Race 2 Win: Auto Club 500

Nextel Cup Series

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Auto Club 500 - Race Notes

California Speedway
Track data
Race #: 2 of 36 (2-27-05) Track Size: 2 Miles
Event: Auto Club 500 Number of Laps: 250
Location: Fontana, CA. Length of Event: 500 Miles
Length of Front Stretch: 3,100 Feet Degree of Banking in Corners: 14?
Length of Back Stretch: 2,500 Feet Degree of Banking on Straights: 11?(Tri-oval)/3?(Back)
Qualifying/Race data
Last year's pole winner: Kasey Kahne 186.940 mph 4-30-04 38.515 seconds
Last year's event winner: Jeff Gordon 137.268 mph 5-2-04 3 hrs, 38 min, 33 sec
Track qualifying record: Ryan Newman 187.432 mph 4-26-02 38.414 seconds
Track race record: Jeff Gordon 155.012 mph 6-22-97 3hrs, 13min, 32 sec
Historical data
Previous race winners
Jeff Gordon (3) Mark Martin (1) Jeremy Mayfield (1) Rusty Wallace (1) Jimmie Johnson (1) Kurt Busch (1) Elliott Sadler (1)
Races won from the pole: 0 of 9 events (0%)
Races won from in top 10: 4 of 9 events (44%)
Races won from outside top 10: 4 of 9 events (56%)

Track Milestones

Joe Nemechek won the pole for the inaugural NASCAR NEXTEL Cup race at California Speedway.

Greg Sacks broke Nemechek's track-qualifying record in the second round of qualifying for the inaugural race at California Speedway.

Jeff Gordon won the inaugural NASCAR NEXTEL Cup race at California on June 22, 1997.

The 2004 Pop Secret 500 was the first night-race at California Speedway and the first time that two races a year were held there.

Track Update
Jeff Gordon has finished 11th or better in seven of the nine NASCAR NEXTEL Cup races at California and has three California Speedway victories, including the inaugural race in 1997.

Manufacturer Update
Ford has five victories at California while Chevrolet has four. Kasey Kahne posted the best California finish for Dodge with a second-place finish in the Pop Secret 500 (September 2004).

Qualifying Update
There have been eight different Bud Pole winner in the nine races at California Speedway: Joe Nemechek (1997), Jeff Gordon (1998), Mike Skinner (2000), Bobby Labonte (2001), Ryan Newman (2002), Steve Park (2003), Kasey Kahne (May 2004) and Brian Vickers (September 2004). Qualifying was canceled in 1999 due to weather.

NASCAR NEXTEL Cup First and Last at This Track
First Start
Biffle, Greg 4-28-02
First Pole
Nemechek, Joe 6-20-97
First Win
Johnson, Jimmie 4-28-02
Last Pole
Vickers, Brian 9-3-04
Last Win
Sadler, Elliott 9-5-04
Last Victory at This Track
in a Chevrolet Jeff Gordon 2004 Auto Club 500
in a Dodge None
in a Ford Elliott Sadler 2004 Pop Secret 500
Car Owner Victories at This Track
Car Owners Wins
Rick Hendrick 4
Roger Penske 2
Jack Roush 2
Robert Yates 1
Total 9

Goodyear Tire Codes: Left-side — D-6810; right-side — D-6812 Other Tracks With This Same Tire Combination: Chicagoland Speedway, Dover International Speedway, Kansas Speedway, Lowe's Motor Speedway, Michigan International Speedway

Estimated Pit Window: Every 45-50 laps, based on fuel mileage

Track Tidbits

There have been nine NASCAR NEXTEL Cup race at California Speedway since the track opened in 1997.

Sixteen drivers have competed in all nine races at California.

Jeff Gordon won the inaugural race at the California Speedway in 1997 and repeated as the race winner there in 1999 and again in the first race there in 2004.

There have been seven different race winners in the nine races at California.

