NASCAR‘s west coast swing concludes this week at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California with the Auto Club 400. Which drivers have a chance at living the California dream?
It will take a team effort to get to Victory Lane at Auto Club Speedway. The track has the length to run at high-speed and the room to race. However, it also means if the speed isn’t there a car can get left behind and if the handling is off there is room to wreck.
Crew chiefs will need to make the right adjustments to the car throughout the race and the teams will have to service the cars during pit stops without making mistakes. Spots lost on pit row might not be able to be regained on the track.
Driver too will have to be mistake-free on the track and on pit row. Any lapse in focus by the driver at Auto Club Speedway could cost them the race if not end their day early.
Here is a look at this week’s track and race statistics.
Auto Club Speedway Data
Track Size: 2-miles
Banking/Turns 1 & 2: 14 degrees
Banking/Turns 3 & 4: 14 degrees
Banking/Frontstretch: 11 degrees
Banking/Backstretch: 3 degrees
Frontstretch Length: 3,100 feet
Backstretch Length: 2,500 feet
Auto Club 400 Race
Season Race #: 5 of 36 (03-18-18)
Race Length: 200 laps / 400 miles
Stage 1 & 2 Length: 60 laps (each)
Final Stage Length: 80 laps
Now look at the top performing NASCAR drivers at the track.
Top 10 Driver Rating at Auto Club
Jimmie Johnson…………………… 116.9
Chase Elliott……………………….. 109.0
Kyle Busch…………………………. 108.6
Erik Jones………………………….. 100.6
Kevin Harvick………………………… 97.4
Denny Hamlin……………………….. 92.3
Clint Bowyer…………………………. 89.8
Kurt Busch……………………………. 88.1
Kasey Kahne………………………… 88.1
Kyle Larson………………………….. 86.6
Note: Driver Ratings compiled from 2005-2017 races (19 total) among active drivers at Auto Club Speedway
Kevin Harvick has won the last three Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race of the season. That makes it three out of four races with a win for Kevin this year. He is one of five drivers with a single win at Auto Club Speedway during his career in NASCAR’s top division. You know he wants to make it four in a row and four out of five for the 2018 season by winning this week.
However, Jimmie Johnson will try to have something to say about that. Jimmie has both the highest driver rating at the track and the most wins all-time with six checkered flags in California, his home state.
Kyle Busch usually does well on the high-speed, on the edge tracks like Auto Club Speedway. He is the only driver other than Jimmie with multiple wins in California. Kyle has scored two wins previously.
I mentioned that Kevin was one of five drivers to have scored a single win at Auto Club Speedway. The other four include last year’s winner of this race Kyle Larson. The other three drivers on that list are Kurt Busch, Kasey Kahne and Brad Keselowski. These drivers will be putting it all on the line to add a second win at the track to their resume.
Of course the rest of the field will be driving for all they have to get their first checkered flag at the track. No matter which driver ultimately crosses the finish line first it will be a result of a team effort to get there.
We will see which team and driver prevails this Sunday, March 18th when the green flag waives at Auto Club Speedway at 2:30 PM central time (3:30 PM eastern time) to start the Auto Club 400 in Fontana, California.
By: Buck Stevens
