Background Auto Club Speedway (previously California Speedway) was a
superspeedway located in Fontana, California which hosted
NASCAR racing annually from 1997 to 2023. The standard track at Auto Club Speedway featured four turns and was long. The track's turns were
banked at fourteen
degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, was banked at eleven degrees. The back stretch had 3 degrees of banking. 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.
Practices and qualifying , 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. In the first practice session, the fastest drivers were
Mark Martin,
Ryan Newman,
Juan Pablo Montoya,
Jeff Burton, and
Clint Bowyer. During the second practice session,
Jimmie Johnson, Martin,
Denny Hamlin,
Carl Edwards, and
Greg Biffle had the quickest times. Martin, Bowyer, Johnson, McMurray, and
Jeff Gordon led the final practice session. During qualifying, forty-six cars were entered, but only forty-three were able to race because of NASCAR's
qualifying procedure.
Jamie McMurray clinched the
pole position with a best lap time of 39.185 seconds. He was joined on the front row of the grid by Montoya. 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. 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.
Post-race 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." Johnson expressed his enjoyment of winning the race, stating: Burton, who finished third, 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."
Clint Bowyer, who finished third, was second with 312 points, eight ahead of
Greg Biffle and ten ahead of
Jamie McMurray. Jeff Burton stood in fifth with 300 points. In the Manufacturers' Championship, Chevrolet maintained their lead with 18 points. Toyota moved to second with 10 points. Ford followed with 9 points, two points ahead of Dodge in fourth. == Race results ==