AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY (TWO-MILE OVAL)
LOCATION: FONTANA, CALIFORNIA
EVENT: NASCAR CUP SERIES (RACE FIVE OF 36)
TUNE IN: 3:30 P.M. ET, SUNDAY, MARCH 26 (FOX/MRN/SIRIUSXM)
No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet SS / Kasey Kahne
Driver Kasey Kahne Hometown Enumclaw, Washington
Age 36 Resides Mooresville, North Carolina
2017 Season
10th in standings
4 starts
0 race wins
0 stage wins
0 pole positions
1 top-five finish
2 top-10 finishes
7 laps led
Career
472 starts
17 wins
27 pole positions
90 top-five finishes
171 top-10 finishes
4,614 laps led
Track Career
20 starts
1 win
1 pole position
4 top-five finishes
10 top-10 finishes
268 laps led
FARMERS IN FONTANA: Kasey Kahne will pilot the No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet SS this weekend in Fontana, California. The longtime Hendrick Motorsports partner, based in Los Angeles, will adorn the No. 5 Chevrolet SS 12 times this season. The 36-year-old most recently drove the Farmers Insurance paint scheme to a fourth-place finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
KASEY AT FONTANA: For the fifth race of the season, the NASCAR Cup Series stops at its first two-mile track on the circuit. Kahne earned the pole position in May 2004 in his first Cup start at the Fontana, California, track. The pole award marked his third of four total during his Cup rookie season. In his sixth start – September 2006 – at Fontana, Kahne captured the win and crossed the finish line with a 3.427-second lead over Dale Earnhardt Jr. Kahne has an average starting position of 11.8 and an average finish of 16.6 at the track.
FONTANA LOOP DATA: According to NASCAR’s loop data since 2005, Kahne has an average driver rating of 88.6, which ranks him eighth among active drivers. The driver rating is a formula that combines wins, top-15 finishes, average running position while on the lead lap, average speed under green, fastest lap, most laps led and lead-lap finishes. The maximum a driver can earn in each race is 150 points. During the same span, he ranks fifth in green flag passes with 1,436. He’s sixth for laps spent in the top 15 with 2,424, and sixth in quality passes with 787. Quality passes are the number of times a driver passes another car that is running in the top 15 while under green-flag conditions. The Enumclaw, Washington, native is seventh in the fastest laps run category with 113.
THIS SEASON: After a 20th-place result last weekend at Phoenix International Raceway, Kahne still has an average finish of 10.8 this season, which ranks him fifth among full-time 2017 Cup drivers.
SIGNING FOR THE KIDS: Kahne will participate in the kids autograph session at Fontana on Saturday, March 25, at 10:15 a.m. local time. The signing will take place in Lefty’s Fun Zone located in the fan midway. In order to receive a wristband, all children must be members of Lefty’s Kids Club and RSVP ahead of time.
No. 24 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet SS / Chase Elliott
Driver Chase Elliott Hometown Dawsonville, Georgia
Age 21 Resides Dawsonville, Georgia
2017 Season
3rd in standings
4 starts
0 race wins
1 stage win
1 pole position
2 top-five finishes
2 top-10 finishes
145 laps led
Career
45 starts
0 wins
3 pole positions
12 top-five finishes
19 top-10 finishes
503 laps led
Track Career
1 start
0 wins
0 pole positions
0 top-five finishes
1 top-10 finish
1 lap led
Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 24 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet SS, will visit the Auto Club Speedway media center at 9:45 a.m. local time on Friday, March 24.
PHOENIX REWIND: Chase Elliott and the No. 24 NAPA AUTO PARTS team collected their first stage win of the season, earned one playoff point, led 106 laps and ultimately finished 12th in last Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Phoenix International Raceway.
CALI STATS: Last season, Elliott collected a top-10 finish in his Cup Series debut at Auto Club Speedway. In the 21-year-old driver’s two NASCAR XFINITY Series starts at the two-mile speedway, he earned one top-five finish and two top-10s, an average starting position of ninth and average finishing position of fifth.
LOOP DATA: According to NASCAR’s loop data statistics, Elliott’s 105.1 driver rating ranks him third among active drivers at Fontana. The second-year driver’s 96.2 percent quality passes – the number of times a driver passes another car that is running in the top 15 while under green-flag conditions – and 98 percent of laps run in the top 15 contribute to that ranking.
