Pepsi 500

Here is a quick run down of trivial facts and statistics for this weekend’s Pepsi 500 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA.

Auto Club Speedway History

• Groundbreaking for Auto Club Speedway took place in November 1995.
• The first race was a NASCAR West Series race won by Ken Schrader on June 21, 1997.
• The first NASCAR Sprint Cup race was held on June 22, 1997 and won by Jeff Gordon.
• The first NASCAR Nationwide Cup race was held on Oct. 19, 1997, won by Todd Bodine.
• The first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race was won by Mike Bliss on Oct. 18, 1997.
• September 2004 was the first night race and was also the first year there were two races a year for both the NASCAR Sprint Cup and NASCAR Nationwide Series.
• 2005 was the first time the first Auto Club Speedway race was a triple-header with all three major NASCAR series competing.
• The track name was changed from California Speedway to Auto Club Speedway in February 2008.

Track Numbers

• NASCAR Cup Series Races: 16
• Pole Winners: 11
• Race Winners: 13
• Five drivers have competed in all 16 Auto Club races: Jeff Burton, Jeff Gordon, Bobby Labonte, Joe Nemechek and Kyle Petty.
• Joe Nemechek won the pole for the inaugural race in 1997. Greg Sacks broke Nemechek’s short-lived, track-qualifying record in the second round of qualifying.
• There have been 11 different pole winners, led by Kurt Busch (three) and Jeff Gordon (two) Qualifying was canceled in 1999 and 2008-1.
• 12 different drivers have posted victories at Auto Club Speedway. Jeff Gordon (three), Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth (two) are the only multiple race winners there.
• Hendrick Motorsports and Roush Fenway Racing have each won six races, more than any other organization.
• Eight of the 16 races were won from outside the top 10 starting positions.
• Matt Kenseth won the 2006 sprint race from the 31st starting position, the deepest in the field that a race winner has started.

NASCAR in California

• There have been 122 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races in California:
• 404 drivers in NASCAR’s three national series (all-time) have their home state recorded as California.
• There have been 32 race winners from California in NASCAR’s three national series:

Track Records

• Track qualifying record: Kyle Busch (188.425 mph, 38.248 seconds, 2-25-05)
• Track race record: Jeff Gordon (155.012 mph, 6-22-97)

Qualifying/Race Data

• 2007 pole winner: Kurt Busch (182.399 mph, 39.474 seconds)
• 2007 race winner: Jimmie Johnson (131.502 mph, 9-2-07)

California Race Day Data

• Estimated Pit Window: Every 40-44 laps, based on fuel mileage
• # 25 of 36 (8-31-08)
• Track Size: 2 miles
• Race Length: 250 laps/500 miles
• Banking/Corners: 14 degrees
• Banking/Frontstretch: 11 degrees
• Banking/Backstretch: 3 degrees