2010 Auto Club 500

2010 Auto Club 500
Race details[1][2][3][4]
Race 2 of 36 in the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season

Track map of the speedway at Auto Club Speedway AKA California Speedway
Date February 21, 2010
Location Auto Club Speedway, Fontana, California
Course Permanent racing facility
2.0 mi (3.23 km)
Distance 250 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km)
WeatherSunny with a daytime high around 62; wind out of the ENE at 3 mph. There was a zero percent chance of precipitation.
Average speed 141.911 miles per hour (228.384 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Racing
Time 39.185
Most laps led
Driver Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports
Laps 101
Winner
No. 48
 Jimmie Johnson
 Hendrick Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network Fox Broadcasting Company
Announcers Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds

The 2010 Auto Club 500 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held on February 21, 2010 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. Contested over 250 laps, it was the second race of the 2010 Sprint Cup Series season. The race was won by Jimmie Johnson for the Hendrick Motorsports team. Kevin Harvick finished second, and Jeff Burton, who started fourteenth, clinched third.

Pole position driver Jamie McMurray maintained his lead into the first corner, but Juan Pablo Montoya, who had started in the second position on the grid, took the lead before the first lap was over. Afterward, Johnson became the leader, and would eventually lead to the race high of 101 laps. During the final pit stops, Johnson was on pit lane as the caution flag came out. Burton, who led the race during Johnson's pit stop, did not pass Johnson to put him a lap down. Therefore, Johnson retained the first position upon the completion of his pit stop. On the final lap, Harvick was gaining on Johnson, but Johnson maintained his position to win his first race of the season.

There were six caution flags and twenty-eight lead changes among fourteen different drivers throughout the course of the race. The result moved Johnson up twenty-three spots to tenth in the Drivers' Championship, 78 points behind of leader Kevin Harvick and one ahead of Kyle Busch. Chevrolet maintained its lead in the Manufacturers' Championship, eight points ahead of Toyota and nine ahead of Ford, with thirty-four races remaining in the season.

Report

Background

The track, Auto Club Speedway, is one of six superspeedways to hold NASCAR races, the others being Daytona International Speedway, Michigan International Speedway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Pocono Raceway and Talladega Superspeedway.[5] The standard track at Auto Club Speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2 miles (3.2 km) long.[6] The track's turns are banked at fourteen degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at eleven degrees. The back stretch has 3 degrees of banking.[6]

Before the race, Jamie McMurray led the Drivers' Championship with 190 points, and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. stood in second with 175 points. Greg Biffle was third in the Drivers' Championship with 170 points, Clint Bowyer was fourth with 165 points, and Kevin Harvick was in fifth with 156 points.[7] In the Manufacturers' Championship, Chevrolet was leading with nine points, three points ahead of their rival Ford. Toyota, with four points, was one point ahead of Dodge in the battle for third.[8]

Practices and qualifying

Jamie McMurray, pictured here in 2007, clinched the pole position with a fastest time of 39.185.

Three practice sessions were held before the Sunday race—one on Friday, and two on Saturday.[9] In the first practice session, the fastest drivers were Mark Martin, Ryan Newman, Juan Pablo Montoya, Jeff Burton, and Clint Bowyer.[10] During the second practice session, Jimmie Johnson, Martin, Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards, and Greg Biffle had the quickest times.[11] Martin, Bowyer, Johnson, McMurray, and Jeff Gordon led the final practice session.[12]

During qualifying, forty-six cars were entered, but only forty-three were able to race because of NASCAR's qualifying procedure.[13] Jamie McMurray clinched the pole position with a best lap time of 39.185 seconds.[14] He was joined on the front row of the grid by Montoya.[14] Bowyer qualified third, Kasey Kahne took fourth, and Dave Blaney started fifth.[14] Casey Mears, Johnny Sauter, and Terry Cook were the three drivers who failed qualify.[14]

