NASCAR at California 2015: Latest NASCAR Team News, Top Drivers and More
This season in NASCAR already has one obviously dominant driver who's torching the rest of the field. Kevin Harvick not only has two wins, but has finished in the top two in every Sprint Cup race this season.
The defending champion has a streak of seven straight top-two finishes dating back to last year's Chase. He also happens to be in line to sweep the West Coast swing at Auto Club Speedway and is just four top-two results away from tying Richard Petty's record 11 straight.
Outside of Harvick, the biggest story thus far has been the surprising starts for Martin Truex Jr., Kasey Kahne and A.J. Allmendinger. All three are in the top five in the standings heading into Fontana, California, and are looking to remain contenders for a Chase spot.
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Leading up to the green flag waving in Cali, here's a look at the schedule, latest team news and top drivers to watch for the Auto Club 400.
Race Information
Where: Auto Club Speedway, Fontana, California
When: Sunday, March 22
Start Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
TV: Fox
Live Stream: Fox Sports Go
Radio: Motor Racing Network
Latest Team News
While Harvick appears to be sitting atop the throne of NASCAR for now, the field behind him will be challenging for the title thanks to a promising start.
Two of those drivers are on single-car teams. The other is often overshadowed by his teammates. Truex, Kahne and Allmendinger are all within 55 points of Harvick thanks to eight top-10 finishes between the three of them.
Truex is the biggest story following such a trying 2014 season with a new team and girlfriend Sherry Pollex finding out she has ovarian cancer. This season, Truex has turned a corner with Furniture Row Racing in his second year with the team.
Even with four top 10s this year, Truex believes he can win the second race ever for Furniture Row. He referenced that confidence with Bob Pockrass of ESPN.com:
"There's no reason I can't win races. There's no reason I can't be as good as the best out there or better. … In the right situation, I can be the best out here.
I know I can. And I plan on doing that because I have got a great team right now and I plan to take advantage of it.
"
Along with Truex maintaining a solid open to the year, Allmendinger has had an equally noteworthy start. He has shown vast improvement at intermediate tracks, but he still needs to keep the momentum going ahead of the road courses later this season.
Both Allmendinger and Kahne made the Chase last year due to winning races. With the records they have so far this year, either one could make it into NASCAR's postseason with consistency alone.
Drivers to Watch
He may not be as dominant as he once was in the Sprint Cup, but the six-time champion still knows how to close out a race. The all-time leader for wins at Auto Club Speedway might just be able to capture his sixth on Sunday.
During recent woes at Las Vegas, Johnson alluded to the fact that he still has the speed to compete for victories moving forward.
"It would really be a bummer if we were slow and blowing tires and hitting the wall," Johnson said, via Mike Hembree of USA Today. "There is a little bit of silver lining to know that you have a fast race car."
He had issues last season and ultimately fell behind to finish 24th at Auto Club Speedway, but he also led 104 of the 206 laps. If he finds his way to the front this Sunday, don't expect him to fall behind if he can keep a clean car.
Matt Kenseth
Matt Kenseth's first season with Joe Gibbs Racing saw him win a career-high seven races in 2013. Since then, he hasn't captured a single win despite pulling out 14 top-five results since the start of 2014.
After finishing 16th in Phoenix, Kenseth poked fun at Harvick's recent streak of success:
Luckily for Kenseth, he now heads to a track where he's enjoyed success of his own.
The JGR driver won the pole last year in Fontana but was unable to stay up front while leading only 19 laps. During his time with Roush Fenway, Kenseth won three races at Auto Club Speedway between 2006 and 2009.
If he can recapture some of that speed he showed in California, Kenseth might finally snap his winless streak.
Kyle Larson
With Kyle Busch off the track this weekend, Kyle Larson was the next in line from last season. Finishing second behind the youngest Busch brother in 2014, Larson might have what it takes to finally drive to Victory Lane in Fontana.
Though his season hasn't gotten off to as bright of a start as some might have imagined, it's been very similar to his rookie campaign. After earning just one top-10 finish in the first four races, Larson used his runner-up result in California to catapult him to winning Rookie of the Year in 2014.
Can he do the same this Sunday? A lot will hinge on where he finishes in qualifying. Of his top-five finishes last year, just two came when he started worse than 15th. Look for the second-year driver to repeat his success in Fontana after a strong showing on Friday night.
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