NASCAR Sprint Cup Auto Club 400 preview
This week’s race
Auto Club 400
What: 200 laps (400 miles)
Where: Auto Club Speedway, a 2-mile slightly banked oval in Fontana, Calif.
When: 3:30 p.m. Sunday
TV: Fox
Radio: Motor Racing Network
Last year’s winner: Kyle Busch
Also this week: Drive4Clots.com 300, Xfinity Series, Auto Club Speedway, 4 p.m. Saturday, Fox Sports 1.
Worth mentioning: Kevin Harvick, from nearby Bakersfield, Calif., has won the past two weeks and has one win at Auto Club Speedway (2011). But he finished 36th in last year’s race at Fontana.
Who’s Hot/Who’s Not
HOT
Kevin Harvick: Seven straight races of finishing first and second. Not much you can do to beat that.
Martin Truex Jr.: Has top-10 finishes in the season’s first four races. He had five top 10s all of last season.
Jamie McMurray: Probably would like a second chance at that late restart against Harvick.
Kurt Busch: First race back after a NASCAR suspension and he finishes fifth.
Joey Logano: Dominating win in Xfinity Series and solid top-10 finish in Cup last week.
Ty Dillon: Your Xfinity Series points leader.
NOT
Tony Stewart: Busch has more points (39) from one race than Stewart has from four this season (32).
Dale Earnhardt Jr.: His run of top-five finishes to start the season came to a crashing halt.
Chase Elliott: It would appear all is not forgiven between Ty Dillon and Chase Elliott.
Jim Utter
Points Leaders
Sprint Cup
1. Kevin Harvick182
2. Joey Logano160
3. Martin Truex Jr.155
4. Kasey Kahne132
5. AJ Allmendinger127
6. Dale Earnhardt Jr.126
7. Jimmie Johnson124
8. Ryan Newman123
9. Brad Keselowski116
10. Matt Kenseth113
11. Paul Menard112
12. Casey Mears111
13. Denny Hamlin108
14. Aric Almirola105
15. Clint Bowyer101
16. Greg Biffle101
17. Kyle Larson98
18. David Ragan98
19. Jamie McMurray97
20. David Gilliland92
21. Carl Edwards88
22. Austin Dillon88
23. Danica Patrick86
24. Sam Hornish Jr.79
25. Jeff Gordon77
26. Trevor Bayne71
27. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.70
28. Justin Allgaier70
29. Cole Whitt60
30. Brett Moffitt56
31. Michael Annett54
32. Michael McDowell44
33. Kurt Busch39
34. Alex Bowman36
35. Brian Vickers32
36. Tony Stewart32
Xfinity
1. Ty Dillon157
2. Chris Buescher143
3. Ryan Reed135
4. Chase Elliot132
5. Darrell Wallace Jr.132
6. Brendan Gaughan122
7. Regan Smith121
8. Elliott Sadler114
Truck
1. Tyler Reddick 87
2. Matt Crafton 85
3. Erik Jones 80
4. Johnny Sauter 72
5. James Buescher 63
6. Bryan Silas 60
7. Ben Kennedy 58
8. Ray Black Jr. 58
9. Joe Nemechek 58
This story was originally published March 19, 2015 at 8:35 PM with the headline "NASCAR Sprint Cup Auto Club 400 preview."