Race summary

The race, the second out of a total of thirty-six in the season, began at 3 p.m. EST and was televised live in the United States on Fox.[1] Pre-race ceremonies began with Motor Racing Outreach's Jeff Hamilton giving the invocation; then Katharine McPhee, season five American Idol runner-up, performed the national anthem. Actor Andy García gave the traditional command, "Gentlemen Start Your Engines!" Before the race, Denny Hamlin moved to the back of the starting grid because his team changed engines after his qualifying run.[15] At 3:19 p.m. EST, polesitter Jamie McMurray led the 43-car field to the green flag, but his lead was short-lived. Juan Pablo Montoya passed him during the first lap to lead lap 1. On lap 29, Jimmie Johnson passed Montoya for the lead.[16] Between laps 35 to 40 teams made green flag pit stops (a pit stop while high speed racing continues). Dave Blaney stayed out to lead before parking his car on lap 44, allowing Johnson to regain the lead.[15]

Jimmie Johnson, pictured here in 2008, won the race.

On lap 57, the first caution period of the race was called because of debris on the track's surface. The restart on lap 61 was led by Johnson, but Kevin Harvick passed him for the lead before the lap was over. The second caution flag was waved on lap 92 because Kasey Kahne collided with Montoya. On lap 97, Johnson brought the field to the green flag.[15] Mark Martin passed Johnson on lap 98, but was passed back after two laps. Drivers began heading for pit stops on lap 133. Then, on lap 140, the third caution came out because Montoya's engine failed, causing him to collide with the turn one wall. On lap 145, the green flag waved with Jeff Gordon as the leader.[15]

The fourth caution, caused by the expired engine of Ryan Newman, came out on lap 147.[16] On the restart, Gordon led the field to the green flag. He did not restart fast enough and was passed by both Jeff Burton and Kyle Busch on lap 154. On the next lap, Kyle Bush passed Burton for the lead. Ten laps after that, Burton returned the favor by passing Busch for the lead. During the following laps, several drivers made pit stops. The fifth caution flag was waved on lap 192 because light rain was moving through the area; the leader at the time was Denny Hamlin.[9][15]

During the restart on lap 199, Burton brought the field to the green flag. No cautions were called until Brad Keselowski collided with the outside wall in turn four that brought out the sixth caution. The restart was on lap 229 with Jimmie Johnson as the leader. In the ensuing laps, Jimmie Johnson increased his lead over second-placed Kevin Harvick, but with fewer than ten laps to go Harvick began gaining on Johnson. Two laps before the finish, Burton caught up to Harvick and Johnson. Johnson held off both Harvick and Burton to win his first race in 2010.[9][15][17]

Post-race

"They're really good, but they're really, really lucky, too. Jimmie is a good friend mine, but there's no denying how lucky they are. They have a golden horseshoe stuck up their ass."

Kevin Harvick, speaking after the race.[18]

Jimmie Johnson appeared in victory lane after his victory lap to start celebrating his first win of the season, his fifth at Auto Club Speedway, and his 48th overall in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Following his win, he added, "No way around it, we got lucky. We were able to just beat the 31 car [leader Jeff Burton] to the scoring line by about half a car length or we would have been a lap down."[18]

Although Burton was leading near the end of the race, the caution was issued as Johnson was exiting pit lane. It gave Burton a chance to put Johnson a lap down, but Johnson entered the track ahead of Burton.[18] In the subsequent press conference, Johnson said, "Fortunate came our way. I’m not going to lie. The fact that we were on pit row gave us track position, and I drove my butt off."[19] Johnson expressed his enjoyment of winning the race, stating:

"Today was a great race for NASCAR and a great race for this track. I know it got spread out some, but there [was] some really good racing from what I saw. Yes, today we got a huge gift. But I was running fourth or fifth at the time [of the last caution], so it's not like we totally backed into this thing. And I still had to hold Kevin off."[18]

Burton, who finished eighth, stated, "We weren't slowing each other down. I ran the low line and Kevin ran the high line. But I got looser and Kevin got better at the end. The 29 by far had the best car."[18] Harvick, who finished second, said, "When he moved up I got tight and caught the wall a little bit. If he doesn't move up, he gets passed pretty easily. He did what he's supposed to do to take the line away. He did exactly what he had to do."[18] The race result left Harvick leading the Driver's Championship with a total of 331 points.[20] Clint Bowyer, who finished third, was second with 312 points, eight ahead of Greg Biffle and ten ahead of Jamie McMurray.[20] Jeff Burton stood in fifth with 300 points.[20] In the Manufacturers' Championship, Chevrolet maintained their lead with 18 points.[8] Toyota moved to second with 10 points.[8] Ford followed with 9 points, two points ahead of Dodge in fourth.[8]