Jeff Gordon won has posted five top-five finishes in nine races at California.

Four drivers have posted five top-10 finishes in nine races at California: Jeff Gordon, Dale Jarrett, Bobby Labonte and Rusty Wallace. Would You Believe? Mark Martin has four top-10 finishes, including one victory, in nine races at California. He also failed to finish three times. One of Martin's DNFs was his first top-10 – when he ran out of gas on the final lap of the inaugural race in 1997, yet still finished 10th.

Moving Up
Eight of the nine races at California had a majority of the top-10 finishers start outside the top 10. In 1999, only three of the top-10 finishers started outside the top 10.

Leading the Way
Five drivers have led almost half of the 2,250 laps raced at California. Jeff Gordon (410), Mark Martin (259), Rusty Wallace (164), Kurt Busch (136) and Matt Kenseth (135) have combined for 1,104 laps led.

California Speedway Background
The California Speedway is a two-mile D-shaped oval superspeedway located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California. It is 52 miles east of Los Angeles and 60 miles west of Palm Springs. During the 1997 season the speedway accommodated 80,000 fans with an eventual seating capacity of 107,000. The total cost of the project was approximately $120 million. There are 16 million people living within 150 miles of the California Speedway, which is the only superspeedway in the Southern California area. The region is the second largest economic area in the United States and has the largest automotive and trucking sales in the world. The California Speedway complex sits on 529 acres in Fontana, within the shadows of the San Bernadino Mountains. The two-mile oval is 75 feet wide with a 15-foot apron. Banking is 14 degrees in the turns. The front stretch is 3,100 feet long and is banked 11 degrees on the tri-oval while the backstretch is 2,500 feet with 3 degrees banking. Pit road is 2,200 feet long with 44 individual pit areas. There are three garages with 100 spaces.

Starting Up Front is not Important at California Speedway
Four of the nine races at California Speedway have been won from staring positions of fifth or better. However five of the last six races there have been won from starting positions of 16th or worse and no one has ever won there from the Bud Pole.

Big Winner at California Speedway
Jeff Gordon has won three races at California Speedway. He is the only driver with multiple victories at California Speedway. His 9.33 average finish is the best among the 16 drivers that have competed in all nine races there.

Skunked at California Speedway
Despite posting one of his four career victories at California Speedway (2000), Jeremy Mayfield has posted two DNFs in his last four races there. He finished 38th (2002), 35th (2003) 14th (May 2004) and 16th (Sept. 2004).

Leading The Way at California
Jeff Gordon has led 410 laps in nine races at California, more than any other driver.

Would you Believe?
Tony Stewart has finished 16th or worse in his last four races at California Speedway.

Manufacturer's at California Speedway
Ford has five victories at California Speedway, Chevrolet has four and Dodge still seeks it's first win there.

California Standouts

Sixteen drivers have competed in all nine races at California Speedway.

Eight different drivers have scored one Bud Pole at California Speedway. Qualifying was rained out there in 1999.

Jeff Gordon has scored five top-five finishes at California Speedway, the most among all drivers.

Jeff Gordon, Dale Jarrett, Bobby Labonte and Rusty Wallace, have each scored five top-10 finishes at California Speedway, the most among all drivers.

Rusty Wallace has scored five top-10 finishes in the last six races at California Speedway.

Ryan Newman leads all drivers with more than two starts at California with a 6.5 average start in four races.

Jeff Gordon has an 11.88 average start at California Speedway, the best among the 16 drivers who have competed in every race there.

Kasey Kahne has a 7.5 average finish in his two races at California Speedway, the best of all drivers with two or more starts there. Kahne won the Bud pole in this race one year ago.

Ryan Newman has posted two straight top-five finishes at California Speedway.

Joe Nemechek has posted three straight top-10 starts at California Speedway. California Drought Joe Nemechek, Kyle Petty and Ken Schrader are the only drivers that have competed in all nine races at California Speedway that have not scored a top–10 finish there.

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