Haddock in the Paddock goes to Auto Club Speedway

Haddock In The Paddock's Tim Haddock, (that's me on the left) a member of the Citizen Journalists Media Corps, talks with NASCAR Managing Director of Corporate Communications in the Auto Club Speedway Drivers Meeting Room. (Photo Credit: NASCAR Public Relations)

Kevin's Krew and a 10th place finish at Auto Club Speedway

Kevin Harvick showed two sides of his personality at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana on Sunday. He showed his generous side before the race started, providing 75 at-risk students with tickets to the race and spending time with them before the driver introductions.
He showed his prickly side after the race when he rushed out of the garage area not wanting to talk much about his 10th place finish.
Harvick can be that way. It was great to see Harvick spend time with some kids who might not otherwise get a chance to see a NASCAR race, let alone meet one of the drivers. He took photos with them, signed autographs and answered some questions all with team representatives urging him to leave and go to the trackside stage for the introductions.
The program, called Kevin’s Krew, has grown from five kids he invited to attend a race at Auto Club Speedway last year to more than 700,000 kids who got a chance to attend races at six tracks.
The program was initiated by Colton Police Officer Todd Smith. Kevin’s Krew has expanded with support from the Avondale Police, Phoenix Police, Oakland Police, Charlotte Police, Henry County Sheriff and Brooklyn Police departments.
With a new group of fans wearing bright yellow Pennzoil colors securely seated in the grandstands, Harvick did his best to give them something to cheer about.
He started the race in seventh, moved into the top five and raced in third place for the first half of the race. He had great pit stops, but he had troubles on the restarts after the pit stops. His crew would gain one or two spot in the pits, but his car did not respond well with fresh tires. Harvick battled his way to a 10th place finish as his team made a number of adjustments throughout the race.
Gil Martin, his crew chief, said after the race he was faced with a tough decision about Harvick’s car. An eight-car crash stopped the race with five laps to go. Martin decided to bring Harvick’s car into the pits for tires and gas. The pit stop cost Harvick track position. With only four laps left in the race after it resumed, Harvick did not have enough time to make up many spots.
Martin said he turned Harvick’s fifth-place car in to a 10th place effort. Harvick said after the race he wasn’t happy with his 10th place finish. That was about all he said as he walked out of the garage area and to his trailer.
Jimmie Johnson won the race. It was his fifth of the season. He also took over the lead in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings. Johnson has a 12 point lead over Mark Martin, who was fourth in the race at Auto Club Speedway.
Jeff Gordon, Johnson’s teammate at Hendrick Motorsports, finished second. Juan Pablo Montoya was third.
The race at Auto Club Speedway was the fourth in the 10-race Chase, NASCAR’s playoff. The next race will be at Lowe’s Motor Speedway on Saturday night.

Gil Martin makes tough calls for Kevin Harvick

FONTANA -- Kevin Harvick wasn’t in much of a talking mood after the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana on Sunday.
Who could blame him?
His crew chief admitted his team took a fifth-place car and wound up in 10th place. Harvick battled tire air pressure and aerodynamic problems after the second round of pit stops. He had a great car on long runs, but got killed on restarts.
“That's just one of the factors of these new cars,” Harvick said. “We have great power under the hood, but getting the air pressure up faster seems to be a problem. I tried swerving, spinning and just about all the tricks to get the air heated up in the tires."
An eight-car pile-up with five laps to go in the race brought out a red flag and stopped the field. Gil Martin, Harvick’s crew chief, called him into the pits to change four tires and get fuel. Harvick returned to the race in 15th place and made up only five spots on the final three laps.
When asked if he was happy with a 10th-place finish, Harvick said, “Not really.”
“We ran better than that all day,” Harvick said.

