Auto Club 400 Race Preview

Auto Club Speedway Fontana -- 03/25/2012

Author: GRiPEX

Published: Sunday Mar 25 2012 9:57am

Auto Club 400 at California Speedway
Race Length: 400 miles, 200 laps
Estimated Pit Window: 40 Laps
Green Flag: 03/25/2012 3:15pm EST
Average # of Cautions: 10
Average # of caution laps: 40
Average DNF's: 8.5
Cars on lead lap in 2011: 25
Cars on lead lap in fall 2010: 30
Cars on lead lap in spring 2010: 23

Tire Notes: Both Nationwide and Cup series cars will be using the same tires. Right side tires are the same as the last time they were at Fontana. Left side tires are a new compound that was developed in the October test last year, drivers who participated in that test were Greg Biffle, Landon Cassil, Sam Hornish and David Reutimann.

Weather: The weather report is calling for a 80% chance of rain today. Hard to say whats going to happen, as people on twitter seem to think the weather is fine but the weather forecast is calling for lots of rain, and if it does rain supposed to rain all day.

Race Stats:
Last years race practice/qual/results: http://www.nascapper.com/statpages/cup/115/auto-club-400-mainpreview.html
2010 fall race practice/qual/results: http://www.nascapper.com/statpages/cup/1030/pepsi-max-400-mainpreview.html
2010 spring race practice/qual/results: http://www.nascapper.com/statpages/cup/102/auto-club-500-mainpreview.html

Drivers who led more then 1 lap in spring race (2011): Kyle Busch 151, Denny Hamlin 15, Tony Stewart 11, Ryan Newman 8, Juan Montoya 7, Jimmie Johnson 3

Drivers who led more than 1 lap in fall race (2010): Mark Martin 41, Clint Bowyer 40, Matt Kenseth 29, Tony Stewart 27, Jimmie Johnson 22, Jamie Mcmurray 14, Jeff Gordon 11, Kyle Busch 4, Paul Menard 4, Dale Jr 3, Juan Montoya 3

Race Rundown: Rain could play a factor this weekend in California. Usually this race is one of the easier to handicapp as it usually gets strung out and the fastest cars shake to the front. If it wasnt for the weird weather in practice and the possibility of rain today I would rate this as a 5/5 predictability race. But since practice weather was a little wonky and the chance of rain Im rating it at a 4/5. This is a home race for TRD so watch out for the Toyotas, especially Hamlin, guy has been fast all weekend and is the clear favourite.

Gas men are going to be busy today as fuel runs will probably only go about 35-40 laps, big pit stalls here so I wouldn't expect too much carnage in the pits. Watch for dale jr to run well here as well, he likes these worn out surfaces and had a fast average practice speed in final practice.

Pit Stalls: Pit stalls are big at California, you still want a good pit stall but pit raod at California is a little more forgiving then most places.

Top 5 Picks:

#1 Denny Hamlin - On the pole, won both Saturday practices, as well as had the fastest 10 lap average in both sessions. Real confident, real fast. clear favourite.

#2 Jimmie Johnson - Runs very well here, fast in practice, expect big things from these guys today

#3 Kyle Busch - Has a TRD powerplant and fast in all practices, starting 2nd.

#4 Matt Kenseth - Has a stout powerplant under the hood and fast in practice, this is Matt's kind of track

#5 Kevin Harvick - California native, won here last year.

In backup cars and starting at the back:
None as of publishing time.

Videos:
2011 Race Rewind: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFN52hUWX6Q

Nascar Odds:
Bovada accepts USA players and is the NEW bodog for USA. http://nascapper.com/odds/bovada.php
Wager Web has odds to win, top 3 and group betting: http://nascapper.com/odds/wagerweb.php
Intertops has odds to win, top 3 and group betting: http://nascapper.com/odds/intertops.php

Best 10 Consecutive Lap Average Practice 2
Pos Car Driver From Lap To Lap Avg Speed
1 11 Denny Hamlin 1 10 181.527
2 39 Ryan Newman 1 10 180.802
3 14 Tony Stewart 1 10 180.720
4 15 Clint Bowyer 1 10 180.436
5 99 Carl Edwards 1 10 180.230
6 47 Bobby Labonte 1 10 179.440
7 10 David Reutimann 1 10 179.185
8 2 Brad Keselowski 17 26 179.052
9 16 Greg Biffle 22 31 179.029
10 78 Regan Smith 16 25 178.550
11 56 Martin Truex Jr. 18 27 178.471
12 1 Jamie McMurray 12 21 177.906
13 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 19 28 177.902
14 18 Kyle Busch 13 22 177.808
15 17 Matt Kenseth 10 19 177.450
16 27 Paul Menard 21 30 177.396

Best 10 Consecutive Lap Average Practice 3 (final practice)
Pos Car Driver From Lap To Lap Avg Speed
1 11 Denny Hamlin 1 10 178.960
2 17 Matt Kenseth 1 10 177.977
3 18 Kyle Busch 1 10 177.943
4 1 Jamie McMurray 1 10 177.881
5 48 Jimmie Johnson 30 39 177.784
6 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 22 31 177.592
7 55 Mark Martin 20 29 177.501
8 2 Brad Keselowski 1 10 177.476
9 14 Tony Stewart 24 33 177.105
10 39 Ryan Newman 1 10 177.001
11 16 Greg Biffle 28 37 176.856
12 99 Carl Edwards 24 33 176.850
13 56 Martin Truex Jr. 1 10 176.594
14 51 Kurt Busch 22 31 176.550
15 13 Casey Mears 17 26 176.498
16 15 Clint Bowyer 6 15 176.296
17 78 Regan Smith 24 33 176.246
18 29 Kevin Harvick 10 19 176.245
19 31 Jeff Burton 26 35 176.153
20 27 Paul Menard 28 37 175.767
21 33 Brendan Gaughan 1 10 175.556
22 83 Landon Cassill 1 10 175.333
23 47 Bobby Labonte 20 29 174.396
24 98 Michael McDowell 1 10 174.305

Summary: A few key points that you should keep in mind today, this is a home race for TRD and the Toyotas seem to have a very stout engine setup for California. Rain could definitly play a factor, forecast calls for 80% but some on twitter are saying the weather is clear, hard to say. Also the California surface is extremely worn out, and bumpy. Lots of drivers are compareing the surface to Vegas. So I would assume that cars that had a proper shiock package for vegas should do well here as well. Good luck !

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