2010 Auto Club 500

2nd race of the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series February 2025 NAS Auto Club 500 https://www.espn.com/racing/schedule/_/year/2010 Sprint Cup Series Schedule ESPN August 14, 2010http://www.sportingnews.com/nascar/article/2010-02-19/mcmurray-maintains-torrid-pace-fontana-pole McMurray maintains torrid pace with Fontana pole February 19, 2010 Reid Spencer April 19, 2010 Sporting News https://web.archive.org/web/20100327223421/http://www.sportingnews.com/nascar/article/2010-02-19/mcmurray-maintains-torrid-pace-fontana-pole March 27, 2010 dead mdy-allhttp://msn.foxsports.com/nascar/cup/raceTrax?gameId=20100221026&state=RACE Race Information February 21, 2010 April 18, 2010 Fox Sports https://web.archive.org/web/20100418031412/http://msn.foxsports.com/nascar/cup/raceTrax?gameId=20100221026&state=RACE April 18, 2010 livehttps://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-feb-22-la-sp-nascar22-2010feb22-story.html Jimmie Johnson's victory at Fontana is NASCAR business as usual February 22, 2010 Jim Peltz April 19, 2010 Los Angeles Times The Los Angeles Times https://web.archive.org/web/20100430104042/http://articles.latimes.com/2010/feb/22/sports/la-sp-nascar22-2010feb22 April 30, 2010 live 2010 02 21 2010 2 36 Auto Club Speedway (formerly California Speedway) - Speedway.svg 200px Track map of the speedway at Auto Club Speedway AKA California Speedway Auto Club 500 Auto Club Speedway, Fontana, California 2.0 3.23 250 500 804.672 Sunny with a daytime high around 62; wind out of the ENE at 3 mph. There was a zero percent chance of precipitation. 141.911 mi/h Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Racing 39.185 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports 101 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Fox Broadcasting Company Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds The 2010 Auto Club 500 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held on February 21, 2010, at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. Contested over 250 laps, it was the second race of the 2010 Sprint Cup Series season. The race was won by Jimmie Johnson for Hendrick Motorsports. Kevin Harvick finished second and Jeff Burton clinched third. Polesitter driver Jamie McMurray maintained his lead into the first corner, but outsider Juan Pablo Montoya took the lead before the first lap was over. Afterward, Johnson became the leader, and would eventually lead to the race-high of 101 laps. During the final pit stops, Johnson was on pit lane as the caution flag came out. Burton, who led the race during Johnson's pit stop, did not pass Johnson to put him a lap down. Therefore, Johnson retained the first position upon the completion of pit stops. On the final lap, Harvick was gaining on Johnson, but Johnson maintained his position to win his first race of the season. There were six caution flags and 28 lead changes among 14 different drivers throughout the course of the race. The result moved Johnson up 23 spots to tenth in the Drivers' Championship, 78 points behind of leader Kevin Harvick and one ahead of Kyle Busch. Chevrolet maintained its lead in the Manufacturers' Championship, eight points ahead of Toyota and nine ahead of Ford, with 34 races remaining in the season. Report Background Auto Club Speedway (previously California Speedway) was a superspeedway located in Fontana, California which hosted NASCAR racing annually from 1997 to 2023.NASCAR Race Tracks http://www.nascar.com/races/tracks/ August 14, 2010 NASCAR https://web.archive.org/web/20100815005030/http://www.nascar.com/races/tracks/ August 15, 2010 dead The standard track at Auto Club Speedway featured four turns and was 2 mi km long.NASCAR Tracks—The Auto Club Speedway http://www.autoclubspeedway.com/Track-Info/Track-Facts.aspx Auto Club Speedway August 16, 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20100824155657/http://www.autoclubspeedway.com/Track-Info/Track-Facts.aspx 2010-08-24 dead 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. Before the race, Jamie McMurray led the Drivers' Championship with 190 points, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. stood in second with 175 points. Greg Biffle was third in the Drivers' Championship with 170 points, Clint Bowyer was fourth with 165 points, and Kevin Harvick was in fifth with 156 points.Driver's Championship Classification http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2010/1/data/standings_official.html NASCAR August 14, 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20100805051907/http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2010/1/data/standings_official.html August 5, 2010 live 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.Manufactures' Championship Classification http://www.jayski.com/stats/2010/manu2010.htm Jayski's Silly Season Site August 14, 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20100813071907/http://jayski.com/stats/2010/manu2010.htm August 13, 2010 dead Practices and qualifying thumb|left|150px|Jamie