Race results

Qualifying

No Driver Constructor Manufacturer Time (in seconds) Grid
1 Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 39.185 1
42 Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 39.242 2
33 Clint Bowyer Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 39.317 3
9 Kasey Kahne Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 39.363 4
66 Dave Blaney Prism Motorsports Toyota 39.364 5
29 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 39.366 6
48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 39.368 7
77 Sam Hornish, Jr. Penske Racing Dodge 39.385 8
18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 39.390 9
5 Mark Martin Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 39.400 10
00 David Reutimann Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 39.431 11
2 Kurt Busch Penske Racing Dodge 39.497 12
82 Scott Speed Red Bull Racing Team Toyota 39.518 13
31 Jeff Burton Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 39.542 14
6 David Ragan Roush Fenway Racing Ford 39.566 15
14 Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 39.586 16
36 Mike Bliss Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 39.615 17
39 Ryan Newman Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 39.620 18
20 Joey Logano Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 39.632 19
17 Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Racing Ford 39.669 20
12 Brad Keselowski Penske Racing Dodge 39.706 21
78 Regan Smith Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 39.708 22
83 Brian Vickers Red Bull Racing Team Toyota 39.710 23
09 Aric Almirola Phoenix Racing Chevrolet 39.710 24
11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 39.713 25
47 Marcos Ambrose JTG Daugherty Racing Toyota 39.729 26
88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 39.755 27
24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 39.767 28
43 A. J. Allmendinger Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 39.770 29
55 Michael McDowell Prism Motorsports Toyota 39.802 30
99 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford 39.830 31
87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Toyota 39.833 32
71 Bobby Labonte TRG Motorsports Chevrolet 39.870 33
56 Martin Truex, Jr. Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 39.884 34
16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 39.928 35
98 Paul Menard Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 39.982 36
19 Elliott Sadler Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 40.018 37
37 Kevin Conway Front Row Motorsports Ford 40.158 38
34 Travis Kvapil Front Row Motorsports Ford 40.229 39
7 Robby Gordon Robby Gordon Motorsports Toyota 40.839 40
38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 40.861 41
26 Boris Said Latitude 43 Motorsports Ford N/A 42
13 Max Papis Germain Racing Toyota 39.889 43
Failed to qualify
90 Casey Mears Keyed-Up Motorsports Chevrolet 40.019
35 Johnny Sauter Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 40.237
46 Terry Cook Whitney Motorsports Dodge 40.435
Source:[14]

Race Results

Pos Grid Car Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Points
1 748 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 250 195
2 629 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 250 175
3 1431 Jeff Burton Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 250 170
4 105 Mark Martin Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 250 165
5 1920 Joey Logano Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 250 155
6 122 Kurt Busch Penske Racing Dodge 250 155
7 2017 Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Racing Ford 250 146
8 333 Clint Bowyer Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 250 147
9 1614 Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 250 138
10 3516 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 250 134
11 1382 Scott Speed Red Bull Racing Team Toyota 250 135
12 2383 Brian Vickers Red Bull Racing Team Toyota 250 132
13 3199 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford 250 124
14 918 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 250 126
15 1100 David Reutimann Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 250 118
16 877 Sam Hornish, Jr. Penske Racing Dodge 250 115
17 11 Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 250 112
18 3698 Paul Menard Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 250 109
19 2278 Regan Smith Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 250 106
20 2824 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 250 108
21 2112 Brad Keselowski Penske Racing Dodge 250 100
22 1736 Mike Bliss Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 250 97
23 156 David Ragan Roush Fenway Racing Ford 250 94
24 3719 Elliott Sadler Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 249 91
25 2943 A. J. Allmendinger Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 249 88
26 4138 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 249 85
27 3371 Bobby Labonte TRG Motorsports Chevrolet 249 82
28 4313 Max Papis Germain Racing Toyota 249 79
29 2511 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 248 81
30 3934 Travis Kvapil Front Row Motorsports Ford 248 73
31 3837 Kevin Conway Front Row Motorsports Ford 247 70
32 2788 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 238 67
33 407 Robby Gordon Robby Gordon Motorsports Toyota 230 64
34 49 Kasey Kahne Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 221 61
35 2647 Marcos Ambrose JTG Daugherty Racing Toyota 170 58
36 1839 Ryan Newman Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 148 55
37 242 Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 140 57
38 4226 Boris Said Latitude 43 Motorsports Ford 67 49
39 3456 Martin Truex, Jr. Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 64 46
40 3287 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Toyota 48 43
41 566 Dave Blaney Prism Motorsports Toyota 43 45
42 3055 Michael McDowell Prism Motorsports Toyota 40 37
43 2409 Aric Almirola Phoenix Racing Chevrolet 34 34
Sources:[3][21][22]

