Pure Stats — Pepsi 500 at Auto Club Speedway
By Bram • Aug 25th, 2008 • Category: NASCAR, Notes, Sprint Cup Series
Pepsi 500 at Auto Club Speedway
Q: Should we expect any more fireworks from Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch?
A: Probably – and sooner rather than later. Both drivers are excellent at Auto Club Speedway, meaning both should run up front, and both could be battling for the win yet again. Both have a win there, and they rank three-four in Driver Rating at Auto Club Speedway. Busch is third with a 109.9 Driver Rating, while Edwards has a 105.6.
Q: Can David Ragan continue his unbelievable surge up the standings?
A: Who knows, and that’s the beauty of his season. Few could have predicted this. After the Daytona 500, Ragan was 42nd in the points standings. Two races later, he was in 19th. Now he’s in 13th, just 12 points out of the top 12. It could very well continue. All three of Ragan’s finishes at Auto Club Speedway have been in the top 20, and he has a solid Driver Rating of 77.4 there.
Q: Who can clinch this weekend?
A: Clinch Scenarios At California
Earnhardt, Johnson And Burton Could Clinch Chase Berths At Auto Club Speedway
Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Burton control their own Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup destiny this weekend. With certain Auto Club Speedway finishes – outlined below – they will join Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards, who have already secured spots in the 2008 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
To clinch a Chase spot, a driver needs to leave Auto Club Speedway with a 196-point lead over 13th place.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Earnhardt is currently 350 points ahead of 13th place. Regardless of any other driver’s finish, Earnhardt will clinch if he finishes:
• 40th or better
• 41st or 42nd and leads at least one lap
Jimmie Johnson
Johnson is currently 348 points ahead of 13th place. Regardless of any other driver’s finish, Johnson will clinch if he finishes:
• 40th or better
• 41st and leads at least one lap
Jeff Burton
Burton is 274 points ahead of 13th place. Regardless of any other driver’s finish, Burton will clinch if he finishes:
• 15th or better
• 16th or 17th and leads at least one lap
• 20th and leads the most laps
Six other drivers can clinch this weekend as well, but do not control their own destiny. Unlike Johnson, Earnhardt and Burton, all six must increase their current points lead over 13th place in Sunday’s race.
Below are those drivers who can mathematically reach the 196-point margin over 13th position this weekend:
Tony Stewart: Is 170 points ahead of 13th place and needs to pad his lead by 26 points.
Greg Biffle: Is 141 points ahead of 13th place and needs to pad his lead by 55 points.
Kevin Harvick: Is 129 points ahead of 13th place and needs to pad his lead by 67 points.
Jeff Gordon: Is 108 points ahead of 13th place and needs to pad his lead by 88 points.
Matt Kenseth: Is 78 points ahead of 13th place and needs to pad his lead by 118 points.
Denny Hamlin: Is 57 points ahead of 13th place and needs to pad his lead by 139 points.
Clint Bowyer, currently 12th in the series standings, cannot clinch a Chase position at Auto Club Speedway under any scenario, assuming David Ragan starts Sunday’s race.
Q: Any first time 2008 winners this weekend?
A: With two wins and a second-best Driver Rating at Auto Club Speedway of 112.7, Matt Kenseth could nab his first win of 2008.
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Top 12 at Auto Club Speedway
Driver Races Poles Wins Top Fives Top 10s DNFs Average Finish Driver Rating
1 Kyle Busch 8 1 1 3 6 0 10.3 109.9
2 Carl Edwards 8 1 1 6 7 0 6.8 105.6
3 Dale Earnhardt Jr 13 0 0 3 4 4 21.4 73.7
4 Jimmie Johnson 11 0 2 7 7 0 6.4 114.7
5 Jeff Burton 16 0 0 5 6 1 15.8 92.8
6 Tony Stewart 14 0 0 3 7 2 16.0 101.0
7 Greg Biffle 11 0 1 2 2 2 19.6 94.6
8 Kevin Harvick 12 0 0 0 3 1 19.1 85.9
9 Jeff Gordon 16 2 3 8 8 2 11.30 95.4
10 Matt Kenseth 13 0 2 5 9 0 9.9 112.7
11 Denny Hamlin 5 0 0 0 1 0 17.8 82.5
12 Clint Bowyer 5 0 0 1 2 0 12.4 84.1
Selected Driver Highlights
Note: All driver statistics that follow are from Auto Club Speedway. The Loop Data statistics – Driver Rating, Average Running Position, etc. – in this release, however, cover the last seven races at Auto Club Speedway. NASCAR’s scoring loops began collecting data for statistical purposes in 2005.
