Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

FONTANA, Calif. (February 21, 2009) -- Want to improve attendance at Auto Club Speedway?

Hire Elliott Sadler as a marketing consultant to help fill the seats at the 2-mile racetrack, which, in a challenging economy, has been struggling with ticket sales for Sunday's Sprint Cup race.

Asked whether the use of restrictor plates at Fontana might help the racing, Sadler had other ideas -- none of which had anything to do with performance on the asphalt.

"We just have to do a better job of getting fans to this particular racetrack," he said. "If I had anything to do with this racetrack, I would go to every single middle school within 50 miles of this place and give away free tickets. What's the difference in an empty seat and a free ticket? You might sell a Coca-Cola to them in the stands.

"I would go to every Boys and Girls Club, the Girl Scouts, middle school -- give away tickets, give them a chance to come to this race that might not have come before. You might make a fan; you might not. If you don't make a fan, what have you lost? You really haven't lost anything, because you didn't have anyone in the seat anyhow.

"If you gain a fan, you maybe gain a couple tickets for next year. That's my Emporia (Va.) opinion, which is not worth two cents out here in Los Angeles, California."

BOWYER LOOKING FOR BETTER PARKING PLACE
Forget Clint Bowyer's fourth-place finish in last Sunday's Daytona 500. He knows where Sprint Cup drivers earn their money -- at the intermediate speedways that make up the bulk of the series schedule.

"It's crucial to get out of (Fontana) and Las Vegas (March 1) with good runs," Bowyer said. "These tracks make up the most of what wins you races and championships, and so we have to be good here for momentum and confidence for our team -- and I feel like we can do that."

With solid finishes in the next few weeks, Bowyer also can secure a better parking space for his hauler. Bowyer, who was fifth in the Chase for the Sprint Cup last year, changed cars for the 2009 season, and despite a deal that gave him the owner points from the No. 01 Chevrolet (driven by Regan Smith last year), Bowyer's transporter is parked in the "back 40" with other lower-tier teams.

After five races, parking spots are determined by current owner points, not the final standings from 2008.

"It's just a parking spot, you know," Bowyer said. "But there is an order of points and things like that as to how they park the haulers, so there is a sense of pride. We worked hard to get where we were, and we're going to work hard to get back up there in front."

SORENSON FORCED TO BACKUP CAR
Reed Sorenson smacked the Turn 4 wall on the first lap of final Cup practice Saturday afternoon. With the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Dodge heavily damaged on the right side, his team unloaded the backup car. The car change will require Sorenson to relinquish his 17th-place qualifying position and drop to the rear for the start of Sunday's Auto Club 500… Jimmie Johnson was fastest in happy Hour, with his best lap (179.582 mph) more than one mile-per-hour quicker than that of Denny Hamlin, who was second fastest at 178.280 mph.