Fontana: Some Stats, 'Auto Club 400' TV Times and Other Things

It's time to visit the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA for NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Auto Club 400 event.  The big old D-shaped track is, well, a big D-shaped track.  They go round and round, with lots of space for everyone.  Hence, the cautions are minimal and it all comes down to pit stops and fuel mileage.  Of course this year, I'm betting the teams are getting mild ulcers from worrying about the new EFI system, but if all goes according to plan, it should be a good tactical experience for all the teams.

NASCAR Sprint Cup TV Schedule
If you're wondering about when what is on... all practices and qualifying will be carried on Speed TV with the race live on Fox on Sunday.  (All times ET)

Friday, March 23rd:

First Practice 3 pm
Qualifying 7 pm

Saturday, Mar 24th:

Second Practice 12:30 pm
Final Practice 3:30 pm

Sunday, Mar 25th:

Auto Club 400 @ 2:30 pm on FOX

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The last five races at the track has seen Jimmie Johnson win two of those, with Kevin Harvick, Tony Stewart and Matt Kenseth winning the others.

Of that pack, actually, of all the drivers, Johnson has the best average finish from the loop data that's been collected over the last 13 events at Fontana:

Jimmie Johnson (4.2)
Matt Kenseth (8.8)
Carl Edwards (9.2)
Clint Bowyer (10.6)
Kyle Busch (11.1)

And Johnson has led the most laps, 23.7%, with Kyle Busch (12.5%), Kenseth (11.5%), Greg Biffle (8.5%) and Jeff Gordon having led 6.6% of all laps in the last 13 races.

And if you look at the above stats, then look at the driver standings, with Biffle, Harvick and Kenseth being pretty strong early-season contenders, you have to keep one thing in mind:  Jimmie Johnson is only 11th because of a 1st lap wreck at Daytona.  You can never count them out.

I think it's going to come down to Johnson vs. Biffle. 

But don't forget to temper your expectations with practice and qualifying performances for the weekend when picking your fantasy line-up for the Auto Club 400.

You might also want to check out iFantasyrace's Auto Club Fantasy Picks for the weekend.

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Overturned Penalties
Folks were honestly shocked, the penalty cloud hanging over the No. 48 team has been lifted. 

Now that Johnson's team has been absolved (technically) of all wrong doings from their inspection woes at Daytona, Chad Knaus et al can now truly get laser focused on the task at hand.  Though it's been my observation that they get more focused when Chad takes enforced sabbatical.

Though the penalties have been lifted, they still owe the fine.  Not sure that that's about.  Though I have to wonder, with all fines applied to the NASCAR Foundation, are they tax-deductible?  Seems win-win for everyone, if that is indeed the case.

Here's a great details article on the matter:  Suspension Overturned.

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Now Streaming

And if you heard the news, SiriusXM NASCAR content will be streaming online starting Saturday at Fontana.  That's good news and it's about bloody time.  Well, except for the fact that SiriusXM wants additional fees to get the content you're already subscribed to.  (online access fee.)

Despite the SiriusXM decisions on fees, this is the first bonus for the fans, from NASCAR getting its own digital rights back.

The Daly Planet has more on this new streaming content development.

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Some Bits and Pieces About the Budweiser Shootout

By the Numbers: Budweiser Shootout at Daytona

.08 seconds
Is the margin of victory Dale Earnhardt beat Sterling Marlin by in 1995. The closest margin in Budweiser Shootout history

1 lap.
The # of laps led, by Rusty Wallace (1998), Neil Bonnett (1983-84), Dale Earnhardt (1980) and Dale Jarrett (2004) in the Budweiser Shootouts they won

2.75 –
The average finish in the Budweiser Shootout by Dale Earnhardt, best by any driver with multiple starts

5 –
The # of Drivers who have won the event in their first appearance
(Buddy Baker, 1979; Dale Earnhardt, 1980; Jeff Gordon, 1994; Dale Jarrett, 1996; Denny Hamlin, 2006)

19 –
The number of lead changes in 2001, the highest number since race began in 1979

19 –
The starting position of Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2003, the lowest starting position of a Budweiser Shootout race-winner

23 –
Is the largest number of participants in the Shootout ever, in 2008.
That number will be broken this year with 28 cars competing.