Greg Biffle (No. 16 3M Ford)
• One win, two top fives
• Average finish of 19.6
• Average Running Position of 13.2, 10th-best
• Driver Rating of 94.6, ninth-best
• Series-high 137 Fastest Laps Run
• 544 Green Flag Passes, fourth-most
• Average Green Flag Speed of 171.804 mph, eighth-fastest
• 289 Quality Passes (passes of cars in the top 15 under green), 10th-most
Kurt Busch (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge)
• One win, three top fives, five top 10s; three poles
• Average finish of 11.4
• Average Running Position of 12.1, ninth-best
• Driver Rating of 94.1, 10th-best
• 72 Fastest Laps Run, 10th-most
• 551 Green Flag Passes, third-most
• 1,283 Laps in the Top 15 (73.1%), seventh-most
• 320 Quality Passes, seventh-most
Kyle Busch (No. 18 M&M’s Toyota)
• One win, three top fives, six top 10s; one pole
• Average finish of 10.3
• Average Running Position of 9.1, third-best
• Driver Rating of 109.9, third-best
• 117 Fastest Laps Run, fifth-most
• Green Flag Speed of 172.143 mph, fourth-fastest
• 1,483 Laps in the Top 15 (84.5%), third-most
• 370 Quality Passes, tied for second-most
Carl Edwards (No. 99 Office Depot Ford)
• One win, six top fives, seven top 10s; one pole
• Average finish of 6.8
• Average Running Position of 11.2, seventh-best
• Driver Rating of 105.6, fourth-best
• 126 Fastest Laps Run, fourth-most
• Average Green Flag Speed of 172.224 mph, second-fastest
• 1,344 Laps in the Top 15 (76.6%), fourth-most
Jeff Gordon (No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet)
• Three wins, eight top fives; two poles
• Average finish of 11.3
• Average Running Position of 10.3, fifth-best
• Driver Rating of 95.4, eighth-best
• 108 Fastest Laps Run, sixth-most
• 593 Green Flag Passes, second-most
• 1,331 Laps in the Top 15 (75.8%), fifth-most
• Series-high 383 Quality Passes
Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet)
• Two wins, seven top fives
• Average finish of 6.4
• Series-best Average Running Position of 7.0
• Series-best Driver Rating of 114.7
• 129 Fastest Laps Run, third-most
• Series-fastest Average Green Flag Speed of 172.481 mph
• Series-high 1,630 Laps in the Top 15 (92.9%)
• 365 Quality Passes, fourth-most
Kasey Kahne (No. 9 Budweiser Dodge)
• One win, three top five, six top 10s; one pole
• Average finish of 13.7
• Driver Rating of 98.4, seventh-best
• 93 Fastest Laps Run, eighth-most
• Average Green Flag Speed of 171.796 mph, ninth-fastest
• 1,192 Laps in the Top 15 (67.9%), ninth-most
• 341 Quality Passes, fifth-most
Matt Kenseth (No. 17 DEWALT Ford)
• Two wins, five top fives, nine top 10s
• Average finish of 9.9
• Average Running Position of 7.9, second-best
• Driver Rating of 112.7, second-best
• 90 Fastest Laps Run, ninth-most
• Average Green Flag Speed of 172.209 mph, third-fastest
• 1,521 Laps in the Top 15 (86.7%), second-most
• 299 Quality Passes, ninth-most
Tony Stewart (No. 20 Home Depot Toyota)
• Three top fives, seven top 10s
• Average finish of 16.0
• Average Running Position of 10.6, sixth-best
• Driver Rating of 101.0, fifth-best
• 130 Fastest Laps Run, second-most
• Average Green Flag Speed of 172.000 mph, sixth-most
• 1,319 Laps in the Top 15 (75.2%), sixth-most
• 335 Quality Passes, sixth-most
At Auto Club Speedway:
History
• Groundbreaking for Auto Club Speedway took place in November 1995.
