Going Back To Cali: Recapping The Auto Club 500 From Fontana

So far, so good for Matt Kenseth and new crew chief Todd Parrott.

Kenseth said he was “feeling great” after opening the season with consecutive top 10 finishes, placing seventh Sunday in California.

The Roush Fenway Racing team replaced Drew Blickensderfer one race into the season after the Daytona 500, leaving Parrott atop the pit box.

“It sounds dumb, me saying that, since we won the first two last year,” Kenseth said. “But to get out of Daytona with all the troubles we had and finish eighth, then to come in here in Todd’s first weekend and finish seventh is pretty good.”

Kenseth said he ran as good or better than his teammates at times and was as good as most Fords in general, which helped his mood.

“I still think we’ve got some work to do to get all of our cars better as a group, but I thought overall that our team did a good job,” he said.

As for Parrott, the crew chief said he was “very, very happy.”

“I think we made some huge gains from where we were over the winter, so I think we’re heading in the right direction,” Parrott said.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. didn't have the day he or his team was looking for in Fontana, as he finished a disappointing 32^nd after breaking an axle - a problem he said was part of the same issue that felled Jimmie Johnson at Daytona.

Earnhardt Jr. said the team believes it was faulty material in the axle that was responsible for the failure.

"They've got to go through a batch and find out what's going on," he said. "... Something's going on there where we're chewing that stuff up and tearing it up."

Despite the setback, Earnhardt Jr. said he was "actually moving forward better than the other guys around us" who had been running up front all day and gotten the wave-around after being pinned on pit road.

Earnhardt Jr. said he felt pretty good despite a "tough day," but added, "I mean, we weren't that great - I'm not going to be foolish."

But when a reporter asked Earnhardt Jr. why he struggled so much in comparison to his teammates, and the sport's most popular driver became frustrated.

"I can't build the cars, you know?" he said. "What do you want me to do? I just drive."  

If you’re an Anybody But Jimmie fan, the 2010 season is off to a crappy start for you.

Jimmie Johnson got incredibly lucky – there’s no two ways around that – by being on pit road at the exact time the caution came out during Sunday’s Auto Club 500, which gave him what crew chief Chad Knaus called “the break of the race.”

Johnson went on to win his 48th career Sprint Cup race, getting an early start on his fifth consecutive NASCAR championship.

“They’re really good, but they get really, really lucky,” runnerup Kevin Harvick said. “They have a golden horseshoe stuck up their ass.”

Said Johnson: “I’m not going to lie – the fact that we were on pit road gave us track position and I drove my butt off.”

The Richard Childress Racing cars of Harvick and Jeff Burton were third and fourth, followed by Johnson’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate Mark Martin and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Joey Logano.

Kurt Busch, Matt Kenseth, Clint Bowyer, Tony Stewart and Greg Biffle rounded out the top 10.

Harvick is the points leader, by 19 over Bowyer.

After a brief rain delay – which would have allowed Scott Speed to steal a remarkable win – the racing is back underway in Fontana.

Richard Childress Racing cars Jeff Burton and Kevin Harvick are running 1-2 as a caution for Brad Keselowski’s spin on the frontstretch has brought out a caution with 26 laps to go.

Behind the RCR cars, Mark Martin, Kurt Busch and Daytona 500 winner Jamie McMurray are all in the top five.

As the Auto Club 500 rolls into its second half, Dale Earnhardt Jr. just picked up the free pass to get back on the lead lap.

Earnhardt Jr. had driven up to 18th place but then was caught speeding entering pit road. He fell back to 30th place after the penalty and was lapped.

But his fans have been wondering today: What gives?

Earnhardt Jr. was supposed to be much improved this season, and Fontana is the first big test. Instead, it just looks like the same old – at least so far.

Who do you blame? Lance McGrew? And if so, is McGrew worse than Tony Eury Jr.?

We’d like to know what Dale Jr. fans are thinking.

So the cars are getting a bit strung out here in Fontana, and I just caught myself daydreaming.

Of what? Maybe closer racing.

Really, there’s nothing that can be done on a big track like this to close up the field. That’s just how it is.

The racing has never been particularly interesting in California.

Anyway, what else are you doing (in addition to watching the race, of course) to pass the time today? Leave your comments below.

Juan Pablo Montoya grabbed the lead on the first lap and jumped out to a healthy margin, but an apparent scrape with the wall has allowed Jimmie Johnson to catch and pass him in Fontana.

Johnson cruised by Montoya at lap 30 and is now putting some distance between himself and the leaders.

Montoya told his team on the radio that he “killed the right rear” and has now fallen to fourth place.

Johnson leads the Richard Childress Racing cars of Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer with 215 laps remaining.

Under cloudy skies – but no rain – the Auto 500 is about to get underway in Southern California (live on Fox).

Jamie McMurray and Juan Pablo Montoya will lead the field to the green.

One thing to watch: Drivers were warned in the prerace meeting about watching their speed on pit road. Officials said they called 10 pit road speeding penalties yesterday in the Nationwide race because drivers weren’t going all the way to the end of pit road before accelerating.

Jimmie Johnson is the favorite for today’s race.

It’s not raining at Auto Club Speedway – at least for the moment.

The track is being dried as of 8:30 a.m. local time (11:30 EST) and the race seems to be on schedule.