44 –
The most laps led in the Shootout by a non-winning driver. Greg Biffle (2005) Ain't that a wonderful stat to have?

47 –
The most laps ever led in the Shootout... Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2008)

Did You Know: Some Competition Numbers

• That 29 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers had at least one top-five finish in 2008.

• That 37 NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers had at least one top-10 finish in 2008.

• That NASCAR Sprint Cup races averaged 11 leaders and 21 lead changes in 2008.

• That a series-record 89.6% of the cars were running at the finish in 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.

• That 43 NASCAR Nationwide Series drivers had at least one top five in 2008.

• That 49 NASCAR Nationwide Series drivers had at least one top 10 in 2008.

• That 60 NASCAR Nationwide drivers led at least one lap in 2008.

• That 28 NASCAR Camping World Series drivers had at least one top five in 2008.

• That 43 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series drivers had at least one top 10 in 2008.

• That 20 of the 25 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races had a margin of victory under one second in 2008.

• That more than 2,000 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series chassis have been inspected at the R&D Center since Nov., 2006

• That the No. 22 Toyota team raced the same car at 11 different NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events in 2008 – or nearly one third of the schedule

• That the No. 1 Chevrolet team raced the same car at 10 different NSCS events in 2008, as did the No. 29 Chevrolet and No. 21 Ford teams.

source: NASCAR media

Did You Know?: NASCAR Milestones

• That Jimmie Johnson will attempt to become the first driver in NASCAR history to win four consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championships (Well, OK, maybe you put that one together already.)

• That for the first time in his 11-year NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career, Tony Stewart will be driving for a different team other than Joe Gibbs Racing. Stewart is the new driver/owner of Stewart-Haas Racing and will drive the No.14 Chevrolet in 2009. (Gotta wonder how the temper will fare? Probably OK.)

• That Joey Logano will be the youngest driver ever to run the Daytona 500. He’ll be 18 years, 8 months and 22 days on February 15. The previous youngest was Clark Dwyer in 1983. He was 19 years, 1 month and 8 days old.

• That Jeff Gordon needs to lead 89 laps to reach 20,000 career laps led. (That's a lot of clean air!)

• That Richard Childress Racing teammates Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer look to extend an all-time record this season. Harvick has run 80 consecutive races without a DNF. Clint Bowyer is second with 73. (Ohhh, media curse!)

• That as long as Jeff Gordon makes each of his starts this year, he’ll move into the sixth spot for most consecutive starts. He now has 545. By season’s end, he’ll have 581.

• That with two poles, Ryan Newman will move into the top 10 on the all-time poles list. Newman enters this season with 43 career poles. (I hope he and his new team can do it!)

• That Bill Elliott will make his 800th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start with his fourth start of 2009.

• That Ron Hornaday Jr. needs one win to become the first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver with 40 career wins.

• That there have been back-to-back first-time race winners in each of the last four NASCAR Nationwide Series seasons. Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano did it last year, winning their first races at Nashville and Kentucky.

• That the Atlanta Motor Speedway event on March 8 will be the track’s 100th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race.

• That three tracks will be celebrating their 80th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race this season:
Dover, Michigan and Talladega.

source: NASCAR media

NASCAR The Sport: Did you Know

• That NASCAR is the #1 spectator sport as 17 of 20 highest attended U.S. sporting events in 2008 were NASCAR races.

• That NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events averaged nearly 120,000 fans in 2008.

• That NASCAR remains strong as the #2-rated regular season sport on television.

• That NASCAR is televised weekly in more than 100 countries and in more than 30 languages.

• That more than 400 unique corporate sponsors are involved in NASCAR.

• That NASCAR has the most Fortune 500 involvement in all of professional sports.

• That NASCAR sanctions more than 1,200 races at 100 tracks across more than 30 U.S. states, Canada and Mexico.


source: NASCAR media

NASCAR Sprint Cup: Rookie and Lap Notes from 2008

Looking back at the 2008 season of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, I'm glad to see that Regan Smith took the Rookie award for the year. Following this little segment of numbers is a quickie observation on lap leaders.

Rookie Performance
• Regan Smith won the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Raybestos Rookie-of-the-Year Award.

• Five different drivers were the highest-finishing rookie in 2008:

• Regan Smith (12)
• Sam Hornish Jr. (11)
• Patrick Carpentier (seven)
• Michael McDowell (five)
• Dario Franchitti (one)

As far as laps led in the 2008 season:

Laps Led
• Jimmie Johnson led 1,959 laps this season, more than any other driver.

