In the wake of a rain-shortened season opening race, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series had to load up and take the show to Hollywood, racing on the same night as the Academy Awards. Heading into the second week of the season, a lot of teams were trying to keep their momentum from the Daytona 500 into the Auto Club 500 at the Auto Club Speedway in southern California.
This particular race track has been dominated by both Hendrick Motorsports and Roush Racing the last few years, with Roush teams winning the last three spring races at the track, while Hendrick has won the last two fall races.. These were two teams to keep an eye on all race long, but in qualifying it was the Red Bull Toyota of Brian Vickers who took the pole position away from Hendrick driver Jimmie Johnson. Unfortunately, the bliss of winning the pole for the race was short lived for Vickers. After qualifying, the Red Bull crew discovered an issue with the engine and were forced to put a second one in the car. This move after qualifying meant starting at the rear of the field for the race.
In all, five total drivers had to start at the rear of the field. Along with Vickers, Michael Waltrip and David Reutimann had to move to the back because of engine changes. Dale Earnhardt Jr. had to take his AMP Energy Chevrolet Impala to the rear because of a transmission change in the final practice session. Also, Reed Sorenson had to move his Petty Motorsports Dodge to the back when he wrecked his car in the final practice session. With damage too severe for repairs, the crew took the backup car out of the hauler for the race.
Underneath overcast skies and with rain the the area, actor Hugh Laurie, the star of Fox’s hit drama “House,” gave the command to start engines. On a night that was all about the stars of Hollywood, the stars of NASCAR looked to put on their own award-winning performance.
From the drop of the green flag, it was Johnson taking the lead right away. With what would end up being a theme throughout the night, Johnson opened up nearly a two-second lead in only a matter of laps. His momentum was halted quickly as on lap 6 the race saw it’s first caution due to rain in turn four. The lead cars stayed out while the back half of the field took the chance to pit for tires and fuel. The rain began to decrease a few laps later, and officially came to a stop around lap 13. Jet driers came out to take out the excess moisture on the track, but rain returned a few minutes later and forced the race to continue under yellow-flag conditions.
After spending 17 laps under caution, the race resumed again on lap 23. Johnson continued to lead as drivers began jockeying for positions behind. Penske driver Kurt Busch proved to have a very competitive race car, while both Jeff Gordon and Greg Biffle battled for positioning in the top five. Kurt’s younger brother, Kyle, was going for his third win in two days as he won both the Camping World Truck race and the Nationwide Series races the day before. All this battling was behind Johnson, who opened up a lead of two and a half seconds over second place since the restart.
His lead was erased on lap 42 when the caution flag flew for a second time because of rain. This was the first opportunity for drivers up front to come to pit road for adjustments, tires and fuel. The race off pit road saw Kurt Busch beat Johnson to the line, with Gordon, Biffle and David Ragan completing the top five.
When the race restarted on lap 47, Johnson wasted little time retaking the lead from Busch. It began to seem as though everyone would be chasing the Lowes/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet all night long, but Gordon wanted his taste of the lead as well. At lap 55, Johnson’s lead was two seconds, but Gordon cut that lead in half when Johnson began to contend with lapped traffic. On lap 78, Gordon finally put the DuPont Chevrolet out front for the first time.
Shortly afterwards, the first round of green-flag pit stops began for the field as Kurt Busch was the first to hit pit road for new tires and fuel. One lap later, Johnson came down for the same plus a chassis adjustment for his car. Gordon and Earnhardt Jr. pitted the next lap, with Biffle coming in the following circuit. By lap 89, all the drivers had been to pit road for service, cycling the lead back to Gordon with Johnson running second, followed by Kurt Busch, Biffle and Jamie McMurray.
The Auto Club Speedway has a reputation for having long green-flag runs in the middle of the race, and this was no exception. The entire field began to get strung out the entire way around the 2-mile track. Gordon held the lead for the entire time, stretching the gap to second place to almost three seconds at one point.
