Beccas Pace Lap

Auto Club Speedway Fontana -- 02/22/2009

Author: Becca Gladden

Published: Friday Feb 20 2009 7:09pm

Becca's Pace Lap: Auto Club 500*

• Front Row: Brian Vickers (P1), Jimmie Johnson (P2)

• Pole Qualifying Speed: 183.439 miles per hour

• Highest Starting Rookie: Scott Speed - starts 9th

• To the Rear: None as of Friday

Fastest Qualifier by Manufacturer::
Chevy: Jimmie Johnson (2nd)
Dodge: Kurt Busch (4th)
Ford: Jamie McMurray (3rd)
Toyota: Brian Vickers (1st)

• Outside the Top 35 Who Made the Field:
AJ Allmendinger
Dave Blaney
David Gilliland
Travis Kvapil
Jeremy Mayfield
Joe Nemechek
Scott Riggs
Tony Stewart

• Outside the Top 35 Who Missed the Cut:
Todd Bodine
Mike Garvey
Sterling Marlin
Tony Raines
David Starr

• Weather Forecast: Variably cloudy with a 30% chance of scattered showers, temperature 70°, southwest winds at 6-12 mph

• Race Notes:

Last year's race winner: Carl Edwards is the defending winner of the Auto Club 500 - his first of a series-high nine wins last season

Last Cup race winner at Fontana: Jimmie Johnson won the Pepsi 500 in August of 2008

This is the 18th Cup race at Fontana - the others have been held in several different months from February to August

Auto Club Speedway is one of three racetracks where two-time Cup champion Tony Stewart has never won; the others are Las Vegas (site of next week's race) and Darlington

This track was originally known as California Speedway; the name was changed to Auto Club Speedway in February of 2008

Four drivers in Sunday's field have competed in all 17 previous races at Fontana: Jeff Burton, Jeff Gordon, Bobby Labonte and Joe Nemechek

Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson are tied for the most victories at ACS at three a piece. Matt Kenseth has two wins, but he would be the first driver since Jeff Gordon in 1997 to win the first two races of the season if he backs up his Daytona victory with a win at Fontana this weekend

• Quotes of the Week:

“I think the season really starts here. Daytona is such a huge event and it’s a different type of racing than we’re going to race the rest of the season, and it kind of stands alone, literally and figuratively. I really feel like this is where you’re going to see how strong your pit crew is, how good your relationship is with your crew chief, and if the engineering you’ve been working on works, and the things that work here are going to apply at a lot of race tracks. So, yeah, everyone’s paying close attention. We’re racing now. We’re going to be doing the same thing week after week for 34 or 35 more weeks.” - Carl Edwards, Roush-Fenway Racing No. 99, on Sunday's race being the first downforce race of the season.

“It all happened pretty fast and it was unfortunate how it all went down. My statistics at the plate tracks speak for themselves and I don’t have to really defend myself of how good a plate-racer I am and what kind of moves I make out on the race track. I’ve got just as much right to be on that race track and do whatever the hell I want to do on it as anybody else out there. I’ll race just as hard as I choose to race and want to race and I race people how I want to be raced. I’ve always raced with a lot of respect and I’ll continue to do so in the future.` - Dale Earnhardt Jr., Hendrick Motorsports No. 88, reflecting on his controversial run-in with Brian Vickers in last week's Daytona 500.

• Current oddsmakers' favorite: Kyle Busch +230

• Long shots to watch:

Jeff Gordon +1200

David Ragan +1500

* All information current at press time

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User	Comment
Elgar	I could see Gordon in the top 10 as well but this one is a little off for me. JJ could do very well but hes running up against some that are not wanting to back down unless they have to and I am talking dire have to here.
martys	I am leaning towards Jimmie Johnson myself. Haven`t decided yet if I am really going to bet on this one. Any of you guys putting money down on this one?
nascarrocks	Sorry racegirl but I think Jimmie Johnson is going to be all over this one. Jeff Gordon will probably finish in the top ten though.
racefan	I am with you Cal when I think nascar and race cars Toyota just does not come to mind. Doesn`t mean they aren`t good cars it just seems weird.
racegirl	I know they say he is a long shot but I think Jeff Gordon has a fairly good shot at this one. I guess we`ll just have to wait and see.
Cal	Toyota surprises me when it comes to this sport, most times when you see a Tonka toy on the road you are not thinking its the same place that makes cars go fast and stay together well. Sorry its just not for me I guess.
Harold Mayes	Humm I wonder why Kyle Busch`s odds are so low compared to some of the other heavy weights of the sport? I wanna make a good bet this week, but those odds seem a little loopy to me.
Daniel Wallace	Brian Vickers is in a good position to win this race if he keeps his head about him and someone does not cause him to wreck during the race which would pretty much loose the race for him.
Kevin	I`ve said it before and I`ll say it again the Toyota company makes some great cars and if Detroit put out cars like Toyota does they would be on top of the world.
RaceFan88	Dale Jr. did not intentionally cause the wreck that has created so much controversy this week. He is right to say that he has just as much right to be out there as any other. If he can take the energy he is feeling about this incident and make good choices on the track, it may help to make for a great year. I respect Dale as a driver. As his father grew to be one of the most respected drivers in Nascar history, Dale will too.