• 50 drivers led at least one lap this season. No one has led in every race.

• 11 drivers led the most laps in a race this season:

• Jimmie Johnson (10)
• Kyle Busch (seven)
• Carl Edwards (five)
• Tony Stewart (four)
• Dale Earnhardt Jr. (three)
• Matt Kenseth (two)
• Denny Hamlin (one)
• Greg Biffle (one)
• Kasey Kahne (one)
• Mark Martin (one)
• David Reutimann (one)

source: nascar press release

NASCAR SprintCup Race Numbers from 2008

Races and drivers... some stats for the curious about the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series 2008 season.

The Races
• 71 drivers qualified for/participated in at least one NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race this season.

• There were 12 different race winners this season:

• Carl Edwards (nine)
• Kyle Busch (eight)
• Jimmie Johnson (six)
• Greg Biffle (two)
• Jeff Burton (two)
• Ryan Newman (one)
• Clint Bowyer (one)
• Kasey Kahne (one)
• Denny Hamlin (one)
• Dale Earnhardt Jr. (one)
• Kurt Busch (one)
• Tony Stewart (one)

• 37 different drivers have posted at least one top-10 finish in 2008, led by Carl Edwards with 27.

• Eight drivers had a best finish of second this season:

• David Gilliland
• Jeff Gordon
• Kevin Harvick
• Matt Kenseth
• Paul Menard
• Juan Pablo
• Montoya
• Brian Vickers
• Michael Waltrip

• There were nine green-white-checkered finishes this season:

• Bristol
• Texas
• Richmond
• Michigan
• Infineon
• Daytona-2
• Talladega-2
• Martinsville-2
• Phoenix-2

• The race was won from a top-10 start 28 times this season.

• The deepest in the field that a race winner started in 2008 was 34th, by Tony Stewart at Talladega-2.

• Nine races were won from the pole and the average start of the race winner in 2008 is 8.00.

• The pole winner (or driver that started first in cases of no qualifying) finishing position:

• First 9
• 2nd-5th 8
• 6th-10th 3
• 11th-30th 11
• 31st or beyond 5

• The lap leader performance of the pole winner (or driver that started first in cases of no qualifying):

• Led First Lap 26
• Led at All 35
• Led Most Laps 12
• Won Race 9

• The race winner’s starting positions:

• Pole 9
• 2nd-5th 12
• 6th-10th 8
• 11th-30th 5
• 31st or beyond 2

• The lap leader performance of the race winner:

• Led First Lap 7
• Led Most Laps 17
• Led Mid-Race Lap 9
• Led With 10 to Go 24
• Led With One to Go 35

Note: Mid-Race lap is as scheduled regardless of shortened or extended race length.

source: nascar press release

Atlanta Motor Speedway Driver Ratings

Curious about some numbers from Atlanta for the upcoming PepBoys Auto 500? Check 'em out here:





Atlanta Motor Speedway Data
Race #: 33 of 36 (10-26-08)
Track Size: 1.54 miles
Race Length: 325 laps/500.5 miles

• Banking/Corners: 24 degrees
• Banking/Straights: 5 degrees
• Frontstretch: 2,332 feet
• Backstretch: 1,800 feet

Driver Ratings at Atlanta
Jimmie Johnson 113.4
Tony Stewart 104.4
Dale Earnhardt Jr. 103.6
Carl Edwards 102.8
Greg Biffle 102.3
Jeff Gordon 96.6
Matt Kenseth 94.1
Jeff Burton 92.8
Clint Bowyer 89.4
Kyle Busch 88.5
Note: Driver Rating compiled from 2005-2008 races (7 total) at Atlanta.

Qualifying/Race Data
2007 pole winner: Greg Biffle, 192.453 mph, 28.807 secs.
2007 race winner: Jimmie Johnson, 135.260 mph, 10-28-07)
Track qualifying record: Geoffrey Bodine (197.478 mph, 28.074 secs., 10-21-05)
Race record: Bobby Labonte (159.904 mph, 11-16-97)

Estimated Pit Window: Every 48-52 laps, based on fuel mileage.

Image and data source: NASCAR Press Release
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