By lap 120, it was time for the next round of pit stops. Among the first drivers to hit pit road were Martin Truex, Elliott Sadler and Jeff Burton. The first of the lead cars to go to the pits was Johnson on lap 125, who was asking for adjustments because of a tight condition in the corners. The next lap had Kyle Busch, Earnhardt Jr. and Kenseth all come in for service. Both Gordon and Biffle came in on the following lap, but it was Biffle leading when the drivers came off pit road.
The race saw it’s third caution on lap 141, ironically once again for rain. Despite only having 13 laps on the tires, the lead cars elected to come down to pit road for service since their fuel runs would mean that all drivers would only need two more stops in the race. After all the services were completed, it was last week’s winner Matt Kenseth winning the race off pit road ahead of Biffle and Gordon.
The race restarted on lap 151, and Kenseth got a great jump on the field, but it was Gordon who go the best restart of the lead drivers as he overtook second place from Biffle in the second corner. The race was slowed yet again on lap 169, and again it was because of rain. However, the Hendrick Motorsports drivers began to worry as both Earnhardt Jr. and Mark Martin began complaining of engine problems. Earnhardt Jr. pitted three times to figure out his problems, but nothing could be found.
When the race restarted on lap 177, Kenseth held the lead over both Johnson and Gordon. A lap later, the Hendrick drivers had to be concerned when their teammate Martin had an engine fail, sending him to the garage and a 40th place finish. It didn’t seem to bother Gordon as he took the DuPont Chevrolet back to the front on lap 195 from Kenseth.
The race’s final caution came on lap 208 as Kevin Harvick had his engine blow heading into turn one, slamming him into the outside wall. Earnhardt Jr. also goes to the garage because of his engine troubles. This gave the crews one final opportunity to get the cars right for the run to the finish, and it was Kenseth who won the race off pit road ahead of Gordon. The big loser in the pits was Biffle as he stopped on the air hose and the crew had to back the car up to begin service. This caused him to go from second to ninth.
On what would be the race’s final restart on lap 215, Kenseth got a good lead on Gordon heading into turn one, but Gordon was digging hard in the corners to catch him and get the lead. Gordon got as close as four-tenths of a second to Kenseth, but he just couldn’t find enough to make the pass. All he could do was watch the 17-car of Kenseth pull away and take his second straight victory. With the win, Kenseth becomes the first driver in over a decade to win the first two races of a season, which was last done by second-place finisher Gordon in 1997.
It definitely looks as though the team to beat right now is the DeWalt Tools team of Kenseth, and they are hoping to take this momentum into next week’s race at Las Vegas. Coverage of the Shelby 427 from the Las Vegas Motor Speedway is set to begin at 3:30 next Sunday on Fox.
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
NOTABLE FINISHES: 12. Kasey Kahne, 26. Joey Logano, 28. Ryan Newman, 32.. Jeff Burton, 38. Kevin Harvick, 39. Dale Earnhardt Jr., 40. Mark Martin
CAUTIONS: 5 for 24 laps
LAP LEADERS: Johnson: 1-43, Andretti: 44, Kurt Busch: 45-46, Johnson: 47-77, Gordon: 78-86, Edwards: 87, Gordon: 88-127, Biffle: 128-143, Montoya: 144, Kenseth: 145-171, Stewart: 172-174, Martin: 175, Kenseth: 176-195, Gordon: 196-209, Stremme: 210-212, Kenseth: 213-250. 10 leaders, 17 lead changes.
POINT STANDINGS: 1-Kenseth, 385 points; 2-Gordon, -81; 3-Kurt Busch, -91; 4-Stewart, -91; 5-Biffle, -117; 6-Bowyer, -119; 7-Waltrip, -121; 8-Ragan, -123; 9-Edwards, -125; 10-Montoya, -129; 11-Sadler, -137, 12-Reutimann, -137