MK Kanke wins Stockcar Racing League race at Irwindale

M.K. Kanke of Frazier Park won the Stockcar Racing League Southwest Tour Series race at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale on Saturday night.
Kanke, the leader in the SRL Southwest Tour Series standings, won his fourth race of the season. He’s won races at All-American Speedway in Roseville, the Bullring at Las Vegas and Madera Speedway. The season-finale is at the Bullring in Las Vegas on Oct. 31.
Rip Michels, a driver from San Fernando and a regular in the NASCAR Super Late Model division at Irwindale, was second. He was followed by Mike Mendenhall of Santee was third.
Greg Voigt of Goleta, who is second to Kanke in the SRL Southwest Tour Series standings, was fourth.
Troy Ermish, winner of the SRL Southwest Tour Series race in July at Irwindale, finished two laps down and in 13th place.
Ken Michaelian of Lawndale won the Classic Stocks race and the Classic Stocks championship. It was his 10th win of the season. In 12 races, was either the winner or the runner-up.
Tommy Agosta of Chino was second, followed by Mike Colato Jr. of Chastworth in third.
Ryan Reed of Bakersfield won the Legends Cars race and the Legends championship. It was only his second win of the season, but it was his seventh top-three finish in a row.
Mark Borchetta of Valencia was second, followed by Brandon Toy of Bakersfield in third. Rookie Dallas Montes of Bakersfield, who won four straight Legends Car races, completed only 17 laps and finished 28th.
Randell King of Riverside won the S2 stock car race and claimed the first S2 championship at Irwindale. It was his sixth win in seven S2 races and his third win in a row.
Reed, pulling double duty at Irwindale, was second, followed by Kyle Longmore of Camarillo. Reed was the runner-up for the third race in a row.

Joanides lands NASCAR Nationwide Series seat

Nick Joanides, a driver from Woodland Hills, will race in the NASCAR Nationwide Series at Memphis Motorsports Park on Oct. 24.
The NASCAR Super Late Model and Late Model champion at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale will drive for Rick Ware Racing and his Circle K Racing team for one race.
Rick Ware Racing has fielded cars in the Nationwide Series for drivers Stanton Barrett and Kevin Hamlin in 2009. Hamlin started the race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana on Saturday and finished 38th.
Joanides said he is looking forward to the opportunity to race in the Nationwide Series, but his expectations are not too high.
“A top 20 would be a solid run for that team,” Joanides said.

Dave Rogers calls Greg Biffle a coward

Dave Rogers, the crew chief for Joey Logano's NASCAR Nationwide Series team, called Greg Biffle a coward after Biffle pushed Logano into the wall during the race at Auto Club Speedway on Saturday.
Logano rallied through the field and worked his battered car to the front.
Biffle ended up getting collected in a wreck late in the race and finished 14th.
Logano and Rogers said after the race the best revenge was winning.

Joey Logano wins "crazy race"

Joey Logano won the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Auto Club Speedway on Saturday. It was his second Nationwide Series win in a row and his sixth career Nationwide Series win in 38 starts.
He has won five Nationwide Series races and has 15 top 10s in 2009.
It was his first win at Auto Club Speedway and his third top 10 in three Nationwide races at Auto Club Speedway.
Logano said after the race, "It was not the race I thought I had a shot at winning."

Carl Edwards talks about cut-throat racing

Carl Edwards talked about some of the tight racing that was going on during the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Auto Club Speedway on Saturday night.
Greg Biffle and Joey Logano tangled early in the race. Denny Hamlin was collected late in the race and finished in 31st place.
Edwards said the cars are more competitive and it leads to some tight racing.

Carl Edwards likes Auto Club Speedway

The racing got a little tight at Auto Club Speedway on Saturday for the NASCAR Nationwide Series race. Carl Edwards might have been the greatest benefactor of the rough racing. He finished third in the race, but closed the gap on Kyle Busch, the leader in the Nationwide Series.
Busch started the race, but was relieved by Denny Hamlin after the first pit stop. Busch was suffering from flu-like symptoms.
Hamlin was leading the race, but he was collected late and taken out of contention. Hamlin finished in 31st driving for Busch.
As a result, Edwards knocked 90 points off Busch's lead in the Nationwide standings and is now 155 points out of first.

Kyle Busch not 100 percent

But he's close.
Kyle Busch was feeling some flu-like symptoms on Friday at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana and they have lingered through Nationwide Series qualifying and Cup Happy Hour today. Before qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, Denny Hamlin took Busch's Nationwide Series car out for practice.
Busch qualified his own Cup car. He will start 19th. Not the best qualifying effort, but apparently Busch was fortunate to get in the car for the two qualifying laps.
“I’m not sure how he’s feeling," Hamlin said after Cup qualifying on Friday. "Obviously, if he's getting out of the car, he’s not feeling well at all. It was different. He obviously requires a whole lot different feel on a car than what I do. When I got in it, it didn't feel like a JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) Nationwide car at all -- it felt a lot different so it's definitely getting keen to his driving style."
Swapping seats is nothing new at Joe Gibbs Racing. Hamlin and Busch are teammates at the Cup level. Joey Logano and Busch have raced the Gibbs cars on the Nationwide level.
"We've been in that situation before, where I've needed Kyle and Joey to kind of step in when that kind of stuff happens and that's the good thing about it though, that we've got good enough talent in our teammates that we can rely on them," Hamlin said on Friday. "I'm sure he'll be fine for tomorrow and if he can’t we'll be there and ready."
Busch was fine enough to put his Nationwide car on the front row for today's Nationwide race. He will start second, next to Logano, his teammate and the pole winner.
Busch leads the Nationwide Series standings.
In the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Happy Hour practice, Busch was 25th and apparently still a race-time decision if he will start the Nationwide Series race.

