NASCAR Cup Series

NASCAR today announced the 20 nominees for the NASCAR Hall of Fame’s Class of 2020, as well as the five nominees for the Landmark Award for Outstanding Contributions to NASCAR.

Kyle Busch takes a six-point edge over Joey Logano in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series points standings as the series continues its “West Coast Swing.” And this week may be especially significant in the milestone category as Busch faces two chances to claim a historic 200 combined NASCAR national series wins. It could come in Sunday’s Auto Club 400 (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) – if he doesn’t earn it in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race on Saturday.

Richard Childress Racing's Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series History at Auto Club Speedway ... In 88 overall Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts at Auto Club Speedway, RCR Chevrolet teams have earned one win (Kevin Harvick - 2011), two pole awards (Mike Skinner - April 2000, Austin Dillon - 2016), 12 top-five and 29 top-10 finishes. RCR has a 19.3 average starting position and a 16.4 average finishing position at the moderately-banked D-shaped race track.

Fresh off a trip to the desert, Roush Fenway Racing heads to the Golden State for the third leg of the West coast swing at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, this weekend. Jack Roush has sent a Ford to victory lane 15 times at the 2-mile track, seven of which came in the Cup series.

Johnson on his success at Auto Club Speedway: “I think it’s a bit of luck in the sense that there are some tracks that just fit drivers and teams and crew chiefs and that racetrack has been one for me. Thankfully, it is my home track and I have been able to enjoy the extreme highs that come with that.”

California native, seven-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion and career-long Chevrolet driver, Jimmie Johnson, is the all-time wins’ leader at Auto Club Speedway with six victories. The driver of the No. 48 Camaro ZL1 also has more top five (13) and more top 10 (17) finishes than any other driver at Auto Club Speedway.

Home Sweet Home… Auto Club Speedway is a home race for TRD, U.S.A. (Toyota Racing Development), which was formed a stone’s throw from John Wayne Airport in Costa Mesa, California, in 1979. During this track’s 20-plus year history, Toyota and Lexus drivers have won virtually every type of race they’ve competed in, including three in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS), nine NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) events, four NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series (NGOTS) races, one Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) event and two GRAND-AM Road Racing races on Auto Club Speedway’s road course. Camry driver Martin Truex Jr. is the defending MENCS race winner at the two-mile track after winning there for the first time in 2018.

AmericanMuscle’s (AM) Justin Dugan just received the inside scoop on some 2020 GT500 details straight from Ford Motor Company, which is the focus in today’s episode of AM’s Mustang News. While these details aren’t power or weight related, Ford did share some new GT500 details and images with AM for the first time today.

Newman will make his 25th start at Auto Club Speedway this weekend. In 24 prior starts, Newman has nine top-10 and five top-five finishes at the 2-mile track.

DIBENEDETTO BY THE NUMBERS: In four Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career starts at Auto Club Speedway, Matt DiBenedetto has an average start of 32.8 and an average finish of 32.2.  He’s completed 804 of 816 (98.5 percent) career laps at the 2.0-mile track in Fontana, California.