The unofficial NASCAR weatherman has his custom report for the track here.

Keep checking back here for updates on all the news and in-race reports throughout the day.

Mark Martin is bad fast in California.

Martin posted the fastest speed in the final Sprint Cup practice on Saturday afternoon with a lap of 181.726 mph, besting Clint Bowyer’s 180.895.

Jimmie Johnson (who had led the first practice) was third, followed by pole-sitter Jamie McMurray, who had struggled in the earlier session.

Jeff Gordon rounded out the top five and was followed by Jeff Burton, Brian Vickers, Juan Pablo Montoya, Denny Hamlin and Scott Speed.

Other drivers of note included Kyle Busch (12th), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (23rd) and Tony Stewart (26th).

The race is scheduled to begin shortly after 3 p.m. EST (noon local) tomorrow.

Sorry, race fans: The guy most of you are tired of seeing is back atop the charts again.

Four-time defending Sprint Cup champ Jimmie Johnson led the first of two practices for Sunday’s Auto Club 500 on Saturday afternoon in Southern California, posting a fast lap of 182.537 mph.

His Hendrick Motorsports teammate Mark Martin was second (182.182), mirroring their finish in the standings last season.

Denny Hamlin was third, followed by Roush Fenway Racing drivers Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle.

Juan Pablo Montoya, Jeff Gordon, Kasey Kahne, Clint Bowyer and Kurt Busch rounded out the top 10.

Daytona 500 winner Jamie McMurray won the pole on Friday but dropped off to 28th in practice.

Other drivers of note included Tony Stewart (12th), Kyle Busch (14th) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (20th).

The final practice is scheduled for 12:45 p.m local time (3:45 p.m. EST) this afternoon.

Who says there’s no momentum in racing?

Daytona 500 champion Jamie McMurray followed up his win in NASCAR’s biggest race by storming to the pole for the Auto Club 500 in Southern California on Friday afternoon, leading a front row that also includes Earnhardt Ganassi Racing teammate Juan Pablo Montoya.

"I'm still honestly amazed by the week I've had," McMurray said. "I really can't believe it. It's pretty awesome."

Four of the top six spots were taken by drivers running Earnhardt-Childress Racing (ECR) engines – In addition to McMurray and Montoya, Clint Bowyer was third and Kevin Harvick was sixth.

Kasey Kahne, in his first intermediate track appearance in a Ford, was fourth, and Dave Blaney rounded out the top five.

Four-time defending series champion Jimmie Johnson was seventh, followed by Sam Hornish Jr., Kyle Busch and Mark Martin.

Three drivers failed to qualify for the race: Casey Mears, Johnny Sauter (in a second car for Tommy Baldwin Racing) and Terry Cook.

The Chevrolets have exploded out of the box in California.

Chevy drivers had the top eight spots in the first practice at Auto Club Speedway on Friday afternoon, a 90-minute session led by Mark Martin (182.927 mph).

Ryan Newman (182.449) was second-fastest, followed by Juan Pablo Montoya, Jeff Burton and Clint Bowyer.

Daytona 500 winner Jamie McMurray was sixth-fastest, followed by Kevin Harvick and Jimmie Johnson.

The top non-Chevys was Kurt Busch’s Dodge and Joey Logano’s Toyota in ninth and 10th.

Other drivers of note included Jeff Gordon (13th), Kyle Busch (17th), Tony Stewart (22nd) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (25th).

Sprint Cup qualfying takes place at 6:40 p.m. EST (3:40 local) this afternoon.

Jeff Burton doesn’t want to sugarcoat what happened with the Daytona pothole.

“Let’s be honest,” he said, “the pothole thing sucked. We can cover it up [but] that was bad and you didn’t see the field at the Super Bowl come apart. You don’t expect to see the track at any race come apart.”

Burton said he didn’t know what could have been done about it or how it could have been prevented, though.

Asked if the sport will recover from the setback (the ratings dropped as casual fans may have been turned off by the debacle), Burton said there was a simple answer.

“The sport will recover if the racing’s good and it’s competitive and it’s fun to watch,” he said. "If it’s not fun to watch, not fun to participate in, not fun to come be a part of whether you’re a driver, crew member or spectator, it doesn’t matter what happened at the Daytona 500.

“Not one issue is going to harm the sport in a way that can’t be recovered. If we have great racing, then it will be something we talk about years from now and we laugh about.”

Kasey Kahne had his hopes up.

After a great performance in the Budweiser Shootout and a victory in his Gatorade Duel race, Kahne was feeling optimistic about his chances in the Daytona 500.

But a late-race wreck marred NASCAR’s biggest race for Kahne, and it resulted in a 30th-place finish.

“I was disappointed with last week and it took me a couple of days to recover, just because it’s the Daytona 500,” he said. “…I had a lot of high hopes, and that kind of got blasted with a couple of laps to go.”

Kahne said he and his team understands that Daytona means little in the long run and shouldn’t impact the rest of the season. The team got a chance to tire-test here last month and with the prospect of using the Ford engine this year, Kahne said his team is “sitting just fine.”

“There are actually a lot of guys that will finish in the Chase around me [in points], which makes me not really worry much at all,” he said. “We just need to get things rolling and finish up strong the next couple of weeks.”