Auto Club 500 Race Review

Auto Club Speedway Fontana -- 02/22/2009

Author: Becca Gladden

Published: Monday Feb 23 2009 1:59am

The result of Sunday's Auto Club 500 in California bears out two well-worn NASCAR adages: the fastest car doesn't always win the race, and races are won and lost on pit road.

Greg Biffle arguably had one of the fastest - if not the fastest - car in the closing laps of the race, but he got into his pit box too deep and rain over the air hose on in the waning laps, losing valuable track position and turning what had been a three-man sprint between Biffle, Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon into a two-man shootout between the 17 and 24.

From that point on, it was advantage Kenseth, as his pit crew consistently got him off pit road ahead of the field, including Gordon.

Biffle was very distraught about the mistake, which dropped him from 2nd to 8th in the running order, saying, `This thing was fast. Unbelievable. Unbelievable. I don’t know how I’m going to sleep tonight. I’m just sick to my stomach. Man, it almost brings tears to my eyes to know that I let the guys down like I did. When you’ve got a car like that, it sucks to not win, and it sucks that it’s your fault. If they’d have dropped a lug nut or something, it wouldn’t have been a big deal. But when it’s your fault, it’s really hard.”

The race itself started off under threatening skies, and ended up being yellow flagged after just five laps for light rain. It sprinkled off and on throughout the race, bringing out three more weather-related cautions, but the rain did not cause more than a brief delay each time.

Jimmie Johnson, who started on the outside pole, led the first 77 of 250 laps, except for three laps as pit stops cycled through. As is typical at Fontana, the race was marked by long green flag runs and relatively few lead changes, with most of them occurring on pit road.

Jeff Gordon passed Johnson for the first time on lap 78 and lead most of the next 50 or so laps. Gordon lost the lead on lap 128 to Greg Biffle, who beat Gordon off pit road following another round of green flag pit stops. Biffle led the next 15 laps but was passed, again on pit road, by Matt Kenseth on lap 145.

Kenseth dominated the last 100 laps of the race with just brief lead changes as pit stops again cycled through. He was the overall lap leader with 84, followed by Johnson with 74, Gordon with 64, and Biffle with 16

Though Johnson led a number of laps early on, he was not a factor in the latter stages and finished 9th. Following Kenseth and Gordon past the checkers were Kyle Busch (3), Biffle (4) and Kurt Busch (5).

Rounding out the top 10: Denny Hamlin (6), Carl Edwards (7), Tony Stewart (8), Johnson (9), and Brian Vickers (10).

Vickers was of one of four drivers who dropped to the rear of the field to start the race. The others were David Reutimann, Michael Waltrip, Reed Sorenson, and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Earnhardt's team had to change transmissions after practice Saturday, but during the race both he and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Mark Martin experienced engine failures. Earnhardt came in 39th and Martin, 40th.

Jamie McMurray, who moved up to a pole starting spot after Vickers moved to the rear, finished 16th, while Joey Logano was the highest finishing rookie at 26th.

Overall there were three Fords, three Chevys, and three Toyotas in the top 10, along with one Dodge.

Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon were the top-two finishers in the race and are also the top-two drivers in the point standings, followed by Kurt Busch, Tony Stewart, and Greg Biffle in the top 5 in points early in the season.

This week, the series heads to Las Vegas, where Matt Kenseth is a prior two-time winner. `In a way, I don’t think a win will ever be as big in my career as winning the Daytona 500, but in a way this almost feels better,` said Kenseth after winning in Fontana on Sunday. `You come here and it’s not restrictor plate racing. You don’t need other people’s help. Luck’s not involved quite as much. And we had to come here and figure out how to beat the 43 teams on speed and strategy and adjustments and all that stuff, and obviously these are the kinds of races that make up the bulk of the schedule. Whether you run good or bad at these tracks has more of a determining factor on making the Chase or running for a championship. It feels pretty unbelievable to win the first two races, especially Daytona, to be able to come out of the box and run competitively here.`

Jimmie Johnson is a three-time winner at Las Vegas, while Carl Edwards is the defending race winner.

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User	Comment
Karlee	Looking back I see I may have to spend my money more wisely. Honestly, I keep routing for Edwards but it`s Busch that`s pulling through in the top 5, and won the last two (?)races.
Elgar	It is possible that Gordan could surprise some of us but I really am not sure. Tons of people are looking pretty fierce this year so I am not sure where I want my money laying just yet.
MysteryMan	Greg Biffle did make a little mistake this time around and it cost him some points toward the championship. he is a tough guy though and will be working hard to recover and advance in the rankings. Can he manage it? I dunno!
FastEddie	I don`t really see Jeff Gordon being a major player this year so far. Of course I`ll watch him because he is a good driver, but it seems that the magic that has kept him close to the top is just not working right now. Lets hope they get it together soon.
DentedFender	They certainly are doing better than some of the bigger name pit crews this year. Perhaps its just all the bad engines they got from their sponsors, but whatever it is the pit crews have egg all over their faces this year.
spinout	So far, I would say Kenseth has one of the best pit crews I`ve seen in a long time. They are almost choreographed as they work with no wasted movements or time. They definitely played a part in his win.
MasterModder	Jeff is coming back to his usual position in being one of the top contenders and also one of the guys to beat again. But then that was to be expected. Jeff has a proven track record in the sport and we expect no less from him.
	Jeff Gordan is climbing right back to the top of the standings. Not much could stop him from pushing his way once again towards the front. Having secured a second place finish at Fontana, he also has secured a second place spot in points. Even though it is too early in the season to predict the outcome, if Gordan keeps turning in outstanding results, he may be hard to stop.
TeslaHopeful	Shame that Earnhardt`s car took a crap on him at the very last minute possible so he lost his position. Earnhardt could have probably done a lot better if that piece of bad luck had not fallen his way.
MasterModder	No matter how much you put down the Dodge brand they keep right on trucking and manage to put a sweet car in the top ten of Nascar. :)) And your right Racefan88 Greg should take this experience and turn it into motivation to do better in the future. he has a good attitude so I think he will do that.
RaceFan88	I truly feel bad for Greg Biffle. It is oftentimes the seemingly small mistakes that bear the greatest cost in a Nascar Sprint Cup race. Hopefully, he can take the energy from those distraught feelings and turn that into positive results for himself in Las Vegas.
racefan	I am so glad that this one didn`t get rained out. I have to admit I started pulling for Gordon there toward the end of the race.
nascarrocks	I can`t believe that Jimmie Johnson was all the way down at ninth place. I really thought he would be in the top three. At least he was still in the top ten.
racegirl	Well he didn`t win but he ran a good race. I told you Jeff Gordon would do well at this track. First would have been better but second`s not bad!
martys	That really sucks for Greg Biffle but I don`t think he should feel bad he still ran a good race and these things will happen.
Cheryl Simmons	I feel bad for Greg Biffle and don`t really feel it was his fault he got water over the air hose. I don`t understand how it can be his fault at all. Greg should have won that race.
Kevin	I agree with you there Daniel, I never paid much attention to the guy either until recently. Seems to be a lot of press about him, and the press seem to start even before the racing did.
Daniel Wallace	I had never heard of Matt Kenseth until this year and boy has he come out of no where to start dominating a sport where only a few names reach household status.
Cal	I have always thought it was the driver more than the car in most races. Professional or those newbies out there. I guess this just process that saying is right.