmie Johnson leads the series in average finish at ACS with a 5.389;
· Jimmie Johnson (5.3)and Carl Edwards (8.7) are the only two active drivers with an average finish in the top 10 at Auto Club Speedway.
· There have been two green-white-checkered finishes at Auto Club Speedway: 2005 (250/254) and 2006 (250/251).
· Kyle Busch won his first pole (2/27/05) and first series win (9/4/05) at Auto Club Speedway. Jimmie Johnson also posted his first series career win at ACS in (4/28/02).
· Greg Biffle (4/28/02) and J.J. Yeley (9/5/04) made their first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career starts at Auto Club Speedway.
· Jimmie Johnson is the only driver to win consecutive races at Auto Club Speedway (fall of 2009 – spring of 2010).
· 12 of the 14 NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers who have won at Auto Club Speedway participated in at least two or more races before visiting Victory Lane. Jeff Gordon (1997 – inaugural event) and Jimmie Johnson (2002) are the only drivers to win at ACS in their first appearance.
· Tony Stewart competed at Auto Club Speedway 18 times before winning in the fall of 2010; the longest span of any the 14 winners. Only Stewart (18) and Kevin Harvick (17) have made 10 or more attempts before their first win at Auto Club Speedway.
· Jeff Burton and Bobby Labonte lead the series with the most NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Auto Club Speedway without visiting Victory Lane at 23.
· Since the advent of electronic scoring, the closest margin of victory in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Auto Club Speedway was the March 27, 2011 race won by Kevin Harvick with an MOV of 0.144 second.
· Three reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champions have gone on to win at Auto Club Speedway the following season: Jeff Gordon (1999), Jimmie Johnson, whois the only one to do it multiple times,(2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010) and Tony Stewart (2012).
· Two drivers have won at Auto Club Speedway and the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship in the same season: Jeff Gordon (1997) and Jimmie Johnson (2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010).
· This weekend will be Danica Patrick’s first attempt at Auto Club Speedway in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Shawna Robinson is the only female driver to have made a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start at Auto Club Speedway to date. She did so on April 28, 2002 starting 43rd and finishing 42nd.
· Only three car numbers have produced three or more Auto Club Speedway NSCS wins:
Car Number – Drivers – (Years)
o No. 48 – Jimmie Johnson (2002, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010)
o No. 17 – Matt Kenseth (2006, 2007 and 2009)
o No. 24 – Jeff Gordon (1997, 1999 and 2004)
Auto Club Speedway Data
Season Race #: 5 of 36 (03-24-13)
Track Size: 2-miles
Banking/Turns 1 & 2: 14 degrees
Banking/Turns 3 & 4: 14 degrees
Banking/Frontstretch: 11 degrees
Banking/Backstretch: 3 degrees
Frontstretch Length: 3,100 feet
Backstretch Length: 2,500 feet
Race Length: 200 laps / 400 miles
Top 12 Driver Rating at Auto Club
Jimmie Johnson........................ 122.4
Kyle Busch.............................. 106.4
Matt Kenseth........................... 105.2
Tony Stewart........................... 102.4
Mark Martin.............................. 99.7
Carl Edwards............................ 98.5
Jeff Gordon............................... 97.7
Greg Biffle................................ 95.9
Kevin Harvick............................ 94.5
Kasey Kahne........................... 92.6
Clint Bowyer............................ 91.7
Denny Hamlin.......................... 89.8
Note: Driver Ratings compiled from 2005-2012 races (14 total) among active drivers at Auto Club Speedway
Qualifying/Race Data
2012 pole winner: Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 186.403 mph, 38.626 secs. 03-23-12
2012 race winner: Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 160.166 mph, (1:36:39), 03-25-12
Track qualifying record: Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 188.245 mph, 38.248 secs. 02-25-05
Track race record: Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 160.166 mph, (1:36:39; rain shortened), 03-25-12
NASCAR in California
· There have been 133 NASCAR Sprint Cup races in California.
Track Name
City
NSCS
Riverside International Raceway
Riverside
48
Sonoma Raceway
Sonoma
24
Auto Club Speedway
Fontana
23
Ontario Motor Speedway
Ontario
9
California State Fairgrounds
Sacramento
6
Carrell Speedway
Gardena
4
Ascot Stadium
Los Angeles
3
Bay Meadows Race Track
San Mateo
3
Marchbanks Speedway
Hanford
3
Oakland Stadium
Oakland
3
Redwood Speedway
Eureka
2
Willow Springs Speedway
Lancaster
2
Capitol Speedway
Sacramento
1
Merced Fairgrounds
Merced
1
Santa Clara Fairgrounds
San Jose
1
NASCAR in California Cont.:
· 424 drivers in NASCAR national series history have their home state recorded as California.
· 34 drivers from California have won at least one race in NASCAR’s three national series. 24 of the 34 California native NASCAR winners have won in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
Driver
NSCS
NNS
NCWTS
Jeff Gordon
87
5
0
Jimmie Johnson
61
1
0
Kevin Harvick
19
39
14
Marvin Panch
17
0
0
Ernie Irvan
15
3
0
Dick Rathmann
13
0
0
Dan Gurney
5
0
0
Eddie Gray
4
0
0
Parnelli Jones
4
0
0
Eddie Pagan
4
0
0
Robby Gordon
3
1
0
Ray Elder
2
0
0
Danny Letner
2
0
0
Marvin Porter
2
0
0
Dick Brooks
1
0
0
Marvin Burke
1
0
0
Jim Cook
1
0
0
Lou Figaro
1
0
0
Danny Graves
1
0
0
Johnny Mantz
1
0
0
Casey Mears
1
1
0
Bill Norton
1
0
0
John Soares
1
0
0
Danny Weinberg
1
0
0
Ron Hornaday Jr
0
4
51
Jason Leffler
0
2
1
David Gilliland
0
1
0
Joe Ruttman
0
1
13
Boris Said
0
1
1
Mike Skinner
0
1
28
Matt Crafton
0
0
2
Justin Lofton
0
0
1
Scott Speed
0
0
1
Brandon Whitt
0
0
1
- NASCAR Media Services