Photo: Kyle Busch (18) and Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Joey Logano (20) will start 1-2 for the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana. Logano won the Nationwide Series race at Kansas Speedway last weekend. Busch finished second. (Photo Credit: Geoff Burke/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Best seat in the house at Auto Club Speedway

Richard Childress Racing and Kevin Harvick's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team will let me sit on the pit box during Sunday's race.
I will be writing a story for the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin. I will also be Tweeting from the pit box during the race.
Let me know what you want to know. I will have Gil Martin's ear during the race and be able to talk to Harvick before the race. Plus I will be able to keep track of the radio traffic between the team and Harvick.
Send me your questions, and I will do my best to provide you with the answers.

Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 29 Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet, leads the field during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Pep Boys Auto 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Harvick, who led 66 laps, finished the race in second -- his fifth top-10 finish in 18 races at Atlanta Motor Speedway. (Photo Credit: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images)

Racing for second at Auto Club Speedway

Everyone knows Jimmie Johnson dominates at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana. He has three wins, eight top fives and nine top 10s in 13 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at the 2-mile oval. He has an average finish of 6.2, best among drivers in the Chase.
He won the Cup race at Fontana last year in September. He heads into the fourth race of the Chase in second place in the Cup standings.
It would be hard to find a track Johnson has not had success at. But adding Fontana to the Chase only strengthened his chances of winning a fourth Cup championship.
"I think the season comes to us in a way," Johnson said. "I know that we perform well in the Chase but I think the schedule is helpful for the No. 48 car. We have great results and it gives us a lot of hope going into these tracks but we still have to show up and get the job done. So we have a positive mindset looking forward to those tracks. It will make the week easier leading into those tracks but we still have to go in there and get to work. I’m excited for it.”
If Johnson owns Auto Club Speedway, who has the best chance of foreclosing on his property?
He has to look no further than his own teammate and part owner at Hendrick Motorsports. Jeff Gordon has three wins, nine top fives and two poles in 18 races at Fontana. He has an average finish of 10.8 in those races.
"The competition is as even as I've ever seen it, so we must make the most of our bad days," Gordon said. "And we definitely need to take advantage of tracks where we should be good. Like this weekend at Fontana."
But Gordon isn't Johnson's biggest threat. Carl Edwards has an average finish of 6.7 in 10 Cup races at Fontana. He has one win, six top fives and nine top 10s in those 10 races. It's a pretty safe bet he'll be in the top 10 again, if not competing for the win.
Kasey Kahne might be the wild card in this race. In 11 races at Fontana, he has one win and seven top 10s.

Photo: Points leader and three-time Chase for the Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson (left), driver of the No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet, chats with Kansas native Clint Bowyer (right), driver of the Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet, during qualifying Friday for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Price Chopper 400 presented by Kraft Foods at the Kansas Speedway on Saturday. (Photo Credit: Geoff Burke/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Kyle Busch seeking first NASCAR championship in Nationwide Series

Kyle Busch is out of the running for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship. But he has a commanding lead in the NASCAR Nationwide Series standings.
He is 245 points ahead of Carl Edwards in the Nationwide standings with six races remaining.
Busch won the Nationwide Series race at Fontana in February and won last year's Nationwide race in September.
No stranger to victory lane, Busch has gone almost 10 years without a championship. Winning the Nationwide Series championship would mean a lot to Busch.
"It would be big," Busch said. "It'd be my first NASCAR championship, so of course it would mean a lot to me. I haven't won a championship since 1999 when I was racing Legends cars. It's big to win any NASCAR championship, no matter what division it is."