McMurray, 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.Race Review http://jayski.com/next/2010/2acs2010.htm Jayski's Silly Season Site August 15, 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20100715134146/http://www.jayski.com/next/2010/2acs2010.htm July 15, 2010 live In the first practice session, the fastest drivers were Mark Martin, Ryan Newman, Juan Pablo Montoya, Jeff Burton, and Clint Bowyer.http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2010/2/data/practice1_speeds.html Practice 1 Results April 18, 2010 NASCAR https://web.archive.org/web/20100412030612/http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2010/2/data/practice1_speeds.html April 12, 2010 live During the second practice session, Jimmie Johnson, Martin, Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards, and Greg Biffle had the quickest times.http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2010/2/data/practice2_speeds.html Practice 2 Results April 18, 2010 NASCAR https://web.archive.org/web/20100409072651/http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2010/2/data/practice2_speeds.html April 9, 2010 live Martin, Bowyer, Johnson, McMurray, and Jeff Gordon led the final practice session.http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2010/2/data/practice3_speeds.html Practice 3 Results April 18, 2010 NASCAR https://web.archive.org/web/20100503023711/http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2010/2/data/practice3_speeds.html May 3, 2010 live During qualifying, forty-six cars were entered, but only forty-three were able to race because of NASCAR's qualifying procedure.Qualifying Order http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2010/2/data/qual_order.html June 19, 2010 NASCAR https://web.archive.org/web/20100619144151/http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2010/2/data/qual_order.html June 19, 2010 live Jamie McMurray clinched the pole position with a best lap time of 39.185 seconds.http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2010/2/data/lineup.html Qualifying Results April 18, 2010 NASCAR https://web.archive.org/web/20100421113123/http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2010/2/data/lineup.html April 21, 2010 live He was joined on the front row of the grid by Montoya. Bowyer qualified third, Kasey Kahne took fourth, and Dave Blaney started fifth. Casey Mears, Johnny Sauter, and Terry Cook were the three drivers who failed to qualify. Race summary The race, the second out of a total of thirty-six in the season, began at 3 p.m. EST and was televised live in the United States on Fox. Pre-race ceremonies began with Motor Racing Outreach's Jeff Hamilton giving the invocation; then Katharine McPhee, season five American Idol runner-up turned RCA Records recording artist, performed the national anthem. Actor Andy García gave the traditional command, "Gentlemen Start Your Engines!" Before the race, Denny Hamlin moved to the back of the starting grid because his team changed engines after his qualifying run.http://www.nascar.com/2010/races/lapbylap/02/21/lap.by.lap.fontana/index.html Race Summary February 21, 2010 April 18, 2010 NASCAR https://web.archive.org/web/20100421104935/http://www.nascar.com/2010/races/lapbylap/02/21/lap.by.lap.fontana/index.html April 21, 2010 live 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.Race Rewind http://www.nascar.com/video/cup/2010/post_race/race_rewind/02/22/cup_fon_rewind.nascar/index.html NASCAR August 15, 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20100803234106/http://www.nascar.com/video/cup/2010/post_race/race_rewind/02/22/cup_fon_rewind.nascar/index.html August 3, 2010 live 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. thumb|200px|right|Jimmie Johnson, pictured here in 2010, won the race. On lap 57, the first caution period of the race was called because of debris on the track's surface. The restart on lap 61 was led by Johnson, but Kevin Harvick passed him for the lead before the lap was over. The second caution flag was waved on lap 92 because Kasey Kahne collided with Montoya. On lap 97, Johnson brought the field to the green flag. Mark Martin passed Johnson on lap 98, but was passed back after two laps. Drivers began heading for pit stops on lap 133. Then, on lap 140, the third caution came out because Montoya's engine failed, causing him to collide with the turn one wall. On lap 145, the green flag waved with Jeff Gordon as the leader. The fourth caution, caused by the expired engine of Ryan Newman, came out on lap 147. On the restart, Gordon led the field to the green flag. He did not restart fast enough and was passed by both Jeff Burton and Kyle Busch on lap 154. On the next lap, Kyle Busch passed Burton for the lead. Ten laps after that, Burton returned the favor by passing Busch for the lead. During the following laps, several drivers made pit stops. The fifth caution flag was waved on lap 192 because light rain was moving through the area; the leader at the time was Denny Hamlin. During the restart on lap 