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings[20]
Pos Driver Points
1 Kevin Harvick 331
2 Clint Bowyer 312
3 Greg Biffle 304
4 Jamie McMurray 302
5 Jeff Burton 300
Kevin Harvick became the Drivers' Championship leader after finishing second in the race.
Manufacturers' Championship standings[8]
Pos Manufacturer Points
1 Chevrolet 18
2 Toyota 10
3 Ford 9
4 Dodge 7

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Sprint Cup Series Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved August 14, 2010.
  2. ↑ Spencer, Reid (February 19, 2010). "McMurray maintains torrid pace with Fontana pole". Sporting News. Retrieved April 19, 2010.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Race Information". Fox Sports. February 21, 2010. Archived from the original on April 18, 2010. Retrieved April 18, 2010.
  4. ↑ Peltz, Jim (February 22, 2010). "Jimmie Johnson's victory at Fontana is NASCAR business as usual". The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles Times). Archived from the original on April 30, 2010. Retrieved April 19, 2010.
  5. ↑ "NASCAR Race Tracks". NASCAR. Archived from the original on August 15, 2010. Retrieved August 14, 2010.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "NASCAR Tracks—The Auto Club Speedway". Auto Club Speedway. Archived from the original on August 24, 2010. Retrieved August 16, 2010.
  7. ↑ "Driver's Championship Classification". NASCAR. Archived from the original on August 5, 2010. Retrieved August 14, 2010.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 "Manufactures' Championship Classification". Jayski's Silly Season Site. Archived from the original on August 13, 2010. Retrieved August 14, 2010.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 "Race Review". Jayski's Silly Season Site. Archived from the original on July 15, 2010. Retrieved August 15, 2010.
  10. ↑ "Practice 1 Results". NASCAR. Archived from the original on April 12, 2010. Retrieved April 18, 2010.
  11. ↑ "Practice 2 Results". NASCAR. Archived from the original on April 9, 2010. Retrieved April 18, 2010.
  12. ↑ "Practice 3 Results". NASCAR. Archived from the original on May 3, 2010. Retrieved April 18, 2010.
  13. ↑ "Qualifying Order". NASCAR. Archived from the original on June 19, 2010. Retrieved June 19, 2010.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 "Qualifying Results". NASCAR. Archived from the original on April 21, 2010. Retrieved April 18, 2010.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.5 "Race Summary". NASCAR. February 21, 2010. Archived from the original on April 21, 2010. Retrieved April 18, 2010.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 "Race Rewind". NASCAR. Archived from the original on August 3, 2010. Retrieved August 15, 2010.
  17. ↑ "Jimmie Johnson Wins Auto Club 500". Auto Club Speedway. February 21, 2010. Retrieved April 20, 2010.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 18.4 18.5 "Timely pit stop turning point for JJ". ESPN. Retrieved August 14, 2010.
  19. ↑ "Fortunate Timing of Pit Stop Helps Johnson Secure Victory". New York Times. February 22, 2010. Retrieved August 15, 2010.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 "Point Standing". NASCAR. Archived from the original on July 26, 2010. Retrieved August 14, 2010.
  21. ↑ "Official Race Results". Sporting News. Retrieved August 14, 2010.
  22. ↑ "Results (2)". NASCAR. Archived from the original on June 20, 2010. Retrieved June 22, 2010.
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