Fantasy Preview: Fontana

California Speedway was built in the mid-90s as a carbon copy of Michigan International Speedway. While the rest of the track-building world was thinking in terms of 1.5-mile speedways, Roger Penske thought his two-mile track in the Irish Hills of Michigan made a pretty good mold.

He was right.

Michigan traditionally has some of the best racing of the season. The track is wide and smooth, thrilling the fans with three- and four-wide action. If California had to copy a track, this was a great model.

Penske and Roush

Penske and Jack Roush are two Northern owners with great success on the Southern circuit. Both are Michigan natives and they have some of their best results on their home track.

FANTASY REPORT What to expect and who to watch at California Play video

Their success carried over to the sister track of California. These two owners have accounted for more than a third of the available top-5s at California and Michigan. Roush won last year with Kurt Busch at the wheel and Penske won in 2001 with Rusty Wallace.

Roush has two more top-fives, with Busch taking home another runner-up finish and Mark Martin coming home fifth in 2002. Penske earned two more top-fives as well with a third-place finish for Wallace last year and a fifth in 2001 with Jeremy Mayfield behind the wheel.

THE FAVORITES

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Busch has won two of the past three races on the two-mile tracks. He is the defending winner of this race and backed it up with a spring victory at Michigan. He was in a position to have another good run in the fall before he admittedly tried to flatten a fender on Jimmy Spencer's car and hurt his own instead.

If the California track hasn't changed much, his notes from last year will have him near the head of the field once more.

	Jeff Gordon

Wallace has been getting stronger all year. His victory at Martinsville was inevitable, but if it hadn't come there, California would have presented another great opportunity. At California and Michigan combined, Wallace has six checkered flags.

His California stats alone are equally promising since he enter this race with a four-race steak of top-10 finishes, highlighted by his victory in 2001 and capped by a third place last year.

Jeff Gordon loves Michigan. Two victories and five runner-ups finishes on that track place him near the front of the pack, so it came as no surprise that he took a liking to California immediately. He won two of the first three races contested on this track and finished in the top five each time.

Since the inaugural event he has failed to finish only a single lap of competition when he came home 16th in 2002 — that race also marks his career worst finish in seven attempts at California.

DARK HORSES

	Sterling Marlin

Last year when Sterling Marlin was in the early stages of recovery from a broken neck suffered in 2002, California was one of the first glimmers of hope experienced by this team. His 10th-place finish was the latest in a three-race streak of efforts between seventh and ninth on this Western track. That effort remained one of his highlights for the season since all he could muster in 2003 was a handful of top-10s. Two top-five finishes earned already in 2004 make him a better choice this year.

Before joining the Cup series, Greg Biffle hadn't finished outside the top 10 at California in either the Truck or Busch Series. He hasn't done badly in the senior series, either. He finished 13th in 2002 and 18th last year. At the sister track in Michigan, he has two victories in the Truck Series and a fourth in the most recent Cup race, which makes him a driver who deserves close attention.

AVOIDANCE PRINCIPLE

	Kevin Harvick

In the inaugural race back in 1997, Mayfield drove his Michael Kranefuss owned Ford to 12th place at California; it would be his worst ever finish in the first five races held at this track. Returning the following year he posted a runner-up finish with Penske and eventually found victory lane in 2000.

Unfortunately, something happened once he took one of Evernham's rides. Driving for Evernham in the last two races, he has failed to finish both, blowing an engine and finishing 38th in 2002 and crashing to finish 35th last year.

The best finish Kevin Harvick could muster at California in his career has been 25th in his first attempt back in 2001. While suffering a 35th in 2002 and a 29th last year, Harvick hasn't been much better at the sister track of Michigan, where he has a 17th-place average finish in six attempts.

Dan Beaver's fantasy analysis appears each week on the evening prior to Nextel Cup Qualifying.