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Track Facts:
Banking/Turns: 14°
Distance: 2.0 miles / 250 laps
Shape: D-Shaped Oval

Pepsi 500
California Speedway
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Fontana, California
Sunday, 8:00 p.m. EST

Schedule
Practice
3:00 p.m. EST, Friday, August 29
7:00 p.m. EST, Saturday, August 30
8:20 p.m. EST, Final Practice Saturday, August 30

Qualifying
5:40 p.m. EST, Friday, August 29, Two laps all positions

Race Day Sunday, August 31
8:00 p.m. EST Sunday
TV: ESPN 8:00 p.m.
Radio: Motor Racing Network (MRN), XM Radio
2007 winner: Jimmie Johnson

Check the SPEED Channel schedule (speedtv.com) for various programs on the race this weekend.

Race Preview

Quotes from Kyle Petty:
 “It was good to get back in the car at Bristol.  I didn’t realize how much I had missed being around the guys working in the garage.  The car was fast, but we had no luck.  Rubber built up on the throttle linkage and we had to come in and get that off.  That can get frustrating, but the guys kept their heads up and we got the best finish that we could.  We need to get a better finish this weekend to gain those points back.”  
 
“It’s important for NASCAR to keep a large presence in southern California because we have been there for so long.  A lot of the new fans don’t remember when we raced at Ontario and Riverside.  I’m one of the few that have raced at all three tracks, including Fontana.  Ontario was a track way before its time.  It was a replica of Indianapolis, but it had a ton of fan-friendly amenities that most of the tracks have today.  That was a cool place.  Riverside used to be the first race on the schedule, not Daytona.  There is a lot of history for us in southern California.”
 
“Are rivalries good for our sport, for any sport?  Absolutely.  It draws a line in the sand.  You’re either over here or over there.  In Carl (Edwards) and Kyle (Busch) you have the makings of a rivalry that could last for awhile.  Both are young and on top of the sport.  This could be the best rivalry since Earnhardt-Gordon.  Out of the car they are two different people, so they appeal to two totally different groups.  In the car they are aggressive and will probably get together a few more times on the track.  I hope this doesn’t go away, but if it does we are going to be treated to one heck of a championship fight this year, at least.”

Kyle Petty at Auto Club Speedway

• Petty has competed at Auto Club Speedway 16 times.
• His highest finish at Auto Club Speedway is 17th, which he scored in 2003.
• Of a possible 4,005 laps at the California track, Petty has completed 3,487 (87.1%). He has led a total of four laps at the venue.
• Petty was behind the wheel of the No. 45 Wells Fargo Dodge last weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway for the first time since May when he competed in the Coca-Cola 600.
• Petty is the only driver entered this weekend that competed at the Ontario (Ca.) Motor Speedway and Riverside (Ca.) International Raceway, which were the other southern California tracks to host the Sprint Cup Series.

Race Results

1. Jimmie Johnson, Lowe’s Chevrolet
2. Greg Biffle. 3M Ford
3. Denny Hamlin, FedEx Toyota
4. Kevin Harvick, Shell Chevrolet
5. Matt Kenseth, R&L Ford
21. Bobby Labonte, No. 43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge (started 24th)
38. Kyle Petty, No. 45 Wells Fargo Dodge (started 38th)

If it seemed like Jimmie Johnson led every lap of Sunday evening’s California 500 at Auto Club Speedway, it wasn’t too far from reality. Johnson easily led an event record 227 of 250 total laps to take a dominating victory. Greg Biffle, who took the lead several times on pit stops but couldn’t pass Johnson on the racetrack, finished second while Denny Hamlin was third.

For the two Petty Enterprises entries, drivers Kyle Petty and Bobby Labonte started the evening as two of only five men to start each of the 16 Sprint Cup races held here at what was previously known as California Speedway.

For Labonte, it was 500 hard-fought miles in a brand-new #43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge chassis, finishing on the lead lap in 21st position, while Petty drove the #45 Well’s Fargo Dodge to a 38th place finish, one lap behind the leaders at the finish.

Labonte ran in the top-20 for much of the event, but fell a lap behind on lap 133. While racing aggressively to regain the lap, Labonte smacked the wall hard on lap 167, but did mostly cosmetic damage to the #43 car. Soon after hitting the wall, Labonte made several sparkling passes to become the ‘Lucky Dog’ (the first car one-lap down), and regained a spot on the lead lap when the yellow flag fell on lap 180.

“This is a brand new car,” said Labonte, “so we weren’t sure what to expect. It wasn’t bad, but it didn’t feel very fast on the straightaways. I was racing really hard to get the Lucky Dog and I hit the wall hard. The car felt like it almost stopped – as if I was welded to the wall or I shifted down into third gear. It was weird, but it didn’t hurt the car. The crew really did a good job tonight to keep me on the lead lap. We could have used some more speed, but a lead lap finish is something we can build upon.”

Kyle Petty had a similar night, fighting with heavy traffic throughout the event. The team made a four-tire stop on lap 146 in 13.15 seconds, which gained Petty six positions to 26th place, but the car wasn’t as fast as necessary in the early laps of each green flag run.

“It took our car about 10 laps each time to get up to speed,” Petty explained. “Once we got that far into a run, we were pretty good, but by then you’re so deep in traffic it’s almost impossible to work your way forward. If I really hit my marks, the car was fast and I could run laps in the 43-second range. But if I missed turn one just a little bit, it’d be a 44-second lap for sure. I think we’ve come a long way from the last time we were here at this place (in February, when the team lagged behind the leaders by 14 laps) to finish only one lap down. That’s progress.”

Kyle Petty name and/or likeness used under license by Petty Marketing Company, L.L.C.
Richard Petty name and/or likeness used under license by Petty Marketing Company, L.L.C.