Next NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Race - The Auto Club 500

How about that, getting all those search word terms in one title.

This weeks stop on the Nextel Cup Series is the Auto Club 500 from the California Speedway in Fontana about 40 miles east of LA.. The Speedway, built on the site of an old steel mill hosted its first NASCAR race, the California 500, in June of 1997. The Auto Club 500 was first run in 2003 and last year NASCAR made is first return trip to Fontana in the same season with the start of the Pop Secret 500.

As we head towards qualifying and the race, here are a few StatLeader analysis items to chew on:

• Winners: Jeff Gordon has won 3 of the 9 Nextel - Winston Cup races held here. Elliot Sadler, Kurt Busch, Rusty Wallace, Jimmie Johnson, Jeremy Mayfield and Mark Martin have won one each.
• No Poll Winner has ever gone on the win the race. In fact, in the last 6 races, only one top 10 starter, Jimmie Johnson (4th - 2002) has won. The others? 17th (Sadler - 2004 Pop Secret 500), 16th (Gordon - 2004 Auto Club 500), 16th (Busch - 2003), 19th (Wallace - 2001), and 24th (Mayfield - 2000).
  
• Best Starting Position Winners: 3rd (Martin - 1998 and Gordon -1997), 4th (Johnson - 2002), and 5th (Gordon - 1999).
  
• Weather: The Auto Club 500 is being run more than two months earlier than last year. That puts it into California's rainy season. Watch for rain to be a factor in this race as Southern California is having one of its wettest winters ever. (I can attest to this first hand). While the long range forecast calls for partly cloudy skies on race day, things can change quickly out here and rain is expected Monday or Tuesday.
• Driver Averages: While Jeff Gordon's 9.3 Average for all races places him 5th on the Average Finish Position list, if you take out his 37th place finish in last years Pop Secret 500, he moves into1st place with a 5.875 average finish position for 8 races.

Check back tomorrow as we will have some more Auto Club 500 race related items for you.