Auto Club 400 Qualifying Update

Auto Club Speedway Fontana -- 03/27/2011

Author: GRiPEX

Published: Sunday Mar 27 2011 11:42am

Auto Club 400 at California

Race Length: 400 miles, 200 laps
Estimated Pit Window: 42-44 laps (fuel mileage)
Green Flag: 03/27/2011 3:16pm EST
Average # of Cautions: 8.2
Average # of caution laps: 37
Average DNF's: 7.9

Tire Notes: The teams in the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nascar Nationwide Series will use the same Goodyear tire codes at Fontana this weekend. Teams in the Sprint Cup Series ran this left-side tire code at California last season, but with a slightly different right-side code.

Drivers to the back: Logano (engine change), Yeley (engine change)

Weather: Green flag looks to be on time, but possible compeition caution due to misting/rain.

Preview: Races at Auto Club Speedway are usually some of the easiest to handicap. The track lends itself to long green flag runs with minimal cautions. You must have a good handling car with horsepower if you want to make it to the front and stay up front.

Top 5 to Win:

Tony Stewart (starts 5th, had fastest 10 lap average speed in final practice)
Carl Edwards (starts 18th, 3rd in final practice, has major momentum)
Mark Martin (starts 10th, 4th in final practice, very fast average times as well, great momentum racer)
Jimmee Johnson (starts 16th, 13th in final practice, 3rd fastest 10 lap average speed)
Clint Bowyer (starts 17th, 7th in final practice, 2nd fastest 10 lap average speed final practice)

Good picks for matchups:

Dale Earnhardt Jr (Has a good car for long runs, very good 10 lap average speed)
Paul Menard (If you can find menard in a matchup with good odds, take him, he made me alot of money last year on matchups, the books are slowly catching on)
Jeff Burton (Great motor, starts 7th, 10th in final practice, 5th fastest 10 lap average speed)

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