199, Burton brought the field to the green flag. No cautions were called until Brad Keselowski collided with the outside wall in turn four that brought out the sixth caution. The restart was on lap 229 with Jimmie Johnson as the leader. In the ensuing laps, Jimmie Johnson increased his lead over second-placed Kevin Harvick, but with fewer than ten laps to go Harvick began gaining on Johnson. Two laps before the finish, Burton caught up to Harvick and Johnson. Johnson held off both Harvick and Burton to win his first race in 2010.http://www.autoclubspeedway.com/Articles/2010/02/Jimmie-Jonhson-Auto-Club-500.aspx Jimmie Johnson Wins Auto Club 500 February 21, 2010 April 20, 2010 Auto Club Speedway Post-race "They're really good, but they're really, really lucky, too. Jimmie is a good friend of mine, but there's no denying how lucky they are. They have a golden horseshoe stuck up their ass." Kevin Harvick, speaking after the race.Timely pit stop turning point for JJ https://www.espn.com/racing/nascar/cup/columns/story?columnist=blount_terry&id=4934371 ESPN August 14, 2010 29% right 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." Although Burton was leading near the end of the race, the caution was issued as Johnson was exiting the pit lane. It gave Burton a chance to put Johnson a lap down, but Johnson entered the track ahead of Burton. In the subsequent press conference, Johnson said, "Fortunate came our way. I’m not going to lie. The fact that we were on pit row gave us track position, and I drove my butt off."Fortunate Timing of Pit Stop Helps Johnson Secure Victory https://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/22/sports/autoracing/22nascar.html New York Times August 15, 2010 February 22, 2010 Johnson expressed his enjoyment of winning the race, stating: "Today was a great race for NASCAR and a great race for this track. I know it got spread out some, but there [was] some really good racing from what I saw. Yes, today we got a huge gift. But I was running fourth or fifth at the time [of the last caution], so it's not like we totally backed into this thing. And I still had to hold Kevin off." 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." Harvick, who finished second, said, "When he moved up I got tight and caught the wall a little bit. If he doesn't move up, he gets passed pretty easily. He did what he's supposed to do to take the line away. He did exactly what he had to do." The race result left Harvick leading the Driver's Championship with a total of 331 points.Point Standing http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2010/2/data/standings_official.html NASCAR August 14, 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20100726124733/http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2010/2/data/standings_official.html July 26, 2010 live 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 Qualifying No Driver Constructor Manufacturer Time (in seconds) Grid 1 Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 39.185 1 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 39.242 2 33 Clint Bowyer Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 39.317 3 9 Kasey Kahne Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 39.363 4 66 Dave Blaney Prism Motorsports Toyota 39.364 5 29 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 39.366 6 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 39.368 7 77 Sam Hornish Jr. Penske Racing Dodge 39.385 8 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 39.390 9 5 Mark Martin Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 39.400 10 00 David Reutimann Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 39.431 11 2 Kurt Busch Penske Racing Dodge 39.497 12 82 Scott Speed Red Bull Racing Team Toyota 39.518 13 31 Jeff Burton Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 39.542 14 6 David Ragan Roush Fenway Racing Ford 39.566 15 14 Tony Stewart Stewart–Haas RacingChevrolet 39.586 16 36 Mike Bliss Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 39.615 17 39 Ryan Newman Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 39.620 18 20 Joey Logano Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 39.632 19 17 Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Racing Ford 39.669 20 12 Brad Keselowski Penske Racing Dodge 39.706 21 78 Regan Smith Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 39.708 22 83 Brian Vickers Red Bull Racing Team Toyota 39.710 23 09 Aric Almirola Phoenix Racing Chevrolet 39.710 24 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 39.713 25 47 Marcos Ambrose JTG Daugherty Racing Toyota 39.729 26 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 39.755 27 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 39.767 28 43 A. J. Allmendinger Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 39.770 29 55 Michael McDowell Prism Motorsports Toyota 39.802 30 99 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford 39.830 31 87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Toyota 39.833 32 71 Bobby Labonte TRG Motorsports Chevrolet 39.870 33 56 Martin Truex Jr. Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 39.884 34 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 39.928 35 98 Paul Menard Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 39.982 36 19 Elliott Sadler Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 40.018 37 37 Kevin Conway Front Row Motorsports Ford 40.158 38 34 Travis Kvapil Front Row Motorsports Ford 40.229 39 7 Robby Gordon Robby Gordon Motorsports Toyota 40.839 40 38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 40.861 41 26 Boris Said Latitude 43 Motorsports Ford N/A 42 13 Max Papis Germain Racing Toyota 39.889 43Failed to qualify 90 Casey Mears Keyed-Up Motorsports Chevrolet 40.019 35 Johnny Sauter Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 40.237 46 Terry Cook Whitney Motorsports Dodge 40.435 Source: Race results Pos Car Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Points 148 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 250 1952 229 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 250 1751 331 Jeff Burton Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 250 1701 45 Mark Martin Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 250 1651 520 Joey Logano Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 250 155 62 Kurt Busch Penske Racing Dodge 250 1551 717 Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Racing Ford 250 146 833 Clint Bowyer Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 250 1471 914 Tony Stewart Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 250 138 1016 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 250 134 1182 Scott Speed Red Bull Racing Team Toyota 250 1351 1283 Brian Vickers Red Bull Racing Team Toyota 250 1321 1399 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford 250 124 1418 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 250 1261 1500 David Reutimann Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 250 118 1677 Sam Hornish Jr. Penske Racing Dodge 250 115 171 Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 250 112 1898 Paul Menard Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 250 109 1978 Regan Smith Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 250 106 2024 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 250 1081 2112 Brad Keselowski Penske Racing Dodge 250 100 2236 Mike Bliss Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 250 97 236 David Ragan Roush Fenway Racing Ford 250 94 2419 Elliott Sadler Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 249 91 2543 A. J. Allmendinger Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 249 88 2638 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 249 85 2771 Bobby Labonte TRG Motorsports Chevrolet 249 82 2813 Max Papis Germain Racing Toyota 249 79 2911 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 248 811 3034 Travis Kvapil Front Row Motorsports Ford 248 73 3137 Kevin Conway Front Row Motorsports Ford 247 70 3288 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 238 67 337 Robby Gordon Robby Gordon Motorsports Toyota 230 64 349 Kasey Kahne Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 221 61 3547 Marcos Ambrose JTG Daugherty Racing Toyota 170 58 3639 Ryan Newman Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 148 55 3742 Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 140 571 3826 Boris Said Latitude 43 Motorsports Ford 67 49 3956 Martin Truex Jr. Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 64 46 4087 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Toyota 48 43 4166 Dave Blaney Prism Motorsports Toyota 43 451 4255 Michael McDowell Prism Motorsports Toyota 40 37 4309 Aric Almirola Phoenix Racing Chevrolet 34 34Sources:Official Race Results http://www.sportingnews.com/nascar/article/2010-02-21/auto-club-500 Sporting News August 14, 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20100224071607/http://www.sportingnews.com/nascar/article/2010-02-21/auto-club-500 February 24, 2010 dead mdy-allResults (2) http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2010/2/data/results_official.html NASCAR June 22, 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20100620024729/http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2010/2/data/results_official.html June 20, 2010 live1 Includes five bonus points for leading a lap2 Includes ten bonus points for leading the most laps Standings after the race Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Kevin Harvick 331 2 Clint Bowyer 312 3 Greg Biffle 304 4 Jamie McMurray 302 5 Jeff Burton 300 thumb|150px|right|Kevin Harvick became the Drivers' Championship leader after finishing second in the race. Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Chevrolet 18 2 Toyota 10 3 Ford 9 4 Dodge 7 Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. References 30em Sprint Cup Series 2010 2010 Daytona 500 2010 Shelby American collapsed Auto Club 500 Auto Club 500 Category:NASCAR races at Auto Club Speedway Category:February 2010 sports events in the United States