HOME FOR THE WEEKEND: No. 24 NAPA AUTO PARTS rear-tire changer Chad Avrit will compete this weekend at his home track of Auto Club Speedway in the Cup Series. Avrit grew up in El Centro, California, and was an avid surfer before moving to Mooresville, North Carolina, to pursue a career in motor sports. In addition to being an athlete at Hendrick Motorsports, the California native is also a small business owner in the greater Charlotte area, owning Swell Board Shop, a dream he made a reality after wanting to bring a West Coast-style board shop to his new home. Avrit has been a part of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports team since 2012.
No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet SS / Jimmie Johnson
Driver Jimmie Johnson Hometown El Cajon, California
Age 41 Resides Charlotte, North Carolina
2017 Season
16th in standings
4 starts
0 race wins
0 stage wins
0 pole positions
0 top-five finishes
1 top-10 finish
28 laps led
Career
547 starts
80 wins
35 pole positions
218 top-five finishes
331 top-10 finishes
18,474 laps led
Track Career
22 starts
6 wins
1 pole position
13 top-five finishes
16 top-10 finishes
980 laps led
Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet SS, will visit the Auto Club Speedway media center at 8:45 a.m. local time on Friday, March 24.
PHOENIX RECAP: Sunday afternoon at Phoenix International Raceway, Jimmie Johnson notched his first top-10 finish of the 2017 season, his 20th career top-10 at the one-mile oval. Johnson is now 16th in the point standings heading into the fifth race of the season.
FONTANA STATS: According to NASCAR loop data since 2005, Johnson has the series-best driver rating in Fontana, California, with a score of 119.7. The driver rating is a formula that combines wins, top-15 finishes, average running position while on the lead lap, average speed under green, fastest lap, most laps led and lead-lap finishes. The maximum a driver can earn in each race is 150 points. The driver rating number is used pre-race as a prediction tool and post-race as a performance evaluator. Johnson also has a series-best finishing position of 6.1 in that time span.
ONE YEAR AGO: Johnson, a native of El Cajon, California, piloted the No. 48 Lowe’s/Superman Chevrolet SS to his sixth NASCAR Cup Series race win at Auto Club Speedway – three more than any other driver – when he claimed the checkered flag in the 20th annual race at the track on March 20, 2016.
WALK OF FAME INDUCTION: For the sixth time, Johnson will be inducted into Auto Club Speedway’s Walk of Fame. The ceremony will take place on Friday, March 24, at 9:20 a.m. local time outside the track in the Fan Zone at Gate B. Ticket holders are able to watch the Walk of Fame induction as Johnson will place his feet in cement commemorating his win last season.
CALIFORNIA LOVE: In only his 13th Cup Series start, Johnson won his first career Cup race on April 28, 2002, in his home state of California. The rookie from El Cajon started fourth, led 62 laps and cruised to his first victory NASCAR’s most elite series. Fifteen years and 80 wins later, Johnson is still piloting the Lowe’s Chevrolet with Chad Knaus as his crew chief, and he is now seventh on the all-time NASCAR Cup Series wins list.
HELMET OF HOPE: Voting continues for the 2017 Blue Bunny Helmet of Hope campaign until April 14. The campaign will award $125,000 to five non-profit organizations in May. The program, which began in 2008, allows fans and consumers across the country to nominate their favorite education-focused charities, including parent-teacher associations, to receive a $25,000 grant, a Blue Bunny ice cream party and special recognition on Johnson’s race helmet. Nominations will be accepted at www.helmetofhope.org and 10 semifinalists will be selected from the nominations. The public vote to choose the final five grant recipients will take place from May 5 to 12. Johnson will wear the Helmet of Hope during the NASCAR Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway on Aug. 13.
No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet SS / Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hometown Kannapolis, North Carolina
Age 42 Resides Mooresville, North Carolina
2017 Season
23rd in standings
4 starts
0 race wins
0 stage wins
0 pole positions
0 top-five finishes
0 top-10 finishes
8 laps led
Career
599 starts
26 wins
13 pole positions
148 top-five finishes
252 top-10 finishes
8,195 laps led
Track Career
24 starts
0 wins
0 pole positions
5 top-five finishes
7 top-10 finishes
28 laps led
Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet SS, will visit the Auto Club Speedway media center at 12:35 p.m. local time on Friday, March 24.