Photo: The crew of the No. 18 NOS Toyota service the car driven by Kyle Busch in a pit stop Saturday during Saturday's NASCAR Nationwide Series Kansas Lottery 300 at the Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan. (Photo Credit: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Vickers hoping he can pick up Chase - DailyBulletin.com

Vickers hoping he can pick up Chase - DailyBulletin.com

NASCAR drivers typically don't like to see their names and crash in the same sentence. But there is really no other way to describe how Brian Vickers qualified for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Chase.

Photo: Chase for the Sprint Cup first-time contender Brian Vickers, driver of the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota, spun out in the infield grass in Turn 4 to bring out the caution on lap 149 during Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Price Chopper 400 presented by Kraft Foods at the Kansas Speedway. It wasn't a good day for Vickers, who ended up finishing in 37th after having engine problems. (Photo Credit: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR)

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New start times for NASCAR Cup races

The start times for most of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races will be uniform starting in 2010.
Twenty-one of the Cup races, including the Daytona 500, will start at 1 p.m. Eastern time, 10 a.m. Pacific. Twenty-eight races will start earlier than they did in 2010.
The other races will either start at 3 p.m. Eastern, noon Pacific, or 7:30 p.m. Eastern, 4:30 p.m. Pacific.
Brian France, the Chairman and CEO of NASCAR, said during a teleconference on Wednesday that part of the reason to change the start times was to preserve some of the traditions at race tracks throughout the country.
“NASCAR fans have been asking for earlier and more consistent start times, and we are making this change for our fans, beginning with the Daytona 500 next February," France said. “We are revisiting our sport’s tradition of earlier green flags, and the added consistency will make it easier for fans to know exactly when the races are being televised. Additionally, the new start times will help track operators get fans in and out of the track earlier in the evening. Many fans heading home from the race earlier will be able to eliminate the costs of an extra travel day.”
Both races at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana will start at noon Pacific time. The first race is Feb. 21 and the second race is Oct. 10.

Auto Club Speedway essentials

Auto Club Speedway in Fontana is hosting its first Chase for the Sprint Cup race. This is race No. 4 of the 10-race playoff. After three races, Mark Martin leads the Chase standings, with three-time reigning Cup champion Jimmie Johnson 18 points behind in second.
Johnson pretty much dominated this race last year. He won the pole and the race. The difference is, because Fontana is in the Chase, the race is in October, not Labor Day weekend. It will be much cooler, and consequently much faster than last year's race.
Weather cooperating, the track should yield some favorable conditions for drivers and crew. In talking to some of the drivers, they are especially looking forward to racing in Fontana without 117 degree temperatures. Surely the fans will appreciate not having to bake in the sun for three or four hours.
Here are some record speeds and times that might fall this weekend:
Brian Vickers holds the qualifying record at Fontana. He recorded a lap at 187.417 mph to win the pole in 2004.
Kasey Kahne holds the race record. He had an average speed of 144.462 mph and won the race in 2006 in 3 hours, 36 minutes and 3 seconds.
Denny Hamlin holds the Nationwide Series qualifying record at Fontana. He won the pole at 180.316 mph in 2007.
Greg Biffle won the Nationwide Series race in 2004 with a record average speed of 138.978 mph and in 2 hours, 9 minutes, 31 seconds.

Photo: Mark Martin (5) leads the Chase for the Sprint Cup standings after three races. He has an 18-point lead over Jimmie Johnson, who won last year's race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, site of Sunday's race. (Photo Credit: Geoff Burke/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Scary crash overshadows NHRA races at Memphis Motorsports Park

