Backstretch Motorsports

500 winner Ryan Newman, Jeff Gordon and Carl Edwards May Have Other Ideas

The “new car” raced at 10 of the 22 different NASCAR Sprint Cup Series tracks last season, meaning the drivers had 12 new lessons to learn coming into the 2008 season. What would the competition hold? How would the new car fare?
Lesson 1 - Daytona International Speedway - is complete and the new car offered some of the most competitive racing ever seen at a Daytona 500. There were 42 lead changes among 16 drivers. Only five times since 1972 has a Daytona 500 seen that many lead changes, and the 16 different leaders is the second-most ever.
The new car competes at another new track this Sunday - California Speedway. The series tested there from Jan. 31-Feb. 1 with Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards and Daytona 500 winner Ryan Newman posting times at or near the top of the charts.

Also faring well at the test was Matt Kenseth, who is a juggernaut at California. He has two wins and five top 10s in the last five races. Plus, for all the superstitious handicappers out there, Kenseth has a “numbers game” advantage this Sunday. A quirky coincidental sequence has him heading to Victory Lane — his last five finishes at California go like this: 7th, 1st, 7th, 1st, 7th.
But more logical prognosticators might want to go with the Loop Data. Kenseth leads in a number of categories including the key Driver Rating (113.9) and Average Running Position (7.2) statistics.
One result is likely at California — the winner of Sunday’s race will be a proven one. Each of the 11 different winners in the 15 races at California has at least one appearance in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

60 Years Of NASCAR, 1948-2008: Plenty of California Tradition

NASCAR’s 60th anniversary season continues this week with the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series returning to California Speedway for Sunday’s Auto Club 500, renewing a tradition that has long preceded the 2-mile Fontana oval.

NASCAR has a rich, varied history in California that is worth remembering and cherishing. California events in NASCAR’s premier series — a total of 119 heading into Sunday — have played a vital role in building the sport’s popularity. Twenty-three of those 119 events were held in the 1950s.

Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson are two of seven California natives currently competing in NASCAR Sprint Cup. Kevin Harvick, Casey Mears, Robby Gordon, David Gilliland and AJ Allmendinger are the others
No other state has that many NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers these days.

And that situation surely owes some sort of debt to the “old days” of NASCAR in California that began with NASCAR’s third season of existence, 1951.

California Speedway Data
Race # 2 of 36 (2-24-08)
Track Size: 2 miles
� Race Length: 250 laps/500 miles
� Banking/Corners: 14 degrees
� Banking/Frontstretch: 11 degrees
� Banking/Backstretch: 3 degrees

Qualifying/Race Data
2007 pole winner: Jeff Gordon (185.735 mph, 38.765 seconds)
2007 race winner: Matt Kenseth (138.451 mph, 2-25-07)
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

Driver Rating at California
Matt Kenseth 113.9
Jimmie Johnson 111.3
Kyle Busch 109.3
Mark Martin 103.6
Tony Stewart 101.2
Carl Edwards 100.6
Kasey Kahne 96.5
Greg Biffle 95.4
Kurt Busch 95.1
Jeff Burton 92.8
Note: Driver Rating compiled from 2005-2007 races (6 total) at California.

Loop Stats:

Matt Kenseth (No. 17 DEWALT Ford)
� Two wins, four top fives, eight top 10s
� Average finish of 16.7
� Series-best Average Running Position of 7.2
� Series-best Driver Rating of 113.9
� 89 Fastest Laps Run, sixth-most
� Average Green Flag Speed of 172.195 mph, second-best
� 1,332 Laps in the Top 15 (88.5%), second-most
� 256 Quality Passes, ninth-most

Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Lowe�s Chevrolet)
� Two wins, six top fives
� Average finish of 6.8
� Average Running Position of 7.7, second-best
� Driver Rating of 111.3, second-best
� 99 Fastest Laps Run, fourth-most
� Series-fastest Average Green Flag Speed of 172.261
� Series-high 1,381 Laps in the Top 15 (91.8%)
� 325 Quality Passes, third-most

Can’t forget about these drivers:

Kyle Busch (No. 18 M&M�s Toyota)
� One win, two top fives, five top 10s; one pole
� Average finish of 11.1
� Average Running Position of 9.4, fourth-best
� Driver Rating of 109.3, third-best
� 102 Fastest Laps Run, third-most
� Green Flag Speed of 171.985 mph, fifth-fastest
� 1,259 Laps in the Top 15 (83.7%), third-most
� 294 Quality Passes, fifth-most

Kurt Busch (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge)
� One win, three top fives, five top 10s; three poles
� Average finish of 11.3
� Average Running Position of 11.5, sixth-best
� Driver Rating of 95.1, ninth-best
� 70 Fastest Laps Run, eighth-most
� 1,136 Laps in the Top 15 (75.5%), third-most
� 259 Quality Passes, eighth-most

Greg Biffle (No. 16 3M Ford)
� One win, two top fives
� Average finish of 20.1
� Average Running Position of 13.5, 11th-best
� Driver Rating of 95.4, eighth-best
� Series-high 134 Fastest Laps Run
� 464 Green Flag Passes, fifth-most
� Average Green Flag Speed of 171.810 mph, eighth-fastest

California Speedway Stats of the 2008 Top 12 In Points* :

Driver Races Poles Wins Top Fives Top 10s DNFs Average Finish Driver Rating

1 Ryan Newman 10 1 0 2 3 2 19.5 110.6
2 Kurt Busch 11 3 1 3 5 0 11.3 70.4
3 Tony Stewart 13 0 0 3 6 2 16.7 102.9
4 Kyle Busch 7 1 1 2 5 0 11.1 133.1
5 Reed Sorenson 4 0 0 0 0 1 26.5 88.4
6 Kasey Kahne 8 1 1 3 5 2 14.3 103.4
7 Elliott Sadler 13 0 1 1 2 2 22.5 78.0
8 Dale Earnhardt, Jr 12 0 0 3 4 4 19.8 115.6
9 Robby Gordon 11 0 0 0 1 3 26.5 72.0
10 Greg Biffle 10 0 1 2 2 2 20.1 106.3
11 Bobby Labonte 15 1 0 4 5 1 17.4 85.4
12 Jeff Burton 15 0 0 5 6 0 16.0 77.8

* After the Daytona 500