• The first race was a NASCAR West Series race won by Ken Schrader on June 21, 1997.
• The first NASCAR Sprint Cup race was held on June 22, 1997 and won by Jeff Gordon.
• The first NASCAR Nationwide Cup race was held on Oct. 19, 1997, won by Todd Bodine.
• The first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race was won by Mike Bliss on Oct. 18, 1997.
• September 2004 was the first night race and was also the first year there were two races a year for both the NASCAR Sprint Cup and NASCAR Nationwide Series.
• 2005 was the first time the first Auto Club Speedway race was a triple-header with all three major NASCAR series competing.
• The track name was changed from California Speedway to Auto Club Speedway in February 2008.
Notebook
• There have been 16 NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Auto Club Speedway since the track opened in 1997.
• Five drivers have competed in all 16 Auto Club races: Jeff Burton, Jeff Gordon, Bobby Labonte, Joe Nemechek and Kyle Petty.
• Joe Nemechek won the pole for the inaugural race in 1997. Greg Sacks broke Nemechek’s short-lived, track-qualifying record in the second round of qualifying.
• There have been 11 different pole winners, led by Kurt Busch (three) and Jeff Gordon (two) Qualifying was canceled in 1999 and 2008-1.
• 12 different drivers have posted victories at Auto Club Speedway. Jeff Gordon (three), Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth (two) are the only multiple race winners there.
• Hendrick Motorsports and Roush Fenway Racing have each won six races, more than any other organization.
• Eight of the 16 races were won from outside the top 10 starting positions.
• Matt Kenseth won the 2006 sprint race from the 31st starting position, the deepest in the field that a race winner has started.
Hot Fact
Mark Martin has seven top-10 finishes, including one victory, in 15 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.
NASCAR in California
• There have been 122 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races in California:
• 404 drivers in NASCAR’s three national series (all-time) have their home state recorded as California.
• There have been 32 race winners from California in NASCAR’s three national series:
Driver NCSC NNS NCTS
Jimmie Johnson 35 1 0
Marvin Panch 17 0 0
Ernie Irvan 15 3 0
Dick Rathmann 13 0 0
Kevin Harvick 11 32 2
Dan Gurney 5 0 0
Eddie Gray 4 0 0
Parnelli Jones 4 0 0
Eddie Pagan 4 0 0
Robby Gordon 3 1 0
Ray Elder 2 0 0
Danny Letner 2 0 0
Marvin Porter 2 0 0
Casey Mears 1 1 0
Dick Brooks 1 0 0
Marvin Burke 1 0 0
Jim Cook 1 0 0
Lou Figaro 1 0 0
Danny Graves 1 0 0
Johnny Mantz 1 0 0
Bill Norton 1 0 0
John Soares 1 0 0
Danny Weinberg 1 0 0
Ron Hornaday Jr. 0 4 36
Jason Leffler 0 2 1
Mike Skinner 0 1 24
Joe Ruttman 0 1 13
David Gilliland 0 1 0
Matt Crafton 0 0 1
Boris Said 0 0 1
Scott Speed 0 0 1
Brandon Whitt 0 0 1
Auto Club Speedway Data
Race # 25 of 36 (8-31-08)
Track Size: 2 miles
Race Length: 250 laps/500 miles
Banking/Corners: 14 degrees
Banking/Frontstretch: 11 degrees
Banking/Backstretch: 3 degrees
Driver Rating at Auto Club Speedway
Jimmie Johnson 114.7
Matt Kenseth 112.7
Kyle Busch 109.9
Carl Edwards 105.6
Tony Stewart 101.0
Mark Martin 98.5
Kasey Kahne 98.4
Jeff Gordon 95.4
Greg Biffle 94.6
Kurt Busch 94.1
Note: Driver Rating compiled from 2005-2008 races (7 total) at Auto Club Speedway.
Qualifying/Race Data
2007 pole winner: Kurt Busch (182.399 mph, 39.474 seconds)
2007 race winner: Jimmie Johnson (131.502 mph, 9-2-07)
Track qualifying record: Kyle Busch (188.425 mph, 38.248 seconds, 2-25-05)
Track race record: Jeff Gordon (155.012 mph, 6-22-97)
Estimated Pit Window: Every 40-44 laps, based on fuel mileage