The first-round of eliminations of the funny car portion of the National Hot Rod Assn. races at Memphis Motor Sports Park got off to a rocky start. Daniel Wilkerson lost control of his car and crashed in spectacular fashion on Monday. The race was postponed a day because of rain. Wilkerson said the conditions at the track on Monday were a little misty. His first-round opponent was Ron Capps.
"I just wanted to apologize to all the other racers for causing a mess and huge delay," Wilkerson said. "We sat out all of Sunday, then it kept misting this morning and we weren't sure if we were even going to run, and before you know it my race car goes out there and basically comes apart and I'm into the wall making a huge mess. And, I knew my mom was going to be back there worried sick, so I wanted to let everyone know that I was okay.
According to a report from Wilkerson's team, various sources provided photographic evidence that both rear wheel assemblies were off the car before it hit the wall, but the team has yet to do any forensic research to track the problem or discover the cause.
"It was really pulling hard off the line, and it sure felt like it was on a huge run, then just a fraction of a second before it all went bad I felt it start to wobble and sashay a little bit," Wilkerson said. "Next thing I know, it feels like I'm riding on the ground and it's making a hard left. For a bit I thought I had it, with the wheel cranked hard right, but then the wall was right in front of me and I knew I was going to hit it. I just held the wheel, gritted my teeth, and held on. With no rear wheels, I basically had no brakes, so then I just skidded down the track until the thing came to a stop."
Jeff Arend won the funny car portion of the races at Memphis. He beat Tony Pedregon in the final. It was Arend's second career NHRA funny car win and only his third career NHRA funny car final appearance.
Ashley Force Hood took over the lead in the funny car standings by three points over John Force Racing teammate Robert Hight. Force Hood advanced to the semifnals at Memphis, losing to Arend.
"We are bummed we didn't win but we are pumped that we went to another semifinal," Force Hood said. "That is our third semifinal in the first three Countdown races. Our Mustang ran really good this weekend that semifinal was just a really good close race. That will sometimes bite you. I don't know if we would have done anything differently. That was one of our best runs of the day. We will just take that and know that we have a really good running car and even in these crazy changing conditions we managed to still have a handle on our Mustang.
"We’ll go to Richmond and I’ll assume the conditions will be cool like this. That is a plus for us. We’ll try and go some rounds there. Semis is our goal every race. If we can just semi-finalize them to death we’ll be good. You are getting a lot of points and if you can get to that second half of the race you are doing well.”
Pedregon, third in the funny car standings, beat Capps in the other semifinal race.

Photo: NHRA funny car driver Daniel Wilkerson swerved across the race track at Memphis Motorsports Park and crashed in the first round of eliminations on Monday. (NHRA)

"Memories of the California Jalopy Association"

Thomas Luce, author, publisher and friend of the Paddock, is releasing a second printing of his book, "Memories of the California Jalopy Association."
The book is described as a 14-year journey hunting down nostalgic memorabilia from former drivers, owners, officials, families and fans who dug through hundreds of closets and garages.
To order the book, go to www.autobooks-aerobooks.com, www.sprintcarstuff.com or www.coastal181.com.

Joanides wins NASCAR Late Model championship at Irwindale

Nick Joanides put the perfect book end to a championship season in the NASCAR Late Models at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale on Saturday night.
Joanides, a driver from Woodland Hills, won the Late Model season finale and captured his first Late Model championship at the track.
Joanides won the opening night race in March and capped his championship season by winning the last race of the Late Model season.
Joanides added to his championships in 2009. He won the NASCAR Super Late Model championship at the track two weeks ago. He became the first driver to win the Super Late Model and Late Model championships at Irwindale in the same season. He also won the NASCAR Whelen All American Series California State championship.
It was the third Late Model win of the season for Joanides and his first win since April 25. Travis Motley of Tucson, Ariz., was second, followed by Travis Irving of Corona in third.
Mike Johnson of Covina won the first of two Late Model races at the track. He was followed by Tim Huddleston of Agoura Hills in second and Irving in third. Joanides was fourth in the first Late Model race of the night.
Huddleston, the runner-up in the Late Model standings, won five races including three in a row from May 9-30.
Johnson won six Late Model races, the most of any driver in the division. He won four in a row July 25 to Sept. 5 and won five of the last seven races of the season.
R.J. Johnson of Canyon Country won the NASCAR Super Trucks race and moved into a tie for first place in the Super Truck standings at the track. Pat Mintey Jr. of Quartz Hill, the reigning Super Trucks champion at Irwindale, came in as the leader in the Super Trucks standings by 10 points. He finished sixth and lost his lead.
It was Johnson’s seventh win of the season and his third in the past four Super Trucks races. Matt Kimball of Mission Viejo was second, followed by Ron Peterson of Riverside in third.
The Super Trucks season finale is Oct. 24.
Dalton Kuhn of San Marcos won the South West Tour Trucks race. Christian Copley of Santa Ynez was second, followed by Jeff Williams of Newbury Park in third.
Christine Thiebert won the demolition derby after her sister, Alisha Thiebert, was disqualified. Tammy Kalb was second, followed by Shayle Zins in third.

No California race for NASCAR Camping World Truck Series

How is it that the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is not racing in California in 2010?
The Truck Series schedule includes races in Las Vegas, Phoenix and for the first time at Pocono Raceway in Pennsylvania. But no races at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana or anywhere else in California. For a series that has its roots at the old Mesa Marin Raceway in Bakersfield, it's a little surprising to see no Truck Series races in California.