600 STARTS: Dale Earnhardt Jr. will hit a milestone Sunday at Fontana, California, with his 600th career NASCAR Cup Series start. Earnhardt’s first Cup start came at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1999 while driving for the family-owned Dale Earnhardt Inc. team. The Kannapolis, North Carolina, native ran five races that season with a best finish of 10th. He won two races in his 2000 rookie season – one at Texas Motor Speedway and another at Richmond International Raceway. The 2017 campaign marks Earnhardt’s 18th full-time year in Cup competition (2000-2017). He has amassed 26 career victories, including the 2004 and 2014 Daytona 500s. His 26 wins tie him for 29th on NASCAR’s all-time list. He also has 13 pole positions and eight non-points wins (five in the Daytona 500 qualifying Duels, two in The Clash and one in the NASCAR All-Star Race). Additionally, Earnhardt has been voted by fans as NASCAR’s most popular driver for 14 consecutive years. A decal commemorating his 600 starts will be placed on the B-posts and the front of the hood of the No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet SS this weekend.
LOOKING FOR A WIN: Earnhardt has two runner-up finishes at the Fontana speedway, but has yet to earn his first victory there. The 42-year-old veteran earned an 11th-place result in the 2016 event and hasn’t finished outside of the top 12 in his last six visits to the two-mile oval. According to NASCAR’s loop data statistics since 2005, Earnhardt leads all active drivers in green-flag passes at the California racetrack with 1,630. He ranks sixth in both average speed late in a run (169.908 mph) and fastest laps run (114).
QUALIFYING IMPROVEMENT: The No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet SS team has made it to the final round of qualifying in three of four events this season, giving Earnhardt and the team an average starting spot of 8.75. Through the first four races of 2016, Earnhardt’s average starting position was 16.25. The significant improvement in qualifying is a result of a revamped goal-setting strategy from No. 88 team crew chief Greg Ives and Earnhardt.
AXALTA RETURNS: This weekend’s race marks the second of 13 races in 2017 where Axalta Coating Systems will be the primary sponsor for Earnhardt’s No. 88 Chevrolet SS. Axalta has a stretch of four primary races in a row, including last weekend’s event at Phoenix and the upcoming races at Martinsville Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway. The bright, neon yellow-and-red “Flash Point” paint scheme on the No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet SS was designed by artist Sam Bass.
Hendrick Motorsports
HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS AT FONTANA: At Auto Club Speedway, Hendrick Motorsports has 10 wins, five pole positions, 32 top-five finishes and 49 top-10s. Jimmie Johnson leads all drivers in wins, top-fives, top-10s and laps led at the track. Johnson is the defending race winner at Fontana after winning the March 2016 race at the California speedway.
ORGANIZATION STATS: To date, Hendrick Motorsports has totals of 12 championships, 245 race victories, 211 pole positions, 1,012 top-five finishes and 1,699 top-10 finishes in points-paying NASCAR Cup Series competition. Its teams have led 66,560 laps since 1984.
QUOTABLE /
“California is so wide, so big and you have all kinds of racing room. It’s one of my tougher tracks, and it used to be one of my best tracks. The last few years it’s been one of my toughest tracks just to understand where to put the car. Hopefully, this year we will do a better job of that and it will be much easier to make it work.”
Kasey Kahne on racing at Fontana
“I think as we see the surface get older, it gets worn out more and it seems like it lends more opportunity for strategy calls. Tires mean a lot – the racetrack is so big and surface is so worn out that one lap is taking a lot of life off your tire. I think those two things together mean that tires are going to mean a lot in just a handful of laps. You have those short, quick runs with a quick caution and if you only run five laps, everybody is coming back down pit road for tires. They just make for good races because it means you can do something different than the guy ahead of you.”
Chase Elliott on racing at Fontana
“To say California is a special place to me is an understatement. As a driver you never forget your first Cup Series win. The wins that have followed have been so great, too. I’m so fortunate. Last year’s win in the Lowe’s/Superman car was epic, and it’s just always nice to come ‘home.'”
Jimmie Johnson on why Fontana is special to him
“California just suits my driving style. The worn-out surface plays into our wheelhouse, and it’s just fast. It should be another great race and I always look forward to this one.”
Johnson on racing at Fontana
“Auto Club Speedway is such a tricky track. Of course, you want to have the long-run speed. We do have those long green-flag runs and the lane moves all over, so you want that versatility in your car. But, I think every team’s goal is about finding the right balance to preserve the tires and to try to have more long-run speed than the short run.”
Johnson on the key to success at Fontana
“I love running against the fence just like Kyle (Larson) at Fontana. I think we kind of watch each other and learn a little bit from each other when we get in races where you can do that. Everybody kind of does it differently. If you like running up there, you certainly look out for the other guys that are good at it and see what they are doing and how they are getting around the track.”
Dale Earnhardt Jr. on racing at Fontana
