California Dreamin': 2010 NASCAR Auto Club 500 Fantasy Preview

Track Stats

Name: Auto Club Speedway

Race Date: Feb. 21, 2010

Location: Fontana, California

Length: 2-mile D-shaped oval

Banking in the turns: 14 degrees

Banking in the tri-oval: 11 degrees

Banking on the backstretch: 3 degrees

Race Length: 500 miles/250 laps

Active Win Leader: Jimmie Johnson with four

Qualifying Record: Kyle Busch, Chevrolet; 188.25mph (38.248 seconds), Feb. 26, 2005

Grandstand Seats: 92,000

Tickets/track info: http://www.autoclubspeedway.com or 1-800-944-7223

February Winner: Matt Kenseth

After winning the Daytona 500, Kenseth backed it up with a win at California, though went winless the rest of the season.

Top 10

1. Matt Kenseth
2. Jeff Gordon
3. Kyle Busch
4. Greg Biffle
5. Kurt Busch
6. Denny Hamlin
7. Carl Edwards
8. Tony Stewart
9. Jimmie Johnson
10. Brian Vickers

October Winner: Jimmie Johnson

In the Chase, Johnson won, allowing him to take the points lead from Mark Martin, and he never looked back as he went on to win his forth championship in a row.

Driver Rating from 2009 Auto Club 500

NASCAR.com has a driver rating system that is suppose to help in picking who is a good fantasy choice. Their formula combines the following categories: wins, finishes, top 15 finishes, average running positions while on lead lap, average speed under green, fastest lap, most laps led and lead-lap finish.

The maximum points one driver can obtain for one race is 150 points. For more specific information and further understanding, please visit nascar.com.

Here are the top 10 drivers and their ratings following the 2009 Auto Club 500

1. Jeff Gordon with 133.7
2. Matt Kenseth with 131.4
3. Greg Biffle with 122.1
4. Jimmie Johnson with 121.3
5. Kurt Busch with 111.0
6. Kyle Busch with 110.1
7. Carl Edwards with 102.3
8. Tony Stewart with 101.9
9. Denny Hamlin with 99.9
10. Juan Pablo Montoya with 90.5

Good Picks

Jimmie Johnson

In 2009, he won the fall race, is the only driver with four wins at Auto Club Speedway, led the most laps of any of his competitors in 2009 (200) and earned the second most points of any of his competitors in 2009 when you combine both races (338). In his 14 starts at Auto Club Speedway, he has 10 top 10s to go with those four wins.

In comparing Johnson to his fellow drivers at Auto Club Speedway, he has the highest average finish at 5.8.

When you look at the intermediate tracks overall, Johnson ranks third in earning points when all 17 races are totaled (2386) with an average finish of 12.6, seven top-fives and 11 top 10s.

Matt Kenseth or any Roushkateers

In 2009, Kenseth won the spring race, has three wins at the Auto Club Speedway, led the second most laps of any of his competitors in 2009 when you combine both races (84) and earned the third most points of any of his competitors (319).

In comparing Kenseth to his fellow drivers at Auto Club Speedway, he has the third-highest average finish at 9.3.

When you look at the intermediate tracks overall, Kenseth ranks seventh in earning points when all 17 races are totaled (2213) with an average finish of 13.4, six top-fives and eight top 10s.

Also, Roush cars have won five consecutive races in the spring at California so if they’ve got their cookie cutter program going well, then look for them to do well. Edwards is a bet that I’d place in that group as he has the second-highest average finish of his fellow competitors at Auto Club Speedway with a 6.6.

Though no matter how well his teammates are doing, Kenseth is a sure as he is always up in the middle of the battle.

Juan Pablo Montoya

Juan Pablo Montoya has been looking to break through on the ovals since his road course victory at Infinion Raceway. Last year, he led the third most laps (79) in comparison to his competitors and earned the sixth most points of any his competitors in 2009 when you combine both races (305) so maybe this’ll be the race for him to break out.

When you look at the intermediate tracks overall, Montoya ranks 17th in earning points when all 17 races are totaled (1970) with an average finish of 17.2, four top-fives and eight top 10s.

Jeff Gordon

If you’re looking for consistency, then look no further than the four-time champion as he got the most points of any of his competitors in 2009 when you combine both races (350).

In comparing Gordon to his fellow drivers at Auto Club Speedway, he has the fourth-highest average finish at 10.5.

When you look at the intermediate tracks overall, Gordon ranks highest in earning points when all 17 races are totaled (2667) with an average finish of 6.1, 10 top-fives and 14 top 10s.

Off Your Radar Pick

Brian Vickers has been good on multiple intermediate tracks so look for him to possibly show his muscle at Auto Club Speedway.

When you look at the intermediate tracks overall, Vickers ranks 16th in earning points when all 17 races are totaled (1985) with an average finish of 16.9, three top-fives and eight top 10s.

Other Past Winners

Other active drivers, besides Johnson and Kenseth, who’ve won in the past at Auto Club Speedway include Carl Edwards, Mark Martin, Greg Biffle, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Kasey Kahne, and Elliott Sadler.

TIP

Even though Elliott Sadler is on the past winners’ list, don’t let that fool you into picking him fully as he has only one additional top 10 there besides that win in 17 starts. Although there may a change in the wave coming as he did lead the fifth most laps last spring with 74.

Also, the bottom 10 when you add the intermediate tracks together from last year are Sam Hornish Jr., A.J. Allmendinger, Marcos Ambrose, Elliott Sadler, David Stremme, David Ragan, Paul Menard, Bobby Labonte, Michael Waltrip, Robby Gordon, Reed Sorenson and Scott Speed.

Despite this fact, Ragan makes the top 10 in average finishes at Auto Club Speedway when comparing him to his fellow competitors as he has the eighth-highest finish of 13.2.