Chase drivers have fared well at Auto Club Speedway
Kenny Bruce
Kenny Bruce is a three-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association's George Cunningham Writer of the Year Award. He joined Street & Smith's Sports Group in 2001.
FONTANA, Calif. – Maybe it doesn’t mean anything, but seven drivers competing in this year’s Chase For The Sprint Cup have won at Auto Club Speedway.
If you’re keeping notes, the seven are Jeff Gordon (3), Mark Martin (1), Jimmie Johnson (3), Kurt Busch (1), Greg Biffle (1), Kasey Kahne (1) and Carl Edwards (1).
Anyone not liking Johnson’s chances this weekend hasn’t been paying attention – the Hendrick Motorsports driver has won the last two times the series has competed here in the second half of the season.
Of course, Johnson’s hardly been shoddy at any of the Chase tracks. Lowe’s Motor Speedway and Martinsville are just around the corner. You’re kidding, right?
Still, it’s way too early to begin inscribing anyone’s name on the trophy. A lot of folks keep expecting guys like Martin and Juan Pablo Montoya to take a monumental fall. But the way those teams have been performing, I just don’t see that happening. Just as you don’t go from struggling to winning overnight, neither do you go from winning to running in the back of the pack.
• So maybe Chase drivers winning the first three races isn’t that big of a deal. Teams in the championship hunt won all 10 Chase races a year ago. And nine of 10 the year before. Running up front, after all, is what got them there.
• Don’t expect this weekend’s attendance to have much of an impact on the continuation of two Cup races each year at Auto Club Speedway. Like it or not, market size, and not turnstile numbers, will keep two races here for years to come.
